The Scottish Government is seeking views on the introduction of a new tax - the Building Safety Levy - in Scotland. This levy would take the form of an additional charge on new residential development, to be paid by housebuilders. Revenue raised from this levy would support the Scottish Government's work to remediate cladding in existing residential buildings.
The questions in this consultation are grouped into the following sections:
The principles of introducing a Levy on new housebuilding, to support cladding remediation work.
The scope of the Levy - who should pay, and who should be exempt.
How the Levy should be calculated.
How the Levy should operate - when will it be charged, and how will it be collected.
Compliance - what kind of powers might be needed to enforce the Levy.
Duration - how long the Levy should run for.
Impacts - how housebuilders and the wider housing supply chain might be affected by the introduction of the Levy.
The consultation can be found at https://consult.gov.scot/taxation-and-fiscal-sustainability/scottish-building-safety-levy-proposals/.
Closing date for responses is 18 November 2024.
The purpose of this consultation is to seek views on the need for a universal definition of ‘care experience’ and what the potential impacts of this could be.
In response to its commitment to keep The Promise, The Scottish Government Keeping the Promise Implementation Plan set out the cross-Government actions and policies that will be taken to bring about the transformational change required to keep the Promise by 2030. This includes a commitment to work with partners across Scotland, including The Promise Scotland, to develop a universal and inclusive definition of ‘care experience’ so that more people can understand and identify with it.
The consultation paper can be found at: Developing a universal definition of 'care experience': consultation - gov.scot (www.gov.scot). Responses are requested via the Scottish Government’s consultation hub Citizen Space, which can be accessed online Developing a Universal Definition of ‘Care Experience’.
Closing date for responses is 8 January 2025.
The Welsh Government are seeking views on draft Regulations on Council Tax for HMOs in Wales.
They are consulting on draft Regulations:-
To ensure HMOs are banded as a single property with 1 Council Tax band.
To ensure the HMO owner remains liable for Council Tax.
To achieve this, they are proposing to disapply the Council Tax (Chargeable Dwellings) Order 1992 and the Council Tax (Liability for Owners) Regulations 1992 in relation to Wales and make the Council Tax (Chargeable dwellings) (Wales) Regulations 2025 and the Council Tax (Liability for Owners) (Wales) Regulations 2025.
The new Regulations would replicate the existing provisions and include new provisions so that HMO properties are aggregated and treated as a single dwelling for Council Tax purposes. The Regulations would also expand the prescribed class of HMO for which the owner is responsible for paying Council Tax. Regulation 4 of the Council Tax (Liability for Owners) (Wales) Regulations 2025 transfers the liability to pay Council Tax to the person who has the most inferior interest (whether freehold or leasehold) in the whole of the dwelling or, where there is no such person, the freeholder of the whole or any part of the dwelling, rather than to the owner.
The consultation can be found at https://www.gov.wales/valuation-houses-multiple-occupation-hmos-council-tax.
Closing date for responses is 26 November 2024.
This consultation paper covers four key areas on the Enforcement Conduct Board’s (ECB) approach to complaints:
In Part A:
i) The Guidance that accompanies the Standards for Complaints.
In Part B:
i) The ECB’s Complaints Handling Process.
ii) The ECB’s Guide to Remedy.
iii) The ECB’s Decision Review Process.
In Part C, this consultation paper also covers the ECB’s rules and process for determining whether to impose Sanctions on enforcement firms for non-compliance with the ECB standards. This follows on from its recent standards consultation.
Following this consultation, ECB will refine and finalise its approach to complaints and sanctions, prior to launching them in advance of them coming fully into effect from January 2025.
The consultation can be found at https://enforcementconductboard.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Consultation-on-ECB-approach-to-Complaints-Handling-and-Sanctions.pdf.
Closing date for responses is 7 November 2024 (5.00pm).
In November, the ECB will open the window for local authorities to apply for the accreditation of their in-house enforcement teams with the ECB. A Q&A document explains what accreditation will mean and covers the key arguments and benefits of accreditation. It also clarifies two issues raised by a number of councils during IRRV forums earlier in the summer: the ECB levy for accreditation; and whether the ECB will handle complaints against in-house teams.
The document can be found at https://www.irrv.net/documents/weblinks/2024/8/ECB%20accreditation%20and%20LAs%20Final%20July%202024.pdf
The ECB wishes to encourage as many local authorities with in-house teams as possible to apply for accreditation. It will be happy to answer any further questions councils have about accreditation. Please contact the ECB Director of Creditors and Government David Parkin at David.Parkin@enforcementconductboard.org. The ECB will set out more details on the actual application process in the Autumn.
This consultation sought views on the Welsh Government’s proposals to amend the Land Transaction Tax and Anti-avoidance of Devolved Taxes (Wales) Act 2017. The amendments will provide a relief from land transaction tax for qualifying transactions within a designated Welsh special tax site.
Annex B set out the draft legislative provisions contained within the Land Transaction Tax (Relief for Special Tax Sites) (Wales) Regulations 2024.
While there was no statutory duty to consult, consulting at this stage respected well established public law principles, as there was likely to be a legitimate expectation that the Welsh Government will consult on this matter. This consultation ran for a period of 8 weeks, which was shorter than the standard consultation period of 12 weeks. Given the technical and area specific nature of the draft legislative provisions, a shorter public consultation exercise was deemed reasonable in the circumstances.
The consultation could be found at https://www.gov.wales/land-transaction-tax-special-tax-sites-relief
The closing date for responses was 18 February 2024.
A summary of responses was published on 22 October 2024 and can be found at https://www.gov.wales/land-transaction-tax-special-tax-sites-relief-summary-of-responses-html.
This consultation seeks views on the detail and practical implications of allowing remote and hybrid attendance at local authority meetings.
It also tests views on the possible introduction of proxy voting for those occasions when an elected member, due to personal circumstances, may be unable to attend even remotely. For example, during maternity, paternity or adoption leave.
The consultation can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/enabling-remote-attendance-and-proxy-voting-at-local-authority-meetings.
The closing date for responses is 19 December 2024.
The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language, Mark Drakeford MS, has launched a consultation on the Welsh Government’s proposal to withdraw charitable non-domestic rates relief from private schools, from 1 April 2025. In Wales, private schools are registered as ‘independent schools’.
The consultation sets out the Welsh Government’s proposal and asks for views.
The consultation can be found at https://www.gov.wales/charitable-non-domestic-rates-relief-private-schools.
The deadline for responses is 16 December 2024.
The Department for Business and Trade are consulting to modernise the legislative framework that underpins trade unions, seeking views on several specific measures.
The consultation seeks views on:
Simplifying the amount of information unions are required to provide in industrial action notices.
Strengthening provisions to prevent unfair practices during the trade union recognition process.
Removing the 10-year ballot requirement on political funds.
Securing a mandate for negotiation and dispute resolution.
Extending the expiry of the strike mandate.
Reducing the industrial action notice period.
Updating the law on repudiation and prior call.
The enforcement mechanism for right of access.
This consultation provides an opportunity for all interested parties to contribute to the policy development set out in this consultation.
The consultation can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/making-work-pay-creating-a-modern-framework-for-industrial-relations?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications-topic&utm_source=c868fcee-c73a-4d94-8c0b-2e15c0a46a6e&utm_content=daily.
The closing date for responses is 2 December 2024.
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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