Safer and Stronger Communities issues in the Queen’s Speech

Purpose of report

For information.

Summary

This report provides an overview of the items relevant to the Safer and Stronger Communities Board’s portfolio within the Queen’s Speech.

Is this report confidential? Yes ☐	No ☒

Recommendation Board members note the relevant items in the Queen’s Speech and implications for the Board’s work programme. Action Officers to incorporate the Queen’s Speech programme into the 2022-23 work plan.

Contact officer:	Ellie Greenwood

Position:	Senior Adviser (community safety and regulation)

Phone no:	07795 413660

Email:	ellie.greenwood@local.gov.uk

Safer and Stronger Communities issues in the Queen’s Speech

Background

On Tuesday 10 May, the Government set out its priorities and legislative programme for the next session of Parliament.

The LGA has produced a full summary of the issues relevant to councils within the Queen’s Speech; this paper sets out the issues of specific relevance to the Safer and Stronger Communities Board portfolio.

The Queen’s Speech outlined four broad areas of activity, with most of the proposed Bills relevant to the Board falling within the theme of making the streets safer:

Growing the economy to address the cost of living

Making the streets safer

Funding the NHS to clear the Covid backlog

Providing the leadership needed in challenging times

Issues

For each of the Bills relevant to the Board, we have summarised the key provisions and our initial view.

Under the ‘growing the economy to address the cost of living’ theme, the following Bills have provisions relevant to the Board.

Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill

There are two provisions that fall within the remit of the Board contained within the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill - on pavement licensing and the process for changing street names.

On pavement licensing, this is an issue where we have had significant engagement with the government to try to shape the development of a permanent framework. While we support the introduction of a permanent pavement licensing regime, it is crucial that the permanent regime provides councils with better enforcement powers, a longer consultation and determination period to give residents and stakeholders time to feed in their views, and that councils should be able to set fees at levels that cover administrative costs. We will continue to work with Government officials and to lobby in Parliament as the draft Bill progresses.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is currently consulting on proposals in relation to the changing of street names and has set out its intention to legislate on this issue. We are concerned that the proposals will impose additional costs on council taxpayers and strain on electoral staff by requiring referenda to be held. Our response to including this provision within the Bill therefore urged the Government not to pre-empt the consultation but to take the responses to the consultation into account as they decide whether it is necessary and proportionate to pursue legislative change in this area.

Transport Bill

Although the Queen’s Speech itself did not reference it, in a speech in the House of Lords on Wednesday 11 May, Baroness Vere, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, appeared to suggest that the Transport Bill will include clauses relating to taxi and PHV licensing. Baroness Vere stated that ‘technology has also led to changes in how the taxi and private hire vehicle industry works—for example, through booking apps available on mobile phones. We will modernise the law to ensure that the same minimum standards are met by drivers across England to gain or retain a taxi or private hire vehicle licence, and we will enhance licensing authorities’ existing compliance and enforcement powers. These changes will create a level playing field and make journeys safer for all passengers.’

Based on earlier discussions with officials at the Department for Transport, we expect that the Government will use the Bill to take forward the commitments it made in its response to the 2018 task and finish group on taxi/PHV licensing, when it accepted the group’s recommendations for national minimum standards, national enforcement powers and a national licensing database. We do not expect the Bill to consider the proposal in the levelling up white paper for taxi/PHV licensing functions to be moved to upper tier or combined authorities.

The LGA was part of the taxi/PHV working group and is supportive of the measures proposed, however we are disappointed that they constitute a small number of amendments rather than the comprehensive overhaul that is required.

Draft Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill

The legislation is intended to promote competition, strengthen consumer rights and protect household and businesses, as well as creating new competition rules for digital markets and the largest digital firms. It includes measures to tackle subscription traps and fake reviews and will also give the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) the ability to determine when consumer law has been broken and issue monetary penalties for those breaches.

While the LGA response welcomed new measures to protect consumers from being ripped off by tactics such as subscription traps and fake reviews and stronger powers for the CMA, we highlighted concern that measures to strengthen the consumer landscape overall will be undermined by the continued hollowing out of local trading standards services and shortages in the pipeline of qualified trading standards officers. We urged Government to look again at the cross-government regulatory services task and finish group’s recommendations to create a dedicated fund for regulatory apprentices and consider how to secure sustainable funding for regulatory services

Within the making streets safer theme, the following Bills are relevant to the Board:

Draft Protect Duty Bill

This Bill will:

introduce new security requirements for certain public locations and venues to ensure preparedness for and protection from terrorist attacks.

establish a new framework which requires those in control of certain public locations and venues to consider the threat from terrorism and implement appropriate and proportionate mitigation measures.

deliver an inspection and enforcement regime, which will seek to educate, advise, and ensure compliance with the Duty.

In our response, we highlighted that local authorities take threats from terrorism extremely seriously and work hard alongside wider partners to keep their communities safe. We agree that it is important to consider what more can be done to help protect local people and places from attacks.

We also emphasised that the new duty should take a risk-based approach, including the implementation of appropriate and proportionate mitigation measures, which does not allow terrorism to disrupt normal life and inhibit our freedoms to enjoy the places and spaces that are a critical and much-loved part of local communities.

Introducing the new duty will require significant resource and capacity to ensure that those within its scope are aware of their responsibilities and comply. This must be supported by full funding and time to allow for communication, preparation, guidance and training, and recruitment of specialised staff before implementation can begin. It is also vital that measures to increase security sit alongside continued investment in prevention programmes that stop people being drawn into terrorism.

As the Board are aware, officers have been engaging with the Government on the development of the Protect duty for some time. We look forward to seeing further details about the proposed inspection and enforcement regime. Should this responsibility fall to local authorities, significant additional resources would be required to fulfil this role.

Modern Slavery Bill

The Modern Slavery Bill will strengthen protection and support for victims of human trafficking and modern slavery and increase the accountability of companies and other organisations to drive out modern slavery from their supply chains.

Specifically, it will strengthen the requirement on businesses with a turnover of £36 million or more to publish annual modern slavery statements setting out steps they have taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains.

It will also mandate the reporting areas to be covered in statements, require these to be published on a government registry and introduce civil penalties to be applied for organisations that do not comply with the requirements. The requirements on modern slavery statements will also be extended to public bodies including councils.

The Bill will enshrine in law the Government’s international obligations to victims of modern slavery, in particular regarding their rights and support and will also strengthen the operation of slavery and trafficking prevention orders and risk orders to better protect victims.

Transparency in supply chains and victim support are both issues which the LGA has previously lobbied Government on. We support the extension to public authorities of the requirement to take steps to prevent modern slavery in supply chains and publish statements setting out the actions that have been taken. Supported by the LGA, many councils have already proactively published modern slavery statements on a voluntary basis. Further direction on mandatory areas to be included within the reporting process will aid consistency and allow councils to focus their resources where most needed.

We have previously called for the Government to ensure that our obligations to victims of modern slavery under international laws and conventions are clarified in domestic law, so we welcome the Bill’s intention to do just that. However, to ensure that councils are fully able to support recovering victims of modern slavery, it is vital that any additional duties placed on councils through these obligations are fully funded. Additionally, the intersection of these obligations with other relevant legislation, such as the Housing Act and Care Act, must also be clear.

Draft Victims Bill

The purpose of the draft Bill is to put victims at the heart of the criminal justice system, ensuring their experiences are front and centre of the process and encouraging them to remain engaged in the criminal justice system. The draft Bill seeks to ensure there is an effective justice system that serves society by restoring victims' confidence that their voices will be properly heard and that perpetrators will be brought to justice.

The draft Bill will enshrine the Victims’ Code in law. It intends to increase transparency and oversight of the services that criminal justice agencies provide to victims by granting a greater role for Police and Crime Commissioners and inspectorates to assess delivery. The draft Bill also intends to enable improvements in the quality and consistency of support services for victims of sexual violence, domestic abuse and serious violence, and increase awareness of Independent Sexual Violence Advisors and Independent Domestic Violence Advisors.

Members will recall the Board’s discussion of the Victim’s Bill consultation earlier this year, which informed our response to the announcement of the Bill. We commented that it is right that more is done to amplify victims’ voices in the criminal justice process and ensure victims are supported to rebuild their lives through accessible and professional services. It is our hope that efforts to strengthen the victims’ response through the criminal justice system, will help to increase confidence in victims to report offences and seek justice.

We therefore welcomed the Government’s commitment to improve the service and support victims receive – from the moment a crime is committed right the way through to their experience in the courtroom.

Whilst these are integral principles, our ultimate ambition should be to prevent these crimes from occurring in the first place. We therefore called for the introduction of a Victims’ Law to be accompanied by a wider commitment to prevent crime and invest in early intervention and prevention services. This must be a cross-Government approach, rather than a solely criminal justice-led issue.

We also stressed the importance of ensuring the Government’s various strategies, guidance, and forthcoming legislation work cohesively with the forthcoming draft Victims’ Law Bill. Whilst this draft Bill will focus on particular victim support services (domestic abuse, serious violence and sexual violence) it is important that victims of all crimes are supported effectively.

In anticipation of the Government creating new duties for councils and others through the Bill, we also commented that adding a legislative duty doesn’t automatically improve collaboration or partnership-working, and if it’s not adequately funded it will not be effective. We would argue that a sector-led approach, which provides local areas with the flexibility and resources to identify local priorities and take action, is one of the best ways to improve collaboration.

Public Order Bill

This Bill is intended to:

ensure the police have the tools they need to better manage and tackle dangerous and highly disruptive tactics.

prevent major transport projects and infrastructure from being targeted by protestors.

introduce new criminal offences, extend stop and search powers and introduce Serious Disruption Prevention Orders

In response, we commented that whilst any protest, including lawful protest, is likely to have some disruptive impact, protest is long recognised as a fundamental right in a free society.

However, we recognised that it can be a difficult balance to achieve between ensuring freedom of expression, and protest - both integral aspects of our democracy - with responding to activity which may result in disruption or impact on local economies. The proposals therefore require careful consideration and drafting to ensure an appropriate balance can be achieved.

Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill

This Bill (included under the theme of providing the leadership needed in challenging times) aims to strengthen animal welfare in Great Britain and implement the proposals set out in the Government’s Action Plan for Animal Welfare. The provisions include: ending live imports of animals and addressing the issue of dog attacks on livestock; improving the lives of pets and protecting pet owners by tackling puppy smuggling and creating a new offence for pet abduction; introducing a licensing scheme for primates kept as pets; and improving enforcement and strengthening conservation in zoos.

We support the objective of increasing animal welfare standards and eradicating cruel practices. However, while the LGA agrees with the principle that legislation should protect the welfare of kept animals, it is essential that relevant legislation is fully funded and authorities are supported to implement it. On primate licensing, this should include upfront funding to set up the new licensing scheme, fully funded training for inspectors and guidance on inspections, as well as a pool of qualified vets for councils to draw from. Adequate resourcing and training will also be essential to achieve the Government’s wider ambitions around companion animals, including action to tackle puppy smuggling, as well as on zoo licensing.

This legislation comes at a time when councils’ regulatory services are facing unprecedented demand on the one hand, but also reducing capacity and challenges in recruitment on the other. The additional enforcement responsibilities placed on councils by this Bill are just a small number of the many and wide-ranging new duties created by different government departments that are expected to be enforced by councils. The Government should look again at the cross-government regulatory services task and finish group’s recommendations to create a dedicated fund for regulatory apprentices and consider how to secure sustainable funding for regulatory services.

Implications for Wales

We will work with government officials and the WLGA to identify the application of these Bills to Wales.

Financial Implications

It is expected that work on these Bills will be undertaken within normal staff budgets.

Next steps

Officers will continue to engage with government officials on the development of these proposals and will work with the public affairs team to agree lobbying approaches on these Bills.

We will ensure that these Bills are reflected in the Board work programme for 2022-23.