Between 2010 and 2015 local government has faced upwards of £18bn of real terms cuts, losing on average a 20% of their spending power, and budgets for running services have been cut at twice the rate of cuts to UK public spending as a whole.
In the light of the upcoming election, we have asked lawyers who regularly work for public sector clients in departments across the firm to share examples of how these cuts have affected their work, innovative approaches taken by clients, and the kind of policies they would like to see emerge in recently released political manifestos.
With the recent heightening of activity in British politics, the future of our data protection laws is looking uncertain. The imminent arrival of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) raises a large amount of questions in relation to organisations' new responsibilities. The general election presents its own complications in respect of predicting what the future of the UK's data protection legislation will be.
Given the on-going austerity measures, Councils across the UK continue to be forced to find ways to make their budget stretch further.
Staffing costs form a huge proportion of each Council's budget, so are always kept under review.
The General Election has seen the abandonment of the Prisons and Courts Bill, at least for the time being. This delays the robust new fixed tariff for RTA soft tissue injuries and a ban on making offers without medical reports.
Between 2010 and 2015 local government faced upwards of £18bn in real terms cuts, losing on average 20% of its spending power. Budgets for running services were cut at twice the rate of UK public spending as a whole. Meanwhile, social housing waiting lists are rising, local authorities are struggling to deliver their 5 year housing land supply and the Right to Buy uptake has overtaken the provision of new social housing.
On the morning of 9 June 2017, we will be waking up, breathing a sigh of relief that (hopefully!) we will not be taking a trip to the polling station again for a few years. But there may also be a sense of trepidation for anyone involved in social housing in England. The last few years have been something of a rollercoaster, with several changes due to be made in the forthcoming months that have the ability to alter the fundamental nature of social housing. As such the direction of future travel will very much depend upon who ultimately gets the keys to Number 10.
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