The Chairman introduced the report which had been considered by the Leadership Board the previous day and provided an update on progress which had been made by Group Leaders in discussions with the government on measures outlined in the Housing and Planning Bill. He commented that the LGA had taken a strong positon to influence the Bill throughout its passage through Parliament to date, but that the Leadership Board had decided that further public lobbying on the bill in even stronger terms would improve the chances of delivering key asks for the sector. The Executive were invited to comment and endorse this approach.

In the discussion which followed Members made a number of comments, including:

·         There was agreement that there should be a strong challenge to the government on the Bill. Evidence had been gathered from councils to support the view that the Bill would not fulfil the government’s intentions and in some cases would do the opposite; residents would be forced to move from local authority housing into private rental accommodation, which would have a negative impact on communities which could not afford high rents and also impact upon the government’s plans to reduce benefits and welfare.

·         There had been some progress made on capital receipts, which would be spent at sub-regional level if not spent within three years instead of going back to the Treasury.

·         The government should not take away Section 106 monies from local authorities for new developments, which would impact upon the number of starter homes being built across the country. The LGA’s Housing Commission was considering this issue, amongst others, as part of their work.

·         165 councils had made submissions on the sale of high value assets, and it was still unclear what the levy on this would be. Councils with higher levels of high value housing would lose a high proportion of stock, and would not have the ability to replace it with housing of the same standard.

·         The LGA should work with Housing Associations to create a national framework for housing and planning.

·         The reforms proposed in the Bill were not aligned to the government’s plans for increased devolution to local authorities. Under the new legislation the Secretary of State would be able to direct a body to dispose of freehold or leasehold interests.

·         London in particular had a large number of residents in temporary accommodation, and this situation would become a greater concern in other areas of the country if the Bill in its current form was enacted.

·         An amendment which had previously been discussed in the House of Commons related to fit and decent homes; landlords should have a single standard for what constituted a fit and decent home in order to provide residents housing that was heated, dry and had internal bathrooms, amongst other standards which would reduce the pressure on local authorities. There should also be more work undertaken to tackle rogue landlords.

·         There should be a strong statement from the LGA on the potential unintended consequences of the Bill, particularly with reference to the negative impact on social housing and homelessness. A clear set of proposed amendments should be taken to the House of Lords, and the LGA should prepare a more public criticism of the Bill on behalf of member councils.

Following the discussion the Chairman thanked the Group Leaders for their work to date, and thanked members for their comments. He highlighted that it was vital for the Secretary of State to set out exactly how new powers would be exercised, which would bind all future Secretaries of State to follow the process as set out in legislation. It was hoped that lobbying on the Bill would result in an outcome which would be fair for all local authorities. New lobbying lines on the Bill would be agreed by the political groups and actioned as soon as possible.

Decision

The LGA Executive agreed to adopt a stronger position to parts of the Bill through focused LGA Parliamentary, campaigning and media activity.

Action                                                                                                

Revise lobbying approach in line with the steer from the LGA Executive and Leadership Board.