Following the submission of the Interim Plans for Local Government Reorganisation by local authorities within the 21 two-tier areas in March, there have been several recent announcements made by the Government.

Following the announcement by Rachel Reeves in the Spring Statement 2025 to increase capital spending by £2billion per year to drive economic growth

The recent Spending Review delivered good news for social housing providers, including local authorities and Registered Providers (RPs).

The Court of Appeal’s recent decision in the case of R (Greenfields (IOW) Ltd) v Isle of Wight Council.

It has now been just over a year since the implementation of the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 introduced a system of proactive regulation against the new consumer standards.

HM Land Registry have recently announced that they are simplifying their approach to the registration of personal covenants.

Concerns are regularly expressed about the state of the high street and the number of vacant shops in town centres. To address these concerns, Councils have acquired new powers to intervene where high street units have stood empty for too long.

The Spring Statement largely maintains the Government’s current course but brings a focus on the global uncertainties currently facing the UK.

Recent headlines from Stoke-on-Trent highlight a growing problem for schools and local authorities in disputes over the condition of assets (schools) and responsibilities upon handback, under expiring Project Finance Initiative (PFI) contracts. 

On 5 February 2025 the areas that were selected for the Devolution Priority Programme were announced.

Capsticks will be monitoring parliamentary progress and considering the effects of the proposed changes and our experienced Local Government team will be producing regular updates to keep you informed.

To recap, various methods of deepening devolution have been proposed by the government.