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The LGA was mentioned 24 times in Parliament this week.
Parliamentary briefing on our adult social care green
paper
We continue to push our nationwide
consultation to kick-start a desperately-needed debate on how to pay for
adult social care and rescue our services from collapse. We have received over
250 responses, and we are encouraging as many people as possible to have their
say before 26 September. This week we were pleased to present our green paper
to parliamentarians from across the political spectrum. We know the
overwhelming majority of MPs and Peers agree
with us that additional funding should be allocated to adult social care
budgets, and so it was great to hear their thoughts on the potential measures
the Government could take forward to best achieve that. As the Treasury
prepares for the Budget and Spending Review our Chairman, Lord Porter, also
shared a copy of our green paper with the Chancellor in a meeting with him this
week.
For more information please contact Iredia.
Land Value Capture report published
As part of our campaigning for councils to have the planning
powers they need to play their part in tackling the housing crisis, we provided
evidence to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee’s inquiry
into land value capture. We are pleased
that the Committee’s final report calls for the Government to implement several
of our recommendations including on reforms to land compensation and compulsory
purchase laws, and on providing councils with extra support to ensure they have
a stronger hand in negotiations with developers.
For more information please contact Tom.
LGA gives evidence to
the APPG on FOBTs
On Wednesday, Cllr Simon Blackburn, Chair of the LGA Safer
and Stronger Communities Board gave evidence to the APPG on FOBTs regarding the
impact that delaying the implementation of the maximum stake reduction to £2
would have on local communities. The APPG also heard from experts in the gaming
industry, who advised that the process of reducing the maximum stake to £2
could take between 9 and 12 months.
For more information please contact Nina.
‘No
deal’ Brexit notices published
Earlier in the summer the Government began to publish its
guidance on how to prepare for Brexit in a ‘no deal’ scenario. Further
notes have now been published including on the European Regional Development
Fund and the European Social Fund, procurement, vehicles, data protection,
mobile roaming, environmental standards, travelling and trading. These sit
alongside notes previously published on imports and exports, food safety,
EU-funded programmes and state aid. We expect other notes to be published by
the end of September, and will continue to assess the implications for local
government as well as highlighting any issues we raised in our ‘no deal’ briefing
which are not yet addressed in the ‘no deal’ plans.
For more information please contact Nina.
Brexit in Parliament
It was once again a busy Brexit-related week in Parliament
this week. On Monday, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exiting
the EU, Suella Braverman MP, led a debate on legislating
for the Withdrawal Agreement. On the same day in Westminster Hall, Daniel
Zeichner MP (Labour, Cambridge) led a debate on the e-petition relating to rescinding
Article 50 if the Vote Leave campaign broke electoral laws. In the Lords on
Monday, Lord Foulkes of Cumnock asked a question on the opportunities
for young voters (those who have turned 18 since the EU referendum) to have
their say on the future relationship with the EU. On Tuesday there were
questions in the House of Lords on the Brexit
financial settlement, a no-deal
scenario, and a future
relationship with Europol. The Trade
Bill also had it Second Reading in the House of Lords.
For more information please contact Nina.
Agriculture Bill
The Government has published
its Agriculture Bill, which will eventually replace the Common Agricultural
Policy with a new system of environmental land management which pays public
money for public goods. In our response,
we promoted the role local government can play in the new system. This will
particularly be the case around issues such as environmental improvements,
rural resilience and public access where councils have significant expertise
and already have a role at a local level. MPs will debate the Bill on 10
October.
For more information, get in touch with Tom.
Chancellor gives evidence to Peers
On Tuesday, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond
MP, gave evidence
to the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee. During the session, the
Chancellor was questioned on a range of issues including Brexit,
apprenticeships and social care funding. Asked about the decline in
apprenticeship starts since the introduction of the apprenticeship levy, Mr
Hammond said it is a concern, but not entirely unexpected. On social care
funding, the Chancellor told Peers that the Government’s green paper would
start a conversation by looking at a range of funding options. Mr Hammond said
he could not yet confirm the date for the 2018 Budget.
For more information, get in touch with Tom.
Different types of
addiction in England and Wales
On Wednesday, Peers debated the impact of gambling
addictions on local authorities and the national economy. Lord Brooke of
Alverthorpe (Labour) referred to local authority budget cuts and suggested a 1
percent increase in alcohol duty, which should be ring-fenced for alcohol
treatment and given to local councils to try to recover some of the ground
which has been lost in recent years with an end to some of the offerings
available for alcohol treatment. LGA Vice-President, Lord Bishop of St Albans, focused
on the impact gambling had on our health system. Pointed to Simon Stevens
(Chief Executive of NHS England) statement that gambling addiction was adding
to the huge burden already on the NHS, he estimated that it was costing the NHS
£610 million per year.
For more information please contact Iredia.
PMQs
At this week’s PMQs,
the Leader of the Opposition, Jeremy Corbyn MP focused on the Government’s
Universal Credit policy. Pointing to an increase of 1.5 million children
falling into poverty and the Government’s own report which found families on
Universal Credit were struggling with debt and to pay bills, Mr Corbyn asked if
the Prime Minister would stop rolling out this policy. The Prime Minister explained
the Government had listened to feedback which led to changes made to reduce the
waiting days and the housing benefit overlap. The Prime Minister also explained
that Universal Credit was introduced to encourage people into work and pointed
to this week’s record unemployment figures.
For more information, get in touch with Nathan.
As we move to parliamentary recess and look to the party
conferences this weekend, you may find our conferences guides
useful.
Across the 2018 conferences, we will be helping to deliver a range of events, including debates, roundtables, and receptions. Our councillors will be debating topics such as economic growth, children’s services, housing, and adult social care, ensuring councils have a strong voice in policy discussions.
For more information on party conferences, contact Mel
If you have queries in relation to the items above or any other parliamentary issues, please feel free to get in touch with the Public Affairs team.
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