Briefings and responses

This LGA briefing provides a summary of the NPPF consultation proposals likely to be of most interest to local authorities.

The Bill cannot come soon enough as our broken building safety system needs reforms to be enshrined in tough new legislation. Residents have a right to be safe and to feel safe in their own homes, and the construction industry and those with legal duties now need to deliver the cladding remediation work required.

The latest statistics from the National Crime Agency show that the number of council referrals of suspected victims of modern slavery to the National Referral Mechanism has risen from 153 in 2013 to 1342 in 2018.

This summary paper sets out some of the issues that councils are grappling with in their work on modern slavery and is intended to assist the Government as it works to refresh and update its modern slavery strategy.

The Local Government Finance Settlement is the annual determination of funding to local government from central government. The provisional Settlement for 2020/21 was published on 20 December 2019.

Councils are central to building communities that are inclusive, cohesive and promote people’s life chances.

It is vital that local government reflect the communities it serves. Women make up 76 per cent of employees in the local government workforce. Still only 33 per cent of councillors in England are women.

It would be helpful if the Auditor Guidance Note could comment on whether the new arrangements are expected to result in significant additional resources being required.

We welcome the opportunity to comment on this consultation on the Code of Audit Practice, following on from the last review in 2014 and operation since.

The LGA welcomes the development of a new national resilience strategy and review of the Civil Contingencies Act (the Act).