Local Authority round-up – 14 March 2025
14th March, 2025
Our Local Authority round up provides brief summaries of topical information on a weekly basis, to keep you aware of the changes and updates relevant to you.
Regulatory
Additional funding announced for the Crown Court
The Government has announced an increase in court capital funding from £120 million to £148.5 million. This investment seeks to fund security improvements and RAAC remedial works at Harrow Crown Court among others. The boost in capital funding will also help fund the completion of additional court buildings.
To supplement this, Sir Brian Leveson is midway through a review commissioned by the Lord Chancellor to consider various reforms to address the Crown Court backlog which reached a record high of 73,000 ending September 2024.
The Government has also commissioned an Independent Sentencing Review aiming to restore confidence in the justice system.
For more information please click here.
Commercial
Board of Trade introduced to support SMEs
The Board of Trade will be charged with supporting businesses, particularly SMEs, to boost the growth for the economy.
The Board comprises a range of CEOs and business leaders who are experts in their respective fields. Members include BT CEO Allison Kirkby, and Michelle Ovens CBE, the Founder of Small Business Britain.
In addition to this, the Department for Business and Trade is also launching a call for evidence to gather information on financing for SMEs and potential private sector measures to boost their funding.
For more information please click here.
Housing
Government announces further reforms in the planning sector
The Government has announced additional reforms to the planning system which could see the involvement of statutory consultees such as Sport England being revoked. The scope of other statutory consultees is set to be narrowed to focus on heritage, safety and environmental protection in order to prevent delays in home building.
It is reported that in the past three years, over 300 applications were forced to be escalated for consideration by the Secretary of State because of disagreements from statutory consultees.
While the Government has noted the broader role that statutory consultees play within the planning system in facilitating high quality development, the reforms seek to ensure the system operates in an efficient manner by limiting unnecessary hurdles.
The proposed changes are as follows:
- Consulting on reducing the number of organisations, including the impact of removing Sport England, the Theatres Trust and The Gardens Trust;
- Reviewing the scope of all statutory consultees, to reduce the type and number of applications on which they must be consulted;
- Clarifying that local authorities should only be consulting statutory consultees where necessary to do so, and decisions should not be delayed beyond the 21 day statutory deadline; and
- Introducing a new performance framework, in which the Chief Executives of key statutory consultees report on their performance directly to the Government.
For more information please click here.
Upcoming events
Employment Law Update
Join our expert Employment Team on Tuesday 18th March at 10am for our online Employment Law Update.
In this webinar, our expert Employment Lawyers will look at recent changes in legislation and case law in the world of employment law in the last 6 months, as well as reviewing progress on the Employment Rights’ Bill and other proposed changes.
To book your place please click here.
Please note that this briefing is designed to be informative, not advisory and represents our understanding of English law and practice as at the date indicated. We would always recommend that you should seek specific guidance on any particular legal issue.
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