Local Authority round-up – 21/02/25

Health and Social Care

Government has delivered an additional 2 million NHS appointments

NHS England have reported that between July and November last year, the NHS delivered almost 2.2 million more elective care appointments compared to the same period the previous year.

The Government’s pledge to rebuild the NHS has focused on tackling wait lists, with an ultimate goal of treating 92% of elective care patients within 18 weeks of referral by the end of this Parliament.

To achieve this goal, the Government has announced an extra £40 million in funding for trusts who make the biggest improvements in cutting wait lists. The funding will be available from next year, allowing eligible trusts to invest in capital projects such as new equipment or repairs to their estate.

Further, the Government also intends to open Community Diagnostic Centres 12 hours a day, seven days a week, so that the public can access a broader range of appointments in their neighbourhoods.

For more information please click here.

Local public health services given £200 million investment

Local communities are set to receive funding for family and school nurses, sexual health clinics and other public health services in their areas, delivered by a £200 million boost in funding.

The Government plans to improve the NHS, and ensure its sustainability, by providing local public health services with further investment to deliver prevention programmes, tailored to their residents.

It is anticipated that the funding for public health will power essential services such as smoking cessation programmes, addiction recovery, family and school nurses, sexual health clinics, local health protection services and public health support for local NHS services.

For more information please click here.

Housing

Government announces plans to rebuild local communities

It is reported that housebuilders and local councils have highlighted 350 housing development sites which are ‘stuck in the system’ and could, if unlocked, produce 700,000 new homes.

In order to accelerate housebuilding and streamline the planning process, the Government has announced additional funding into the following:

• £1 million for Government agencies, including National Highways, Natural England and the Environment Agency, to speed up the planning approval of new homes and improve feedback to local authorities where required;
• £2 million to support the Building Safety Regulator to continue processing new-build applications; and
• Over £3 million to local councils to bolster planning capacity, alongside direct advice to navigate complex issues holding up new development.

For more information please click here.

Upcoming events

Essential HR Training

Join our expert Business Immigration team on Tuesday 11th March at 10am for our online ‘Essential HR Training’.

This training will focus on the new Electronic Travel Authorisation (“ETA”) scheme which will be fully rolled out in the UK by 2 April 2025. We will provide in-depth guidance on the new scheme during the webinar, addressing potential issues that businesses need to be aware.

This session is aimed at HR professionals, business owners and business leaders. It will be of particular interest for businesses with a global workforce who regularly travel to the UK for work related activities.

To book your place please click here.