Local Authority round-up 24/02/23

Commercial

Northern Ireland councils to receive funding to revive green spaces

Levelling Up Minister Dehenna Davison has announced that the government will be providing councils in Northern Ireland with more than £1.3 million of funding in order to revive 26 green spaces. The funding will be provided to councils to enable them to fund projects which will see new trees planted, cycle paths and trails expanded, play parks improved and a new King’s Garden developed to mark the coronation of King Charles later this year. Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Chris Heaton-Harris said “Green spaces are so integral to all communities, and it’s fantastic that every council area across Northern Ireland will benefit from this boost from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. This investment in community infrastructure will deliver health and wellbeing benefits as well as improving the local environment, and builds on the £71m allocated to community projects across Northern Ireland from round two of the Levelling Up Fund last month.”

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Government extends Household Support Fund

The government has announced that it will be extending the Households Support Fund and providing a further £842 million in funding to help the most vulnerable households across England. The funding will be allocated by The Department for Work and Pensions to councils across England until 31 March 2024. Councils will have flexibility to decide how best to spend their allocation to support people in their local area quickly and efficiently but it will include using the funding to support people with paying for energy bills or groceries.

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£56 million to increase electric vehicle chargepoints

Transport Minister Jesse Norman has announced £56 million in public and industry funding for increasing electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints across the country. Sixteen councils, including Sunderland, Rotherham and Norfolk, will benefit from funding to support electric vehicle chargepoint rollout and it is expected that a further 2,400 chargepoints will be installed in the short term. It will also support councils to deliver tens of thousands more in the long term by allowing them to secure dedicated resource to develop in-house expertise and capability to coordinate chargepoint plans and work with private operators. Technology and Decarbonisation Transport Minister, Jesse Norman said “The government is giving local authorities across England additional help today to energise their chargepoint roll-out plans. Today’s commitment will lead to thousands of new chargers being installed, and plans for tens of thousands extra in due course, so that more people than ever can make the transition to using EVs.”

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Planning and housing

Historic law could hinder City of London’s market relocation

Havering Council hopes a 776-years-old law will help it win a planning battle with the City of London Corporation. The Corporation sponsored a private bill in Parliament last November for approval to move the historic Billingsgate and Smithfield wholesale markets to a purpose-built site at Dagenham Dock in Havering. These markets are governed by legislation which means they can only be relocated with consent from Parliament. Although Havering does not oppose the move in principle it fears retail elements, which it said were not part of the Bill, would damage the nearby Romford market. By a Royal Charter granted by Henry III in 1247, rival retail markets are prohibited within six and two-thirds miles of Romford market. Ray Morgon, leader of Havering Council, said that while the council supported the wholesale markets moving to Dagenham, the issue of retail trade had not been written into the bill. He said “By Royal Charter of 1247, Romford Market is the only retail market allowed to operate within six and two-thirds miles, and this relocation could cause a potential loss in trade and business to our historic market. Whilst we welcome the move, we ask that the bill be redrafted to restrict the relocated markets to wholesale-exclusive trade. We will be happy to discuss the licensing of any retail on site in the same way that we do for other local markets.”

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Upcoming webinars

Webinar series: Data Protection

Register your interest for our on-going webinar series on ‘Data Protection’ for in-house lawyers, DPOs and senior management in private and public sector organisations. The series will run throughout 2023 providing attendees with up to date information on key Data Protection topics. The short one hour sessions will be delivered by our experts with allocated time for you to ask any questions you may have. The second in our series ‘Data Security’ will take place on Tuesday 14th March.

For more information or to book your place please click here.

Immigration update for businesses holding sponsor licenses

We’re hosting a free webinar aimed at businesses that hold sponsor licences. Our very own Immigration experts Flora Mewies & Roisin Patton will be giving specific guidance on how to meet compliance obligations to keep their existing visa holders and recruit more in the future if required.

For more information or to book your place please click here.

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