Local Authority round-up 13/07/19

Brexit

Major would go to court to stop Parliament closure

Sir John Major has confirmed that he would seek a judicial review to apply to challenge the lawfulness of the decision made by the government, if the new prime minister tried to suspend Parliament to deliver a no-deal Brexit following Boris Johnson refusing to rule out proroguing Parliament. He said “The Queen’s decision cannot be challenged in law, but the prime minister’s advice to the Queen can, I believe, be challenged in law – and I for one would be prepared to seek judicial review to prevent Parliament being bypassed.”

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Brexit secretary urges EU to renegotiate Brexit

Brexit Secretary, Stephen Barclay, has urged the EU to come back to the negotiating table on Brexit as he believes that the UK would take Ireland’s economy down with it in a no-deal Brexit as 40% of Ireland’s exports went through Dover. He said “I think the impact of no-deal is greater to the Irish economy than it is in the UK. So the EU want to avoid no-deal.” He further noted that ” 40 per cent of Europe’s data centres are in the UK, so the flow of data between the UK and EU is not a UK issue, it is shared issue, not least the international nature of many business.”

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Brexit ferry programme “rushed and risky”

A procurement process was carried out which aims to provide extra ferry services ahead of the UK leaving the UK on the original deadline of 29 March and cross-party MPs have now said that they feel the deal was “rushed and risky.” As the UK failed to leave the EU on 29 March the deals with three firms were cancelled which has cost the Department for Transport £51.4 million and they also had to pay a £33 million settlement with Eurotunnel as part of their exclusion from the tendering process resulting in costs of around £85 million.

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Tory rivals continue to clash over Brexit

Jeremy Hunt and Boris Johnson have clashed over Brexit in a TV debate in which Mr Hunt accused his rival of not being willing to “put his neck on the line” by saying he would quit as PM if he did not hit the 31 October deadline. Mr Johnson called Mr Hunt “defeatist” and said he was “not absolutely committed” to the Brexit deadline saying “If we are going to have a 31 October deadline, we must stick to it. The EU will understand we are ready and will give us the deal we need.” They further disagreed over the suspension of Parliament to force through a no-deal Brexit with Jeremy Hunt ruling it out but Boris Johnson saying “he would not take anything off the table.”

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Amendments to Northern Ireland Bill attempt to stop prorogation

Following talk that a new prime minister may force through a no-deal Brexit by suspending Parliament, Dominic Grieve attempted to block the suspension by seeking to amend the Northern Ireland Bill by including an amendment that the government would be required to produce regular reports on the situation in Northern Ireland in the autumn. The amendment was selected for debate but a further amendment stating that MPs should be recalled to debate such reports if Parliament is closed was not. However, an amendment which requires the government to produce fortnightly reports from October until December on the progress towards restoring the power sharing arrangements in Northern Ireland was approved by 294 votes to 293. Whilst this will not stop prorogation it could make it harder.

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Labour urges new referendum

Jeremy Corbyn has confirmed that he would make a case to Parliament in September in order to get another referendum and has challenged the next Tory leader to hold another referendum before taking Britain out of the UK. He has further confirmed that Labour will campaign to remain in the EU. He said Labour will “do everything we can to take no deal off the table or stop a damaging deal of the sort Hunt or Johnson propose.”

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Commercial

£200,000 funding for Cornwall

Communities Minister Lord Bourne has announced £200,000 Government funding to help support and preserve Cornwall’s language, heritage and culture which will encourage further development. Cornwall Councillor and Portfolio Holder for Culture, Economy and Planning, Bob Egerton, said “The money will be used towards the development of a Cornish language programme and support the implementation of the Cornish National Minority Education Action Plan; all keys to unlocking the passion and protecting our culture for future generations.”

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Future High Streets Fund further funding announced

High Streets Minister Jake Berry MP has confirmed a second stage of funding under the Future High Streets Fund which will see successful towns receive up to £150,000 of new funding to transform high streets based on projects set out in their initial plans. Prime Minister Theresa May said “The funding will breathe new life into town centres and – together with measures such as small business rate cuts and opening up empty shops – will transform our high streets for the future.”

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LGA reports on road funding cuts

The Local Government Association (LGA) has released the latest figures which reveal that the amount of money councils have been able to spend on routine road maintenance has fallen by 37% from £1.1 billion in 2009/10 to £701 million in 2017/18. The LGA’s Transport spokesman, Cllr Martin Tett, said “It is not right that the Government spends 43 times per mile more on maintaining our national roads – which make up just 3 per cent of all roads – than on local roads, which are controlled by councils and make up 97 per cent of England’s road network.” The LGA reports that the reduction could have repaired 7.8 million potholes with the routine maintenance funding being used to repair minor road repairs, cleaning drains and inspecting and fixing street lights. The LGA said that adequate Government investment in the Spending Review is needed to make long-term improvements on the dilapidated roads.

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Regulatory

Council to pilot vehicle banning outside schools

Birmingham City Council has announced plans to ban vehicles from roads near schools at the start and end of the day from September in a bid to reduce congestion and improve air quality. Local residents will be given permits to access their properties and exceptions will apply to blue badge holders and emergency services but anyone else driving in the restricted zones during the set times could be given a fixed penalty notice charge of £50.

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Councils to pilot recovery scheme for unpaid council tax

A group of 29 local authorities in England and Wales are to take part in a pilot scheme aimed at helping with the recovery of unpaid council tax working with the Department of Work and Pensions and Revenue and Customs to be the first to use powers introduced by the Digital Economy Act 2017 (DEA). Under the DEA councils can obtain employer and income information from HMRC for people who have failed to pay their Council Tax and have an order to pay by the local Magistrates Court. The pilot will last one year before being reviewed, after which a decision will be made whether to roll the programme to all councils in England and Wales.

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Court date set for NHS business rates challenge

A court date of 4 November has been set in the High Court to hear the dispute between councils and NHS trusts over rates relief under which NHS hospitals are calling for charitable status and cuts in their business rates and to receive 80% off their bills. The case is being brought by Derby Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and 16 other trusts against 45 councils. If the NHS is successful it could cost councils as much as £2.35 billion in tax rebates for mandatory relief dating back to April 2010 and would have a huge impact on council funding.

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Planning and housing

Nottingham City Council to purchase council houses

Nottingham City Council has announced plans to buy back 300 council houses, over a four year scheme, which will include newly built homes, houses and flats which have previously been bought through the Rent To Buy Scheme. The number of available council houses in the city has fallen from 55,000 to 26,000 and the purchases are being made in order to tackle the growing demand for social housing. Councillor Linda Woodings, said “Buying homes this way allows us to provide quality accommodation in a quick and cost-effective way and make sure that money is reinvested locally.”

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£4.3m spent buying private properties for use as council housing

Southend Council has confirmed plans to buy private properties to use as council housing and create a revolving investment fund to deliver a pipeline of housing regeneration projects for the Borough. Councillor Ian Gilbert said “The need for social and affordable housing is greater than ever and while good work has been done to address it, with people on the council housing list recently moving into brand new homes…, we need to go further, and I am delighted that £4.3m will be used to purchase properties on the private market to use for council housing.”

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Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission publishes interim report

Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission published its interim report ‘Creating space for beauty’ on 9 July 2019 which looks at developments and provides recommendations to the Government. Recommendations include for greater weight on securing beauty in the planning system including for councils to have confidence in “saying no to ugliness,” financial support from Homes England and councils “aiming for beauty,” and for high streets to be beautiful, walkable, well-connected places for people to live and work with a greater mix of buildings that includes smaller shops, businesses and homes. A final report is due to be published by the end of the year.

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