Updates include Section 106, Changes to the statutory framework for local government in Wales and more.
Welcome to our Public Matters Newsletter.
This month we have:
When you look at the changes set out in the new Procurement Bill, there are lots of things and concepts which do, notwithstanding the changes, remain the same. However, when you start looking under the surface, there are a number of significant changes and things for us all to consider.
The Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill was introduced to Parliament on 11 May 2022. In this Bill, and in accordance with earlier reports, the government intends to replace Section 106 agreements and the existing Community Infrastructure Levy with a new Infrastructure Levy, which is aimed to help councils to deliver more affordable housing.
The Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 establishes a new and reformed legislative framework for Welsh local government elections, democracy, governance and performance. Many of the most significant changes contained in the Act came into force earlier this month.
After months of debate, agreement has been reached by both Houses on the Subsidy Control Act 2022 and it has now received Royal Assent. The Act sets out the UK’s new subsidy control regime, which replaces the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement - which had been in place since the UK’s exit from the EU.
The concept of an Integrated Care System (ICS) is not a new one. ICSs have been introduced with the intention of uniting the operations of hospitals, community-based services, and health and social care bodies across their respective places. The goal is to move towards a relationship-driven and collaborative system and away from independent, competing silos of service.
On 4 May 2022, the Court of Appeal handed down judgment in the joint case of R (Elkundi and others) versus Birmingham City Council and R (Imam) versus London Borough of Croydon. Both cases sought to address the difficulties that local housing authorities face when reconciling immediate duties for those in need with budgetary, supply and other constraints.
This year’s Queen’s Speech has outlined several legislative changes and the overhauling of laws around levelling up, planning and economic crime that could affect conveyancers.
The independent review of children’s social care has been published and addresses two major dilemmas in children’s social care:
Law firm Browne Jacobson has collaborated with Wiltshire Council and Christ Church Business School on the launch event of The Council Company Best Practice and Innovation Network, a platform which brings together academic experts and senior local authority leaders, allowing them to share best practice in relation to council companies.
In the Autumn Statement delivered on 17 November, rises to the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rates were announced, to take effect from 1 April 2023.
Announced in September but scrapped on 17 November the investment zone proposals were very short lived. The proposal has now morphed into the proposal for a smaller number of clustered zones earmarked for investment.
Settlement agreements are commonplace in an employment context and are ordinarily used to provide the parties to the agreement with certainty following the conclusion of an employment relationship.
On 2 November 2022, the Supreme Court handed down its judgment in the much awaiting case of Hillside Parks Ltd v Snowdonia National Park Authority [2022] UKSC 30. The Court’s judgment suggests that the long established practice of using drop-in applications is in fact much more restricted than previously thought. This judgment therefore has significant implications for both the developers and local planning authorities.
In ‘failure to remove’ claims, the claimant alleges abuse in the family home and asserts that the local authority should have known about the abuse and/or that they should have removed the claimant from the family home and into care earlier.
Across the UK, homelessness is an urgent crisis, and one that is set to grow amid the rising cost of living. Local authorities are at the forefront of responding to this crisis, but with a lack of properties that are suitable for social housing across the UK, vulnerable individuals and families are often housed in temporary accommodation.
Settlement agreements in an employment context are ordinarily used to provide both parties with certainty following the conclusion of an employment relationship – but what happens when there is alleged discrimination after entering into a settlement agreement?
Updates include UK Shared Prosperity Fund, contracts, Subsidy Control Bill, data controller liability, Government Covid-19 procurement and Highway Code revisions.
The complex and rather nebulous transitional subsidy control regime set out in the UK-EU Trade and Co-operation Agreement and the UK’s wider international commitments has made it difficult for public authorities and those working with them to proceed with certainty where subsidies are involved.
