Briefings and responses

On 3 March 2021, the Government published guidance for care home providers on limiting staff movement between care settings in all but exceptional circumstances to help reduce the spread of infection.

Our Budget 2021 On-the-Day briefing summarises the key announcements for councils and provides an initial LGA view

Councils have a crucial role in local communications, planning and support to deliver mass vaccination effectively – particularly for those groups with low trust in national institutions and / or low take up of the vaccine.

While the Government’s £1.57 billion support package for the arts and culture sector was welcome, the sector is still facing significant financial difficulties. Councils face significant additional cost pressures as a result of COVID-19 and this will directly impact council’s ability to fund discretionary services in the culture sector, at a time when the sector is in urgent need of investment.

The reform of Public Health England (PHE), the new UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and forthcoming legislation on the statutory basis of integrated care systems (ICSs) means we are facing significant organisational change. The long-standing problem of health inequalities and regional inequality has become ever clearer during 2020/21, and the pandemic’s repercussions will exacerbate for some time.

We welcome the introduction of the Fire Safety Bill and hope it will be an important step in the right direction. We are concerned about some of the practicalities of the Bill, how it aligns with the building safety proposals the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is preparing, and the costs it may impose on councils and other building owners.

Communities rely on high quality transport provision and infrastructure to get on in life.

A summary of the proposals of most relevance and significance to local government, as well as the LGA’s initial reaction to the proposals along with our policy messages.

We welcome the opportunity to comment on the proposed new system for audit fee variations. This response has been cleared by lead members of the LGA’s Resources Board.

Vaccination policy has been decided nationally, based on evidence-based advice from the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), and is very closely managed. Councils do not have local discretion over the decisions and priorities made.