Briefings and responses

Proposals for reform of the building safety regulatory system - July 2019. The fire at Grenfell Tower exposed systemic failures in the building regulation system. It is right that we seek to correct these failures, to prevent a fire like the one at Grenfell tower from ever occurring again.

The LGA welcomes this consultation and many of the recommendations in the Independent Review.

Where Knife Crime Protection Order (KCPO) areas are introduced, it will be essential to ensure the new orders effectively tackle knife crime. These orders should not contribute to the unnecessary criminalisation of young people.

In order for the Bill to have real success in tackling domestic abuse and creating consistency of services, it must be underpinned by adequate, long term funding in key services including children’s services and housing.

Councils across the country are doing all they can to safeguard and protect women and girls from all forms of harm. We support a public health approach to tackling serious violent crime against women and girls, which is a key contributor to poor mental health.

In the two and a half years since the Grenfell Tower fire, councils have worked with the Government to identify dangerous Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding on both social and private housing blocks.

Although strengthened police powers offer the potential to help tackle unauthorised encampments, in isolation they are unlikely to solve the problems caused by them, since tackling unauthorised encampments requires a multi-agency response and the resources to support this.

It is important to acknowledge that the coronavirus outbreak is a particularly worrying time for victims of domestic abuse. In particular, the social-distancing measures required could have a serious effect on domestic abuse victims and increase exposure to those perpetrating the crime.

Councils are working hard supporting people with a range of vulnerabilities to continue to access food throughout the coronavirus pandemic. This includes assisting with the delivery of doorstep food deliveries, and to people outside the shielded group who are unable to access food or have issues affording it.

Alongside the Bill’s focus on crisis interventions and criminal justice, tackling domestic abuse requires a cross-government response incorporating health, housing and education.