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It was such a pleasure to host the LLG Monitoring Officers conference the other week, not only to hear from such informed speakers, but to catch up with colleagues and gain insight into the challenges facing us all across the sector. It's always refreshing and revitalising to be back in the fold of the family of local government lawyers.
There is much to occupy our thoughts at present as the new Government takes stock and looks to move at speed with new proposals - many of which will affect the local government landscape. There was some reprieve earlier this month, when we learnt that the Cabinet Office had shifted the Procurement Act commencement date to the 24th February 2025 whilst they produce a new National Procurement Policy Statement: - certainly whilst many authorities have moved to get their house in order ready for the Act, that extra time will afford others time to catch-up. But questions remain about so many more areas and the timeline towards them.
The Devolution revolution is hot on the agenda and continues at pace, although both Norfolk and Suffolk did not get their deals due to Minister views that it was ‘not ambitious enough and only made provision for a directly elected leader rather than a mayor (despite agreement from the previous government). Certainly, it has been widely reported that Jim McMahon (minister) strongly believes that a directly elected Mayor (as opposed to directly elected leader) would be removed from party politics and more independent.
Oflog is once again being spoken about, with the Government confirming it will review its role by the end of the year to “"ensure that it will add the greatest possible value to the system of transparency, accountability and support of local government", and Jim McMahon announcing that the body's 'early warning conversations programme' will be paused.
What else should we be thinking about? Well, in planning, there’s the changes to the NPPF which were helpfully (if unusually) presented in consultation by the government using tracked changes (long may that continue). The Southern Region held hosted a training session on this last week with Anthony Collins and you can catch up on that session via the Resources Page of our website. We also have a lot of movement in housing, not just proposals around the right to buy, but balancing acquisitions and new builds. Then there’s employment law- that’s going to be huge with 1-day rights, flexible working and a right to switch off (if only!), so we will be looking at a dedicated conference on that one due to its scope and breath.
Plenty to be getting on with, and as always LLG are here to support you through our training offer, webinars, regional meetings and national lead meetings. As always, if you are interested in getting more involved with the work of LLG, please do get in touch.
Best wishes,
LLG Team
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