Highlights

The LGA was mentioned 26 times in Parliament this week.

APPG on Children

This week, Cllr Anntoinette Bramble, Chair of our Children and Young People’s Board, spoke at the All Party Parliamentary Group for Children (APPG) panel discussion and question and answer session as part of their inquiry into children’s social care. This follows the APPG’s report, ‘Storing Up Trouble: A postcode lottery of children’s social care’, published in July 2018. Cllr Bramble highlighted the role of councils in providing early intervention support to children and families and said that the current funding gap facing councils’ children’s services of £3 billion by 2025. Coupled with a growing demand for services, this is creating a challenging environment for councils. The Minister for Children and Families, Nadhim Zahawi MP also attended the event and said that councils were best placed to assess the needs of individual families. He also outlined the Government’s innovation funding to councils which he said was leading to better interventions and improved services.

 For more information get in touch with Iredia

Debate on Social Care Funding

Ahead of Wednesday’s Social Care Funding Opposition day debate, we briefed MPs on our priorities for adult social care. During the debate, Andrew Gwynne MP (Labour, Denton and Reddish) cited our adult social care funding gap estimates of £3.5 billion by 2025 and said the Government should consider the responses that our adult social care green paper received. In response, Caroline Dinenage MP (Minister for Care), stated the importance of cross-party working on this issue and explained the Government had given councils up to £9.64 billion more funding for social care over the three years up to 2019-20.  

For more information get in touch with Nathan

MPs debate Universal Credit

On Wednesday Labour MPs tabled a debate on Universal Credit, raising concerns about both the delay to the roll-out of the new welfare system, and for the impact that the new system is having for some of their constituents. Speaking in the debate, Shabana Mahmood MP (Labour, Birmingham Ladywood) highlighted the cost of welfare reform to local government and called on the Department for Work and Pensions to “accurately reflect what is happening on the ground”. As part of the debate, Peter Aldous MP (Conservative, Waveney) drew on lines from our briefing and called for local support to be decided locally and not through a top-down approach. Closing the debate the Minister Alok Sharma MP said that the Government would continue to roll out universal credit and work to support the most vulnerable.

For more information get in touch with Nina

Mental Capacity (Amendment) Bill  

The House of Lords  debated the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Bill  this week. The Bill seeks to reform the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLs) system in adult social care and children’s services. The second day of Committee debate covered a range of issues, including the role of care home managers. The Minister, Lord O’Shaughnessy, committed to remove the responsibility for care home managers in completing pre-authorisation reviews. He also pledged to amend the Bill so that the safeguards applied to 16 and 17 year olds and acknowledged feedback about the lack of engagement with stakeholders so far on the Bill saying that the Department would “do better” to listen to stakeholders’ concerns. Our briefing to Peers includes a summary of our priorities for the Bill.

For more information get in touch with Iredia

MPs approve Rating and Council Tax Bill

MPs have approved measures which will further strengthen councils’ ability to incentivise owners of long-term empty homes to bring them back into use. During the final debate on the Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Homes Premium) Bill, MPs approved an amendment to enable councils to levy up to 200 per cent council tax premium on homes that have been empty for between five and 10 years and up to 300 per cent premium on homes that have been empty for 10 years or more. This is in addition to existing plans to allow councils to double the council tax premium for homes that have been empty for two years or more.

For more information get in touch with Tom

MPs debate housing and home ownership

Neil O’Brien MP (Conservative, Harborough), led a debate on Tuesday into housing and home ownership, for which we issued a briefing. Mr O’Brien spoke about the need to ensure adequate infrastructure accompanies new housing development, and raised the idea of devolving further transport powers beyond mayoral combined authorities. MPs across the House welcomed the removal of the Housing Revenue Account borrowing cap, and expressed their desire to see councils building homes at scale. The Housing Minister, Kit Malthouse MP, insisted the Government wants to empower councils to make effective use of existing land for development.

For more information get in touch with Tom

MPs debate Childhood Obesity

At this week’s debate on childhood obesity, MPs stressed the need for urgent action as the UK is now the third most obese nation in the world. MPs also called on the Government to increase funding to local authority public health budgets. In response, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Public Health and Primary Care, Steve Brine MP, referred to his announcement about a trailblazer programme which he announced at the LGA Annual Conference in July. This would involve working closely with local authorities to find solutions to barriers at local level to address childhood obesity.  

For more information get in touch with Iredia

PMQs

At PMQs this week, the Leader of the Opposition, Jeremy Corbyn MP asked the Prime Minister if the Government were still negotiating on the basis of the Chequers plan and would they still have to pay a divorce bill of over £30 billion to the EU if no deal was reached. The Prime Minister replied that the Chequers plan is still underpinning the Government’s negotiations. Backbench contributions of interest to local government include adult social care, hate crime in schools, and Universal Credit.

 For more information get in touch with Nathan

Consultations

Implementing reforms to the leasehold system

This consultation is seeking views on how to implement the government’s reforms to the leasehold system in England to improve the housing market for consumers

This consultation closes on 26/11/2018

 Ethnicity pay reporting

This consultation is seeking views on ethnicity pay reporting by employers

This consultation closes 11/01/2019

Looking ahead

Monday 22 October

• Mental Capacity (Amendment) Bill, Committee Stage (Day 3), House of Lords
• Defence (including Topical Questions), House of Commons
• Debate on e-petition 221033 relating to autism and learning disability training for healthcare professionals, Daniel Zeichner MP (Labour, Cambridge), House of Commons
• Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, High streets and town centres in 2030, evidence from Edward Cooke (Chief Executive, REVO), Mark Williams (Director, Hark Group), Roddy Bushell (Estate Director, Fitzwilliam Malton Estate), Dominic Williams (Director, Hewdon Consulting), Harry Burchill (Planning Policy Officer, Royal Town Planning Institute), Craig Rowbottom (Development and Planning Manager North West, Birmingham City Council), Julian Dobson (Director, Urban Pollinators), House of Commons
• Fourth Delegated Legislation Committee, Draft Newcastle Upon Tyne, North Tyneside and Northumberland Combined Authority (Establishment and Functions) Order 2018, House of Commons
• Question on reports received on information about (1) outside interference in, and (2) irregularities in the conduct of the EU referendum, Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Labour), House of Lords
• Question on reducing youth crime in London, Baroness Hussein-Ece (Liberal Democrat), House of Lords

 Tuesday 23 October

• Rural Economy Committee, witnesses include Cllr Hawthorne, Cllr Bob Egerton (Cornwall Council), Cllr Sue Baxter (National Association of Local Councils), House of Lords
• Health and Social Care (including Topical Questions), House of Commons
• Sixth Delegated Legislation Committee, draft West of England Combined Authority (Adult Education Functions) Order and the draft Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (Adult Education Functions) Order, House of Commons
• Environmental Audit Committee, Sustainable Development Goals in the UK follow-up, evidence from Kath Delmany (Chief Executive, Sustain, on behalf of End Hunger UK), Lindsay Boswell (Chief Executive, FareShare), Anna Taylor (Executive Director, The Food Foundation), Adam Smith (The Real Junk Food Project), Iain Bell (Deputy National Statistician, ONS), Oliver Dowden CBE MP (Minister for Implementation, Cabinet Office), David Rutley MP (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Food and Animal Welfare, DEFRA), Rt Hon Lord Bates (DFID), Justin Tomlinson MP (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Family Support, Housing and Child Maintenance, DWP), House of Commons
• Education Committee, special educational needs and disabilities, evidence from Justin Cooke (Policy and Public Affairs Manager, Ambitious about Autism), Matt Keer (Parent & contributor to the Special Needs Jungle website), Julie Cordiner (Education Funding Specialist, School Financial Success), Alyson Shields (Head of Education and Supported Learning, New College Durham), Helen Wallace (Headteacher, Thameside Primary School), David Clarke (Deputy Director for Education, Oxfordshire County Council), Jackie Lown (Head of Children and Young People, Specialist Services, East Riding of Yorkshire Council), House of Commons
• Home Affairs Committee, Modern Slavery, evidence from Kate Roberts (Head of Office, Human Trafficking Foundation), Philippa Roberts (Director of Legal Policy, Hope for Justice), Klara Skrivankova (UK and Europe Programme Manager, Anti-Slavery International), Kevin Hyland (former Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner), House of Commons
• Agriculture Bill, Second Reading, House of Commons
• Question on food security following Brexit, Lord Bishop of St Albans (Crossbench), House of Lords
• Debate on report from the Science and Technology Committee ‘Life Sciences Industrial Strategy: Who’s driving the bus?’ Lord Patel (Crossbench), House of Lords
• Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Bill, Committee stage, House of Lords
• Voyeurism (Offences) (No.2) Bill, Second Reading, House of Lords
• Economic Affairs Committee, social care funding in England evidence from Warwick Lightfood (Head of Economics and Social Policy, Policy Exchange), Kathryn Petrie (Senior Economist, Social Market Foundation), Harry Quilter-Pinner (Research Fellow, Institute for Public Policy Research, IPPR), House of Lords
• Intergenerational Fairness and Provision Committee, Intergenerational Fairness and Provision, evidence from Isobel Stephen (Housing Supply Director, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government), Simon Gallagher (Planning Director, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government), Hardip Begol (Director, Integration and Communities, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government), House of Lords
• EU Energy and Environment Sub-Committee, no deal preparations: energy and environment, evidence from Rt Hon Claire Perry MP (Minister of State for Energy and Clean Growth, BEIS), Jonathan Holyoak (Director, EU Energy and Climate Change, BEIS), House of Lords

 Wednesday 24 October

•  Debate on school funding, Anne Main MP (Conservative, St Albans), House of Commons
• Debate on asylum seekers’ right to work, Dame Caroline Spelman MP (Conservative, Meridan), House of Commons
• Debate on poverty in Liverpool, Luciana Berger MP (Labour, Liverpool, Wavetree), House of Commons
• Ten Minute Rule Motion on housing reform, Richard Bacon MP (Conservative, South Norfolk), House of Commons
• Treasury Committee, work of the Treasury, evidence from Sir Tom Scholar (Permanent Secretary, HM Treasury), Kate Ivers (Acting Finance Director, HM Treasury), House of Commons
• Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, the work of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, evidence from Jeremy Wright MP (Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport), House of Commons
• Women and Equalities Committee, Tackling inequalities faced by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities, evidence from Dave Brown (Director, Migration Yorkshire), Councillor Jim Steinke (Cabinet member for Neighbourhoods and Community Safety, Sheffield City Council), Colin Havard (Community Development Co-ordinator, Sheffield City Council), Michal Daniel (Roma Community Care), House of Commons
• Work and Pensions Committee, Universal Credit rollout, evidence from Steven McIntosh (Director of UK Poverty Policy, Advocacy and Campaigns, Save the Children), Dalia Ben-Galim (Director of Policy, Gingerbread), Joe Shalam (Researcher, Centre for Social Justice), House of Commons
• Public Accounts Committee, Department for Transport: Implementation for Brexit, evidence from Bernadette Kelly (Permanent Secretary, Department for Transport), Lucy Chadwick (Director General, Department for Transport), House of Commons
• Question on access to treatment in Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services, Baroness Tyler of Enfield (Liberal Democrat), House of Lords
• Question on whether forecasts for the UK economy show a better outcome if the UK were to remain in the EU than if it were to leave, Lord Strasburger (Liberal Democrat), House of Lords
• Non-Domestic Rating (Nursery Grounds) Bill, Third Reading, House of Lords
• Data Retention and Acquisition Regulations 2018, House of Lords
• European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2018, House of Lords
• Greater Manchester Combined Authority (Adult Education Functions) Order 2018; Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (Adult Education Functions) Order 2018; Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (Adult Education Functions) Order 2018; Tees Valley Combined Authority (Adult Education Functions) Order 2018; West Midlands Combined Authority (Adult Education Functions) Order 2018; West of England Combined Authority (Adult Education Functions) Order 2018, House of Lords

 Thursday 25 October

• Exiting the European Union (including Topical Questions), House of Commons
• Debate on Inclusive Transport Strategy, House of Commons
• Tenth Delegated Legislation Committee, Draft EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (Consequential Amendments) Regulations, House of Commons
• Adjournment debate on the effect of M26 road closures, Tom Tugendhat MP (Conservative, Tonbridge and Malling), House of Commons
• Debate on the case for a People’s Vote on the outcome of the negotiations between the UK and the EU on the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, House of Lords
• Debate on building more affordable housing, Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat), House of Lords

 Friday 26 October

•  Private Members’ Bills, House of Commons
• Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Bill, Karen Buck MP (Labour, Westminster North), House of Commons
• Private Members’ Bills, House of Lords

Get in touch

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.