Local Authority round-up 17/12/18

Brexit

Theresa May attends EU summit

On 13 December 2018 Theresa May arrived in Brussels to discuss the problems she faces with the 27 member states. On arrival, Mrs May confirmed that the party would prefer “to go into [the next general election] with another leader.” The next scheduled general election is in 2022. Mrs May travelled to Brussels to “assuage” the concerns of Conservative MPs who voted against her by seeking legal “assurances” from EU leaders that the backstop plan to prevent the return of a hard border in Northern Ireland would be temporary. However, European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said there could be clarifications but no renegotiation and urged the UK to set out more clearly what it wants.

For more information, please click here and here.

Prime Minister wins confidence vote

Theresa May has won a confidence vote on her leadership by 200 votes to 117, or 63% of the ballot. Speaking after the victory was announced, Mrs May said she has a “renewed mission” to deliver “the Brexit people voted for.” Opposition leader Jeremey Corbyn said the vote had “changed nothing”, arguing the Government was still “in chaos.” Meanwhile DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds, whose party props up the Conservatives in Government said: “I don’t think this vote really changes anything very much in terms of arithmetic.”

For more information, please click here and here.

Prime Minister postpones ‘meaningful vote’

Theresa May has taken the decision to postpone the House of Commons (HOC) vote on the Withdrawal Agreement, which had been schedule to take place on Tuesday 11 December and will be delayed until 21 January 2019 at the latest. Speaking in the HOC on 10 December, Mrs May admitted the deal would be “rejected by a significant margin” and that the main area of concern is the Irish backstop. This means section 13(4) of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 is not yet engaged and the Government is not obliged to make a statement as to any contingency plans it has in the absence of Parliamentary approval for its negotiated deal.

For more information, please click here.

UK can cancel Brexit decision, European Court of Justice (ECJ) rules

On 10 December the ECJ confirmed that Article 50 must be interpreted as follows: (1) A member state can revoke its withdrawal notice unilaterally, in an unequivocal and unconditional manner, by a notice addressed to the European Council in writing, after the member state has taken the revocation decision in accordance with its constitutional requirements; (2) the possibility of revocation exists until the Withdrawal Agreement enters into force, or, failing that, until the expiry of the two-year Article 50 period and any extension of it; (3) revocation reflects the member state’s sovereign decision to retain its status as an EU member state, a state which is neither suspended nor altered by its withdrawal notice.

For more information, please click here.

Committee publishes report on progress of the UK’s negotiations on EU withdrawal

The HOC Exiting the European Committee has published a report which concludes the following: (1) there are no realistic, long-term proposals from the Government to reconcile maintaining an open border on the island of Ireland with leaving the single market and customs union; (2) a timeframe for ratification and implementation of a future relationship before the end of 2020 is likely to be unrealistic. The post- Brexit negotiations could take significantly longer because the Government has yet to set out clear objectives for the future relationship that are realistic, workable and have the support of Parliament; (3) it is imperative that objectives for the future EU-UK internal and external security relationships are settled as early as possible.

For more information, please click here.

Government publishes policy paper on EU citizens’ rights in the UK in a ‘no-deal’ Brexit

On 6 December 2018, the Government published a policy paper which guarantees to protect the rights of EU citizens and their family members living in the UK by 29 March 2019, even if the UK leaves the EU without a deal. However, the European Parliament’s Brexit coordinator, Guy Verhofstadt, said the offer was a “watered-down” version of the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement. The paper confirms that in a ‘no-deal’ scenario the UK would continue to run the EU Settlement Scheme but only for those EU nationals and their family members resident in the UK by 29 March 2019, not 31 December 2020, as there would be no agreed implementation period.

For more information, please click here.

We have recently created a Brexit checklist to assist businesses with the various challenges and opportunities presented by Brexit. Please click here to view.

Commercial

Local Government Association (LGA) publishes Brexit related advice

The LGA has published a briefing on democratic accountability and devolution in England in light of Brexit. Key messages from the briefing include: (1) national and local government should consider how communities in England can take greater control over the public service and investment decisions that affect their lives; (2) bringing power and resources closer to people is the key to giving local leaders the ability to deliver better outcomes for their communities and drive inclusive growth across the country; (3) repatriating EU legislation should be an opportunity to identify legislation and regulations that might be amended to provide local leaders with greater flexibility to tailor national requirement to benefit local communities and businesses.

For more information, please click here.

Councils awarded funding to find digital solutions to improve public services

Councils have been awarded £1.3 million to find solutions for how digital technology such as chatbots, artificial intelligence and one-stop shop websites can improve services for the public. 16 projects were awarded grants of up to £100,000, with 57 councils working in teams to shape new digital services and explore the potential of modern technology. For example, Gateshead Council and 2 partners were awarded £75,865 to fix complexity in taxi licensing applications and Sunderland Council and 4 partners were awarded £77,000 to understand the best way to enable people moving into an area to have to only contact the council once to set up all services, such as council tax and bin collections.

For more information, please click here.

Government to table key amendment to the Fisheries Bill

Michael Gove has announced a proposed amendment to the Fisheries Bill which will enshrine its commitment to secure a fairer share of fishing opportunities for UK fishermen. The amendment will place a legal obligation on the Secretary of State, when negotiating a fisheries agreement with the EU, to pursue a fairer share of fishing opportunities than the UK currently receives under the Common Fisheries Policy. In addition to strengthening the law, Mr Gove announced £37.2 million of extra funding to boost the UK fishing industry during the Implementation Period and that the Government will put in place new, domestic, long-term arrangements to support the UK’s fishing industry from 2021, through the creation of four new schemes to deliver funding to each nation.

For more information, please click here.

Regulatory

LGA responds to rough sleeping action plan

On 8 December 2018 Communities Secretary James Brokenshire unveiled an action plan to help people off the streets and meet its target to end homelessness for good by 2027. The plan includes a £11 million fund opened for councils across the country to support local people into safe accommodation where they can turn their lives around and builds upon concrete Government action to create a further 1,750 beds and 500 additional outreach workers. Responding to the new measures, Councillor Martin Tett said: “Any extra investment will help local efforts to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping. Proper resourcing of Government funding is essential if we are going to end rising homelessness.”

For more information, please click here.

Council fined thousands after pleading guilty to disease outbreak

Tendring District Council has been fined £27,000 and ordered to pay costs of £7,500 after it pleaded guilty to a health and safety breach when an outbreak of Legionnaires disease left a man with Legionnaires’ disease, pneumonia and chronic kidney failure. The council was fined by Colchester Magistrates’ Court after an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive found the council had failed to adequately manage the water systems at a number of leisure centres in the district. The significant failings included not having suitable and sufficient Legionlla Risk Assessments for the leisure facilities and not providing adequate control measures required for Legionella control.

For more information, please click here.

Government agrees to introduce new Mental Health Bill

The Government has unveiled plans to introduce a new Mental Health Bill after accepting the following two key recommendations from an independent review of the Mental Health Act 1983; (1) those detained under the Act will be allowed to nominate a person of their choice to be involved in the decision about their care; (2) people will be able to express their preferences for care and treatment and have these listed in statutory ‘advanced choice’ documents. The Government will issue a formal response to the review’s 154 recommendations in the New Year before preparing the new legislation.

For more information, please click here.

Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) publishes festive blog

Steve Wood, the Deputy Commissioner for Policy at the ICO has published a festive blog which addresses some common misconceptions about the GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018). The guidance includes the following:

• The GDPR does not ban Christmas cards, even in a corporate context. However, Mr Wood confirms that when sending corporate Christmas cards care needs to be taken to consider whether they contain any direct marketing;
• Parents can take pictures of the school Nativity play, but only so long as this is for their own personal purposes; and
• Addresses the ‘Internet of Things’ devices for the home and smart toys which process personal data of children that reminds us that the ICO has published guidance to assist parents and retailers.

For more information, please click here.

Planning and Housing

Law Commission opens consultation on commonhold

A Law Commission consultation seeks comments on its proposals to make commonhold work for homeowners, developers, mortgage lenders and across the wider property sector. The proposals would enable commonhold to be used for larger, mixed-used developments which accommodate not only residential properties but also shops, restaurants and leisure facilities, allow shared ownership leases and other forms of affordable housing to be included within commonhold, and make it easier for existing leaseholders to convert to commonhold and gain greater control over their properties. The Consultation invites comments by 10 March 2019.

For more information, please click here.

LGA responds to consultation on updates to national planning policy and guidance

In response to a Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government consultation on proposals to update planning practice guidance on housing needs assessment to be consistent with increasing housing support, the LGA expresses a number of concerns with locally assessed figures’ responsiveness to the complexity in local housing markets, and the implications of using them as a target within the Housing Delivery Test. It calls for the removal of the significant reduction of the presumption of sustainable development within the test which could have a profound impact on the public’s trust in the planning system.

For more information, please click here.

Review calls for overhaul of home adaptation scheme

A review of Disabled Facilities Grants (DFGs) commissioned by the Department for Health and Social Care has proposed that local housing and health partnership boards be set up to maximise the impact of grants for home adaptations. The annual DFG budget, worth £0.5 billion this year, enables thousands of vulnerable people to adapt their homes and live independently. However, the review found that delivery of adaptations varies across the country. It also discovered that there is often a lack of integrated decision  making and tracking of impact on those receiving grants. The review suggests that local housing and health partnership boards would bring together representatives from health. Housing and social care to develop local strategies for adaptations and accessible housing.

For more information, please click here.

Property company fined over Japanese knotweed

A Bristol property owner has been fined £18,000 for allowing the detrimental growth of Japanese knotweed on its property. This is understood to be the first prosecution for Japanese knotweed nuisance under s.48 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. Bristol City Council’s prosecution was on behalf of seven adjoining properties. The magistrates’ court fined MB Estate Limited £18,000 plus costs in its absence. The court also ordered MB Estate to remedy the problem within 28 days. This includes a specialist company detailing how the issue should be resolved.

For more information, please click here.

If you have any questions about the issues raised in this update, please do not hesitate to get in touch.