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Dear Colleague,
This week, we continued to highlight the financial pressures facing councils with rising inflation continuing to increase the cost of providing services to our communities and impacting on budgets. While additional government funding such as the latest round of levelling up funding announced last week have been helpful, we continue to make clear that one-off pots of funding are not a sustainable approach to economic development or public service delivery and restrict the ability of local leaders to deliver for their residents and places.
LGA Chairman, Cllr James Jamieson highlighted the impact of competitive bidding funds in an article in the Financial Times this week, arguing that they limit councils’ ability to plan long term for local areas. He highlighted the time and resources placed in submitting each application with each application costing a council, on average, £30,000. He added that to bid for every single government fund would cost about £2.25 million a year. It was therefore good to hear the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove’s, speech to the Convention of the North this week confirm that he was open to the idea of refining funding for levelling up, and giving local communities more control for their communities. It was also positive to hear his recognition of the need to reduce the bureaucracy involved the competitive bidding process involved in funding councils and his work with the Chancellor to simplifying funding allocations and extend local government autonomy.
The Secretary of State also updated Parliament on some key areas of the Government levelling up plan. He outlined progress on Investment Zones, Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects, and announced plans to introduce secondary legislation setting up two new mayoral development corporations in Tees Valley, and plans for new measures to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour. On Investment Zones, he stated that the process to identify where zones will be located will begin shortly. He went on to say that the Government will publish an Action Plan setting out reforms to the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects regime to streamline and speed up the consenting process. The Secretary of State also said that government was exploring options to devolve more power, including in areas like housing, to Greater Manchester and the West Midlands Combined Authorities with talks already underway. Lastly, he announced plans for a multi-faceted plan for new measures to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour.
Elsewhere, we continue to make clear that there is no place for abuse and intimidation of elected councillors and public officials in our democracy. Cllr Marianne Overton, Vice Chair of the LGA and Chair of the Civility in Public Life Steering Group, was featured on national and regional news this week, speaking about the LGA’s Debate Not Hate campaign which encourages healthy debate and raises the profile of the role of councillors. Explaining how debate can be used as a tool to overcome differences, Cllr Overton called for a culture change in our politics and for all voices to be heard as part of our public debate.
Finally, communities are coming together today to mark Holocaust Memorial Day and remember victims of the Holocaust and other genocides that have taken place around the world. The theme of this year is Ordinary People which prompts us to consider how people can play a bigger part than we might imagine in challenging prejudice today. The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust has made available advice, guidance and free resources to support local organisations, including a ‘Get Involved Guide’ for councils.
Office for Local Government
The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has announced the appointment of Lord Morse as the new interim chair of the Office for Local Government (Oflog). It is expected that Lord Morse will oversee the establishment of the Oflog, advising on the immediate delivery and strategic direction of the office for a period of 18 months. The LGA looks forward to working closely with Lord Morse on advising and supporting Oflog to ensure it meets the needs of local government, the Government, and the public.
King Charles III Coronation
The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove, has written setting out opportunities for councils and communities to plan local events ahead of the Coronation ceremony for His Majesty King Charles III on Saturday, 6 May 2023, at Westminster Abbey:
As with the Platinum Jubilee celebrations in 2022, the Department for Digital, Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) will launch a Coronation website with resources and an interactive map. This will be publicised once available.
Mental health funding
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced £150 million in government funding to build 150 new facilities to support mental health urgent and emergency care services. The new projects include over 30 schemes providing crisis cafes, crisis houses and other similar safe spaces, as well as over 20 new or improved health-based places of safety which provide a safe space for people detained by the police.
Made with Care campaign
DHSC are currently running a national recruitment campaign ‘Made with Care’ to raise awareness of the rewarding nature of care work and aiming to increase the number of quality applicants to social care roles. Free resources have been made available to employers to support local recruitment campaigns, saving local employers time and resources.
Archbishop’s Commission on social care
The Archbishop’s Commission on reimagining England’s social care system has published its Care and Support Reimagined: a National Care Covenant for England report. The report calls for a National Care Covenant to set out the responsibilities of everyone involved in care and support and suggests tax rises to fund a new universal social care system. The Archbishop of York has also called for checks on “unscrupulous people making profit inappropriately” from social care. We have said that the report rightly highlights the importance of shifting the narrative on ageing and disability, as well as building better attitudes towards social care and the people who draw on it. It is essential that people are trusted to manage their own care and decide what help they need.
NHS Knowledge and Library Hub
A reminder that NHS-funded, public health and social care colleagues can get free access to a collection of trusted health and care resources using the NHS Knowledge and Library Hub. On the Hub, colleagues can access evidence and information from thousands of relevant journals, e-books, study aids, NICE guidelines and more.
JCVI vaccination advice
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has advised government that plans should be made for those at higher risk of severe COVID-19 to be offered a booster vaccination this autumn. For a smaller group of people, such as those who are older and those with a weakened immune system, an extra booster vaccine dose may be offered in Spring 2023. They have also recommended that the offer of a non-seasonal booster dose for people aged 16 to 49 years, who are not in a clinical risk group (including people who are pregnant or have an underlying health condition) will also end in England on 12 February, except with clinical discretion.
Cross-sector health partnerships
The Institute for Voluntary Action Research (IVAR) are inviting expressions of interest in the next phase of their Connecting Health Communities programme. This is a two-year facilitation support package for cross-sector partnerships who would like to engage their community in addressing health inequalities. You can find more information and the deadline for expressions of interest is 5pm on 24 February.
Energy Bill Support Scheme - Alternative Funding
Energy Bill Support Scheme Alternative Funding was announced in December. This scheme covers households who are not eligible for the Energy Bill Support Scheme as they do not have a direct relationship with a domestic electricity supplier such as residents of park homes and some care home residents. The scheme was due to have commenced on Monday 23 January. BEIS wrote to councils on 26 January stating that they are committed to opening the scheme for applications by 27 February at the absolute latest. They are working to prepare local authorities to launch from 20 February, allowing some additional contingency time, if necessary. In the next two weeks they plan to circulate guidance on the scheme, details on the digital management solution which will be used to upload applications from gov.uk, data sharing agreements and grant determination letters covering funding to local authorities for support payments and New Burdens funding. For further details please contact energybillssupportschemealternativefunding@beis.gov.uk
Poverty trends
Joseph Rowntree Foundation has published its annual poverty report highlighting trends in poverty across the UK. The report finds that 13.4 million people were in poverty during 2020/21 including 3.9 million children and highlights the role of councils in addressing poverty. We said that the Government should make the Household Support Fund permanent, alongside greater flexibility to ensure this helps those in the greatest need and crucially shift focus from short-term crisis support to investing in prevention. Councils should also have the resources and flexibilities to tackle inequalities in housing, employment, education and to improve access to services such as debt advice and welfare benefits, to improve our communities’ overall health.
No Recourse to Public Funds
The Centre on Migration, Policy and Society at the University of Oxford is undertaking research into local authority spending and provision for adults, children and families with No Recourse to Public Funds. The anonymised research will provide an overview of local authority provision around NRPF across the UK, building on a 2015 study which had a large number of councils contributing and could provide an evidence base of the impacts on councils of the currently unfunded statutory support. The researchers are keenly aware of capacity pressures and are offering, in return, the opportunity to participate in knowledge exchange work that could inform local implementation, policy and service design. The survey is also being sent to council officers via SMPs and the NRPF Network, with a deadline of 3 March. Any queries can be sent to lucy.leon@compas.ox.ac.uk
Integrating refugees
Councils have a huge amount of experience in settling new arrivals in their areas. The independent Commission on the Integration of Refugees is inviting submissions for their review which is seeking recommendations for changes on how the current refugee and asylum system supports integration. Commissioners include Baroness Brenda Hale, Baroness Julia Neuberger, David Simmonds MP and Carolyn Downs, CEO in Brent. The review runs until 31 March 2023 and further detail can be found on Commission's website
Deposit Return Scheme
Plans to introduce a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for drinks containers from October 2025 have been announced by Government. Under the proposals, supermarkets will host "reverse vending machines" where plastic bottles and cans will be returned for money. In our response, we have said that while we welcome the announcement of further details for how the DRS would work, we need clarity on how the implementation of DRS will work alongside other planned waste reforms, such as the plans for packagers to pay for waste processing.
While DRS is another way of collecting waste, it does not reduce the amount of packaging or require producers and retailers to reduce the amount of waste. We want to prioritise plans to reduce the amount of waste produced in the first place. With the likelihood that the public will continue to rely on councils to collect the vast majority of their household waste, we have expressed our disappointment that a digital DRS system will not be taken forward as a cheaper option in closer step with the current waste system.
Decarbonising Local Roads
Government has announced £30 million in funding for innovative projects to decarbonise UK highways. Seven local highways authorities have been awarded funding through the Live Labs 2: Decarbonising Local Roads competition. The winning projects include cutting carbon emissions from streetlights to replacing asphalt with material made from green waste. Other projects plan to drive changes to the design, construction, and maintenance of typical UK highway construction, as well as other innovations on green infrastructure delivery.
Greenhouse Gas Accounting Suite of Tools
The Greenhouse Gas Accounting Tool has been developed by Local Partnerships, working with the LGA, to provide a straightforward and consistent approach for councils seeking to calculate their own carbon baseline. Alongside the tool is a Waste Emissions Calculator that has been developed by Cambridgeshire County Council and UCL on the LGA Net Zero Innovation Programme. If you have any questions or suggestions for improvement in relation to the tool and/or the calculator, please contact ghgaccounting@localpartnerships.gov.uk.
NAO 2021/22 Audited Accounts Report
This week the National Audit Office (NAO) published a report on the timeliness of local auditor reporting. This progress report follows up on a report published in March 2021. In their latest report, the NAO makes it clear that local audit is in crisis, as we highlighted in our press statement in response, with only 12 per cent of 2021/22 accounts being finalised in line with the extended timetable for the completion of audits. This is despite most councils completing their draft accounts on time.
While the NAO makes it clear that some progress has been made in addressing some of the underlying issues, we are calling on the Government to set out a detailed timetable by which it expects to restore timely audited accounts. This is in line with the request made by the Public Accounts Committee in its report following the original 2021 NAO report.
Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) Finance Tool
Following the publication of the 2023/24 Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement in December, the IFS has updated its local government finance model to reflect the provisional settlement, and Government plans for 2024/25 as set in a policy statement on 12 December. It’s a free online tool which includes IFS medium and long-term projections of the revenues and spending of each council in England. Developed by the IFS, in collaboration with CIPFA and the District Council Network, and funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, the model is intended to support councils in their medium-term financial planning and particularly to aid in the sensitivity analysis.
Data sharing with HMRC
HMRC have advised that the long-standing LGA-HMRC data sharing memorandum of understanding (MoU), which facilitates data sharing between HMRC and councils that opt into it, will in future be replaced by equivalent MoUs between HMRC and individual councils. This is because HMRC is now seeking more detailed information about participating councils’ assurance processes which requires engaging directly with councils.
We are seeking confirmation that the change will not impact councils’ ability to access HMRC data for the purposes of preventing crime and fraud and that the new process will not be unduly burdensome. Please email ellie.greenwood@local.gov.uk if you have any questions or concerns.
Social worker survey
The Employer Standards survey has now closed for 2022, and we have received over 15,000 responses from 150 organisations. The Health Check is important to understand the experiences of social workers and occupational therapists, and how they view the employer standards. The Employer Standards for Social Workers and The Employer Standards for Occupational Therapists were drafted in collaboration with 16 stakeholders across the profession.
The Health Check will help each council and organisation understand how social workers perceive their working environment. Each organisation will receive a report that will highlight key insights from the survey responses as well as areas that councils can improve to help address some of the recruitment and retention challenges they are facing.
Digital inclusion model for councils
Last week, we were delighted to read UKAuthority’s article highlighting the digital inclusion work by Leeds City Council, funded by our Digital Pathfinders Programme.
The 100 per cent Digital Leeds team created a 50-page best practice model to guide councils through the stages of building partnerships between services and organisations that support residents getting online. The Digital Pathfinders Programme 2021/2022 awarded up to £20,000 per council to fund pioneering solutions to improve digital inclusion, connectivity or cyber security. Each project is contributing towards service transformation to meet the needs of local communities.
The LGA is running a Digital Showcase later this year to spotlight some of the excellent work councils are doing to redesign and improve their services and ways of working, using digital tools and solutions.
LGA General Assembly
The General Assembly - the 'Parliament of Local Government' - meets once a year. All authorities in membership are eligible to attend and to vote. The General Assembly elects the political leadership of the LGA, receives the annual report and accounts and may debate motions on issues of national significance to local government. This year the meeting will take place on Tuesday 4 July, at 11.45 am at the Bournemouth International Centre (BIC) immediately ahead of the opening of our not-to-be-missed Annual Conference. An agenda and papers will be circulated by email by Tuesday, 20 June 2023.
In March, we will write to you inviting your local authority to appoint representatives to the General Assembly for 2023. The deadline for submitting appointments is Wednesday 7 June 2023.
The annual meeting also provides an opportunity for discussion of motions calling on the Association to take action on major strategic policy issues. Local authorities in LGA membership are invited to submit motions by 5 pm on Wednesday 3 May 2023, to memberservices@local.gov.uk.
Guidance on motions is available on the LGA’s website. The LGA Board determines which motions will be debated at General Assembly. Further information on the General Assembly, including the latest timetable, can be found on our website alternatively, please contact memberservices@local.gov.uk or telephone Fatima de Abreu at 07464 652721 / David Pealing at 07920 230092.
Joint SLCC and LGRC survey on Local Government
The Society Of Local Council Clerks (SLCC) has collaborated with the Local Governance Research Centre (LGRC) at De Montfort University (DMU) to conduct a survey of parish, town and community council clerks across England and Wales. This is the first comprehensive, national survey of the local council sector in more than thirty years. It reveals how town and parish councils have changed.
Events
LGA National Construction Conference (in-person)
Thursday 2 February, London
The LGA’s national construction conference will be held in-person in London with speakers from local government, BEIS, Cabinet Office and industry and will look at how the combination of climate change, a cost-of-living crisis and global political instability continues to impact the UK’s construction industry and councils’ delivery of construction projects. This event will also be repeated in Leeds on Tuesday 7 March.
LGA Annual Licensing Conference 2023 (in-person)
Wednesday 8 February, London
The LGA’s annual licensing conference provides an unrivalled opportunity to discuss all the key strategic and practical developments that are expected to affect councils’ licensing committees and teams over the next year.
Net Zero Innovation Programme 2021/22 Showcase (virtual)
Thursday 9 February, 10.00am–12.00pm
The Net Zero Innovation Programme brings together local authorities, universities, and other stakeholders to address climate challenges at the local level and seeks routes to achieve councils' net zero commitments. In this webinar we will hear how some of the partnerships approached this and what they created through the programme.
Economic Growth Advisers Programme: 2022/23 Showcase (virtual)
Tuesday 28 February, 10.30am–12.00pm
This webinar will spotlight economic growth case studies undertaken by local authorities through the Economic Growth Advisers (EGA) programme. The EGA programme provides bespoke support to councils in areas related to economic growth through an adviser procured by the LGA.
Speakers will discuss the challenges and opportunities they have experienced to grow their local economy through these case studies and the lessons learned from setting out a roadmap to deliver these projects.
Visit our Economic Growth Support Hub to find out more about our support offer to councils and to access case studies, e learning content, and information about upcoming events.
LGA Behavioural Insights programme: tackling post pandemic challenges and the cost-of-living crisis (virtual)
Tuesday 14 March, 11.15am–1.00pm
The Local Government Association is hosting a webinar about how we can use behavioural change techniques in our council services to work with communities and change their behaviour.
The event will feature councils that have used behavioural change techniques to tackle their key challenges. Themes include how councils are changing behaviours relating to the cost-of-living crisis, for example through supporting residents to reduce their energy consumption and increase take-up of home retrofitting measures. Councils will also share how they are using behaviour change techniques to support young people to access tools to improve their mental health. If you have any further questions, please contact behaviouralinsights@local.gov.uk
Sustainability in council services - Show and Tell (virtual)
Thursday 16 March, 10.30am–12.00pm
The LGA has commissioned the Zero Carbon Britain team at the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) to undertake an exciting project to develop draft route maps for councils across England to understand how to embed sustainability across some council service areas. Through a series of workshops that brought together voices from across councils to contribute expertise in how service areas and operations work in reality, this webinar will explore what was discussed, provide space for feedback and questions as well as explaining what the next steps for the project are.
LGA Annual Culture, Tourism and Sport Conference 2023 (hybrid)
Wednesday 15 March, London
The conference will explore the contribution culture, tourism and sport make to the levelling up agenda and the role these vital services play in tackling inequalities and supporting our national recovery from COVID-19.
Building Safety Conference (in-person)
Wednesday 22 March, London
The new Building Safety Regulator (BSR) is hosting its first Building Safety Conference. The Building Safety Act 2022 set out in April last year an ambitious programme of major reforms to building safety and standards that will drive lasting cultural change in the design, construction, and management of buildings.
The keynote speakers will help you explore and understand the core elements of the Building Safety Act 2022, including the role of the Accountable Person and Principle Accountable Person, and the crucial importance of the ‘Golden Thread’ of information. We encourage anyone with responsibilities for building safety to attend. It is an excellent opportunity to hear directly from the new Regulator about the important changes that will come into effect from April 2023 and how to prepare for the impacts the reforms will have on them and their organisations.
Domestic Abuse Commissioner's Conference (in-person)
Tuesday 28–Wednesday 29 March, The Midland Hotel, Manchester
The Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England and Wales, Nicole Jacobs, is holding a ‘Festival of Practice’ conference. This free event will spotlight innovative, collaborative, and impactful responses to domestic abuse.
I hope this end of the week update is helpful. Do stay in contact with your principal adviser and let us know if there is anything further that we can do to support your council.
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Best wishes,
Mark Lloyd CBE
Chief Executive
Local Government Association
@MarkLloydLGA
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