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Dear Colleague,
Welcome to the LGA Conservative Group’s newsletter, in which we highlight the latest information associated with COVID-19 and other topical issues.
Ahead of the National Day of Reflection, I would like to pay tribute to those who have lost their lives to coronavirus, also thank all NHS workers, council staff, and everyone who have helped others during this pandemic. Tomorrow, at 12pm, we will hold a minute’s silence to pay our respects.
Perhaps one of the biggest lessons we all have learned from this pandemic is that by working together we can achieve anything, including overcoming the greatest public health emergency of our lifetime.
On 11th March, I was delighted to welcome Lord Bourne (a member of the House of Lords Public Services Committee) to our Councillors’ Forum Group Meeting, where he delivered an interesting presentation on the Committee’s report, ‘A critical juncture for public services: lessons from Covid-19’.
Lord Bourne also highlighted two inquiries, ‘Levelling up’ and public services and ‘Child vulnerability’ and public services, which the Committee are currently undertaking, and councillors are welcome to submit evidence to.
To find out more about these inquires and how you can contribute to them please view the inquiries document. Mark Hudson at hudonm@parliament.uk will also be able to answer any questions you may have and inform you on how to submit your evidence to either inquiry.
On a slightly different note, following the Government’s roadmap, like myself, some of you may have started to campaign outdoors in a Covid-secure way for the next local elections. This short guide which has produced by the CCHQ’s Campaigning Department, shared by the CCA, provides some good information on dos and don’ts for campaigning during these times. I hope you will find it useful.
While mentioning the CCA, I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the CCA team and Board members for arranging a fantastic conference in early March.
It was great to see so many of you virtually and listen to our Prime Minister, the Secretary of State and MHCLG Ministers. The workshops were very informative too and provided us a great platform to share ideas.
I hope next year we can all get together and attend the CCA Conference in person.
Please do not hesitate to contact us, if there is anything I or our regional lead peers can do to assist.
You can find more details about our lead peers at the bottom of this newsletter.
Cllr Izzi Seccombe OBE
Leader, LGA Conservative Group |
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Serious violent crime funding
The Home Office will provide £130 million in funding to tackle serious violent crime in the coming year.
The package includes £30 million to support the police to take targeted action in parts of England and Wales most affected by serious violence and up to £23 million for new early intervention programmes aimed at young people. A further £10 million will expand domestic abuse perpetrator programmes previously announced in the Budget.
Green recovery
The second round of the Green Recovery Challenge fund has opened and will award up to £40 million in grants to environmental charities and their partners across England to retain and create jobs while restoring nature and tackling climate change.
Police and Crime Commissioner reforms
Ahead of the upcoming PCC elections in May, the Home Secretary, Priti Patel has announced a number of reforms to the role of Police and Crime Commissioners.
National Bus Strategy
The Government unveiled its National Bus Strategy which aims to introduce simpler fares, introduce more services, and provide greater integration across transport modes. Alongside the strategy will be £3 billion of public investment and it sets out the Government’s ambition to make every local transport authority and bus operator in England to be in a statutory Enhanced Partnership or a franchising arrangement, using existing powers in the Bus Services Act 2017.
High streets
The High Streets Task Force alliance has published its February 2021 insight report to understand the scale of the pandemic’s impact on town centres and high streets.
Best Practice
We are looking for examples of best practice from Conservative-run councils on a range of activities, including local test and trace schemes, supporting local businesses and high streets, as well helping local communities at a neighbourhood level.
The examples highlighted are obviously not exclusive and please do email us any best practice examples that you feel demonstrates how Conservative councils and councillors are supporting their communities during the latest phase of the pandemic.
Conservative Regional Lead Peers
The regional lead peers and the areas they cover are as follows:
- Lord Porter of Spalding CBE - National Lead Peer & Regional Lead Peer for the South East
- Councillor Paul Middlebrough - Regional Lead Peer for the South West, Hampshire and Isle of Wight
- Councillor William Nunn - Regional Lead Peer for the East of England
- Councillor Teresa O’Neill OBE - Regional Lead Peer for London
- Councillor Glen Sanderson JP - Regional Lead Peer for the East Midlands, North East and Yorkshire & Humber
- Councillor Mike Wilcox - Regional Lead Peer for the West Midlands and North West.
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