Briefings and responses

Three-quarters of mental health problems first emerge before the age of 25, so it makes sense economically to invest in mental health support for young people, as well as making a huge difference to people’s lives.

Early years support forms the basis for future healthy lives, but important services with proven effectiveness, such as support for the first years in life, have seen their funding reduce.

We welcome the introduction of the Fire Safety Act and the Building Safety Bill and hope they will be an important step in the right direction. We are however concerned about some of the practicalities of the implementation of new fire safety legislation for both resident safety and local authorities.

The LGA welcomes the increased focus on Local Nature Recovery and reversing the decline of biodiversity as set out in the Environment Bill, but government needs to consider all the measures to enhance nature, set out in the Environment Bill holistically, so as not to miss opportunities of efficiency.

Digital access and skills are essential to enabling people to fully participate in an increasingly digital society. Tackling the digital divide will be crucial to addressing social and economic inequalities and levelling up every community.

Councils are committed to supporting the growth of the creative industries and have a key role to play in providing the local conditions for new creative clusters to flourish.

Councils and Directors of Public Health are committed to making their local areas healthier places to live and are already delivering when it comes to tackling air pollution.

October 2021

The 2021 Combined Budget and Spending Review outlines the Government’s spending plans by setting budgets for each central government department.

The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill includes a range of provisions to improve the welfare of kept animals, including farm animals, companion animals, and kept wild animals. We support the objective of increasing animal welfare standards and eradicating cruel practices both domestically and internationally.