The Department for Work & Pensions want to ensure that they have a welfare system that is fit for the future, a system that supports work for people who can, provides a safety net for people who need it, and that is fair to the taxpayer. This consultation seeks views on whether they should make fundamental changes to how they support disabled people and people with health conditions, and whether their system delivers the right support to people most in need.
The consultation will focus on the primary extra costs benefit that provides support to adults of working age with the additional costs of having a disability or long-term health condition: Personal Independence Payment (PIP). The views shared during this consultation period will be used to help shape the future of the health and disability benefits system.
The paper can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/modernising-support-for-independent-living-the-health-and-disability-green-paper/modernising-support-for-independent-living-the-health-and-disability-green-paper#how-to-respond.
A call for evidence to inform a programme of work announced at the Autumn Statement in 2023. It is part of a wider suite of activity to reform the fit note and will act as a prelude to a full consultation on specific policy proposals which will be launched later this year.
The call for evidence can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/fit-note-reform-call-for-evidence?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications-topic&utm_source=95e98dfc-e490-4c45-ac95-3e5f354b9025&utm_content=daily.
This call for evidence will be open until 8 July 2024.
During the summer of 2023, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) conducted a public consultation on statutory guidance for local authorities in England, including combined authorities and combined county authorities, on the Best Value Duty.
The consultation document posed a series of questions about the scope of the statutory guidance, the principles upon which the government bases its approach to ensuring compliance with the Best Value Duty, the standards expected by the department and the models of intervention at the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ disposal in the event of failure to uphold these standards.
The consultation was launched on 4 July 2023 and closed on 15 August 2023. Members of the public, local authorities and other interested parties were able to respond through an online response tool, by email and by post. There were 76 responses to the consultation in total.
What follows is a high-level summary of these consultation responses and the UK government’s response to these, organised under each question of the consultation.
The statutory guidance was amended following consultation and issued on 8 May 2024. Local authorities are now required to have regard to this guidance on best value standards and intervention.
The consultation response can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/best-value-standards-and-intervention-a-statutory-guide-for-best-value-authorities-consultation?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications-topic&utm_source=5052c875-33e3-4632-8e7b-e67fb45bb983&utm_content=daily.
Support with Council Tax payments through the Welsh Government’s Council Tax Reduction Scheme (‘the scheme’) is an important part of welfare support for households on low incomes. The scheme, which is administered locally by councils, has historically had low take-up from potentially eligible residents and the number of households receiving a Council Tax reduction continues to fall.
This technical consultation proposes a number of changes to the scheme to make it easier to access and simpler to administer. Nothing in this consultation places new restrictions on existing eligibility for the scheme.
The consultation can be found at https://www.gov.wales/proposed-changes-council-tax-reduction-scheme.
Closing date for responses is 6 June 2024.
Rebecca Evans MS, Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Constitution and Cabinet Office, published a Council Tax Update Statement on 15 May 2024. The Statement provides an update on council tax reform in Wales, the results of their recent Phase 2 consultation, and their continued plans for making the system fairer and more up-to-date.
The statement, which includes the Welsh Government’s plan to introduce the structural reforms to the council tax system from 2028, can be found at https://www.gov.wales/written-statement-update-council-tax-reform.
The draft regulations introduced a new reporting requirement for Freeport and Investment Zone employers who claim the NICs reliefs to provide a workplace postcode for employees they claim the NICs reliefs in respect of.
The consultation could be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/freeport-and-investment-zone-employer-national-insurance-contributions-reliefs?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications-topic&utm_source=37434c4f-c6d0-4f09-8b62-588bd3327aef&utm_content=daily.
Closing date for responses was 15 May 2024.
The Welsh Government welcomed views on proposals to abolish land transaction tax (LTT) multiple-dwellings relief, and to extend an existing LTT relief to Welsh local authorities when purchasing property for social housing purposes. The Welsh Government was also interested in views on the option of amending the rules related to the purchase of 6 or more dwellings in a single transaction, and options to review or amend other LTT reliefs. The Welsh Government will make a statement regarding the next steps once the consultation has closed and the responses have been considered.
The consultation could be found at Proposed changes to land transaction tax reliefs | GOV.WALES.
Closing date for responses was 19 May 2024.
The Social Housing White Paper included a commitment to introduce an access to information scheme for the social housing tenants of private registered providers (PRPs). The Social Tenant Access to Information Requirements (STAIRs) will allow social housing tenants and their designated representatives to request access to information related to the management of their housing.
The Secretary of State has the power to direct the Regulator on certain aspects of its regulatory standards. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities propose to use this power to direct the Regulator to introduce requirements for PRPs to comply with the requirements in the STAIRs policy statement. This consultation seeks views on the content of the policy statement, which outlines the requirements providers will need to meet under STAIRs.
The consultation also seeks views on a proposed direction from the Secretary of State to the Regulator of Social Housing (‘the Regulator’), using powers under section 197 of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 as amended.
The consultation can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/social-tenant-access-to-information-requirements-consultation?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications-topic&utm_source=32e11652-215e-4519-8c9d-edf48ffef9c3&utm_content=daily.
Closing date for responses is 15 July 2024.
Local authorities have the legal responsibility to provide social care and support to their respective assessed citizens, either within their own home, or in a residential care setting, and have the discretion to charge for those services.
Noting the increasing extreme financial pressures on local authorities, this consultation document sought views on amending the regulations and code of practice governing local authority charging for social care and support services under the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014. The consultation specifically sought views on a proposed increase to the non-residential maximum weekly charge, currently set at £100.
The proposed change would ensure only individuals who have the financial means to pay an increased maximum weekly charge would do so. This would be determined by the usual process, as part of the financial means test carried out by an individual’s local authority. Therefore, not everyone currently paying the maximum weekly amount of £100 would be required to pay an increased amount.
The consultation could be found at https://www.gov.wales/raising-weekly-maximum-charge-adult-non-residential-care-and-support.
Closing date for responses was 13 May 2024.
Internal drainage boards (IDBs), which are locally funded and operated statutory public bodies, are responsible in their area of operation, for water level management and managing flood risk. There are 112 independent IDBs in England and they are mainly funded by the beneficiaries of their work, through drainage rates on agricultural landowners and special levies on local authorities.
IDBs use a land valuation calculation to apportion their expenses between landowners and local authorities. This is based on historic ratings data which is missing or incomplete and is preventing new IDBs from being created and existing IDBs from expanding their boundaries.
To address this, the government has made a technical change to the Land Drainage Act 1991, via the Environment Act 2021, setting out a new valuation calculation which enables the use of more up-to-date data from the Valuation Office Agency. This approach will apply to drainage rates and special levies, to ensure consistency in the apportionment of expenses.
The consultation started on 7 March 2024 and closed on 19 April 2024.
The consultation could be found at https://consult.defra.gov.uk/flooding/consultation-on-draft-statutory-instrument/.
The IRRV response can be found at IRRV_response_Consultation_on_IDB-regs.pdf.
A library containing Institute responses to Consultations, Inquiries, Surveys etc. can be found at https://www.irrv.net/homenew/item.php?wid=20&iid=27496.
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