Holiday lets contribute to the economy, create jobs, and support tourism.  The Government backs small businesses, including responsible short-term holiday letting, which brings significant investment to local communities. At the same time, it is important to acknowledge the impact that large numbers of holiday lets concentrated in an area can have on local communities.

The Government’s proposed planning changes would see the introduction of a new national use class and, simultaneously, the introduction of a new permitted development right. The new permitted development right would provide flexibility where short-term lets are not a local issue and allow for this flexibility to be removed where there is a local concern. Any Article 4 direction to remove the permitted development right must be evidence based and should apply to the smallest geographical area possible, and could therefore be focused on those areas or streets that see the highest numbers of short-term lets, or individual properties.

As set out in the consultation document, when the use class comes into effect existing properties would fall into the short-term let use class where they met the definition or remain as C3 dwellinghouse. Any re-classification is not considered development and so property owners should not need to apply for planning permission where they meet the definition of short-term let. They would be classified as such and would not require planning permission.

As you may know, the Government has also consulted on plans for a short-term lets registration scheme. A registration scheme is important. Crucially, it will provide information to help local authorities enforce health and safety regulations and apply and enforce the planning changes.

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Through the Renters (Reform) Bill, the Government will abolish Section 21 evictions which will give tenants greater security without the threat of a ‘no fault’ eviction. There is also a firm commitment to delivering more social and genuinely affordable homes, underpinned by the £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme (2021-26) which will deliver tens of thousands of new homes. The Government has proposed amending national planning guidance to make clear that local planning authorities should place greater importance on social rent.  

The Government is investing £2 billion between 2022 and 2025 to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping, targeted to areas where it is needed most. This will work alongside the ‘Ending Rough Sleeping for Good’ strategy which puts prevention at the heart of the Government’s plans to end rough sleeping once and for all. The strategy set an ambition for no one to leave a public institution – whether that’s a prison, hospital or care – to the streets. The Government is committed to reducing the need for temporary accommodation by preventing homelessness before it occurs. Since 2018, over 640,000 households have been prevented from becoming homeless or supported into settled accommodation through the Homelessness Reduction Act.

Rightly, Government funding for accommodation for people facing homelessness reflects the fact that there is no one size fits all approach. There is, for example, a £10 million Night Shelter Transformation Fund to increase the availability of quality single-room provision within the night shelter sector. Meanwhile, investment in longer-term housing solutions includes a new £200 million Single Homelessness Accommodation Programme which will deliver up to 2,400 homes and wrap-around support. 

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The Government is fully committed to reaching net zero by 2050. Ministers are taking a pragmatic, proportionate, and realistic approach to meeting net zero. The UK is committed to meeting our obligations under the agreements made in Paris and Glasgow to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. The UK is going far beyond other countries in terms of our 2030 decarbonisation target and the transition to clean energy, delivering tangible progress while bringing down energy bills.

Further, the Government is going further for both households and investors by embracing new green industries. This includes bringing forward new reforms to energy infrastructure which will give the industry certainty, speed up planning for the most nationally significant projects to ensure that strategically important projects, or those ready first, will connect first. Ministers have also committed to a target to deliver up to 50GW of offshore wind by 2030, ensuring that the industry has confidence that the UK remains the best place to invest in offshore wind. In addition, the Government has announced new Future Fellowships, which will support our leading scientists and engineers to develop real and practical green technologies and is supported by up to £150 million of new funding.

Regarding nature, the Government has legally-binding targets to halt nature’s decline, clean up our air and rivers and support a circular economy. The UK played an instrumental role in a new global agreement for nature at the UN nature summit COP15 in December 2022. The Environmental Improvement Plan sets out how the Government will achieve its ambitious environmental targets and also includes a new commitment that everyone should be able to access green space or water within a 15-minute walk from their home, such as woodlands, wetlands, parks, and rivers.

The Government recognises that we cannot tackle climate change without protecting nature. The Prime Minister will set out the next stage in our ambitious environmental agenda ahead of COP28.

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Regarding energy, the Government remains firmly committed to its net zero target. However, oil and gas will be required in the transition to net zero; simply turning off the taps would mean we would have to import oil and gas, leaving us susceptible to global circumstances. Supporting the production of domestic oil and gas in the nearer term will be coupled with the accelerated deployment of wind, new nuclear, solar and hydrogen energy.

When it comes to food, the UK is largely self-sufficient in many products. Overall, we produce 61 per cent of all the food we need and 74 per cent of that which we are able to grow in the UK. This has been broadly stable for the past 20 years, and the Government’s Food Strategy commits to keeping it at broadly that level in future, with the potential to increase it in areas such as seafood and horticulture.

Further, significant investments are being made across the food system. This includes more than £120 million in the seafood fund; £270 million across the farming innovation programme; and £11 million to support new research to drive improvements in understanding the relationship between food and health. The Food Strategy will set the UK on a path to boosted food production, ensuring that everyone has access to healthy, affordable and sustainably produced food. The Environment Act 2021 is a robust piece of legislation through which Ministers have set targets to tackle some of the biggest pressures facing our environment. They will ensure progress on clean air, clean and plentiful water, less waste and more sustainable use of our resources, a step change in tree planting, a better marine environment, and a more diverse, resilient and healthy natural environment. In addition, the Act includes a new, historic legally binding target to halt the decline in species by 2030, as a core part of the Government’s commitment to leave the environment in a better state than we found it. The final targets were published and then approved by Parliament earlier this year.

Finally, the transport decarbonisation plan sets out how the UK plans to decarbonise public transport by 2050. The Government is accelerating the rollout of zero-emission buses and trains in order to deliver this; twelve hundred miles of railway have been electrified in England and Wales since 2010, and 4000 zero-emission buses have been funded across the UK.

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As you may be aware, owners who allow their dogs to terrorise people or other animals are already breaking the law, and there is already a full range of powers to apply penalties to owners who do not control their pets.

However, very sadly, fatal and serious dog attacks have risen sharply this year.  The American XL Bully-  seemingly prized as status symbols by some for their aggressive temperaments-  has been disproportionately involved in this rise. It is therefore only right that the Government takes decisive action to prevent these dogs from causing further harm.

Banning these dogs has been under consideration for some time, but this has been complicated by the fact that the XL Bully is not formally recognised as a breed in the UK. For this reason, the Environment Secretary and the Home Secretary will now urgently convene experts to define the American XL Bully breed type, including police, canine and veterinary experts, and animal welfare stakeholders. The Government will then legislate to add the XL Bully to the list of breeds banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991. These changes are expected to be in place by the end of this year.

Of course, the existing population of XL Bullies will need to be safely managed, so an amnesty period will be introduced. It may reassure you to know that owners who come forward to register their XL Bully during the amnesty period will be able to keep their dog until the end of its life, provided they meet conditions such as neutering the dog and keeping it on a lead and muzzle in public. Any XL Bully owner who does not come forward to register during the amnesty period will be committing a criminal offence if they are subsequently found to be keeping an unregistered dog.

In the meantime, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will continue to work with the police, local authorities and animal welfare groups to help prevent future attacks by encouraging responsible dog ownership and to make sure the full force of the law is applied.

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Food banks are independent, charitable organisations, and the Department for Work and Pensions does not have any role in their operation. 

According to the latest Government statistics – published in the Family Resources Survey – most households in the UK were food secure in the financial year 2021-22, with high household food security (88 per cent) or marginal households food security (6 per cent). A minority of households were food insecure, with low household food security (3 per cent) or very low household food security (3 per cent).

Of all UK households surveyed, three per cent had used a food bank in the last 12 months, and one per cent of all households in the last 30 days.

The Government has put in place a set of measures to help people with the cost of living. On energy bills, the Government is maintaining the Energy Price Guarantee. This guarantee limits the amount you can be charged per unit of gas or electricity. The current price guarantee, set at £3,000, will support households between now and April 2024. Although energy prices are currently below the level at which EPG payments would be made, it will remain in force until the end of March 2024 to protect households from price spikes, putting in place a safety net for households up and down the country.

Furthermore, at the Autumn Statement 2022, the Government announced a substantial support package for the most vulnerable for 2023/24, including £300 Cost-of-Living Payments for pensioners, £150 for people on disability benefits, and £900 for people on means-tested benefits. The Government is also providing £1 billion of extra funding by extending the Household Support Fund to March 2024, bringing the total of the Fund to £2.5 billion. 

Both the State Pension and benefits were also increased by 10.1 per cent from April 2023, in line with inflation. This represents the biggest cash increase in the State Pension ever and an average uplift of around £600 for households receiving Universal Credit.

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As set out in the Requirements for School Food Regulations 2014, schools should provide children with healthy food and drink options, and ensure that children get the necessary energy and nutrition throughout the school day. These regulate the food and drink provided at both lunchtime and at other times of the school day. The standards set out that meat or poultry must be provided on three or more days each week, and milk must be available for drinking every day.

Current standards provide a robust yet flexible framework to ensure that pupils receive high quality and nutritious food that builds healthy eating habits for life. The Government continues to promote compliance with the School Food Standards and will keep this under review.

In February 2022, the Levelling Up White Paper outlined the Government’s plan to strengthen adherence. This includes piloting work with the Foods Standards Agency, funding of up to £200,000 in a pilot Governor Training Scheme and encouraging schools to complete a statement on their websites setting out their whole school approach to food.

Although the School Food Standards regulate the food and drink provided at both lunchtime and at other times of the school day, the Government believes that head teachers, school governors and caterers are best placed to make decisions about their school food policies, taking into account local circumstances and the needs of their pupils. This applies, for example, to the provision of vegan meals.

Schools should therefore make reasonable adjustments for pupils with particular requirements, such as dietary and cultural needs. The Government is encouraging schools to speak to parents about their school meals provision and act reasonably to ensure it best meets the needs and beliefs of their school community. 

Schools must also provide access on their premises, at all times, to free drinking water. Schools should consider whether they are doing all they can to make free water visible and easily available.

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The Government fully appreciates the importance of our rivers. The volume of sewage and other pollution being discharged into our waters is completely unacceptable. The Government’s Plan for Water, published earlier this year, sets out more investment, stronger regulation and tougher enforcement to tackle every source of pollution.

As part of the plan, over £2.2 billion of investment has been accelerated. This will be directed into vital infrastructure to improve water quality and secure future supplies, with £1.7 billion of this to tackle storm overflows. Ministers have set stringent targets for water companies to reduce storm overflows, driving the largest infrastructure programme in water company history of £56 billion over 25 years. This is a credible plan which includes front-loading action in particularly important and sensitive sites, including bathing waters.

Regarding regulation, Ministers are driving up monitoring and transparency. Monitoring of storm overflows has increased substantially, from only 7 per cent in 2010 to 91 per cent now, and companies are on track to reach 100 per cent by the end of the year. It is because of this monitoring that action can be taken to fix storm overflows and hold water companies to account. The Government is clear that water companies must not profit from environmental damage and Ofwat has been given increased powers under the Environment Act 2021 to hold them to account for poor performance. In March, Ofwat announced new powers that will enable it to take enforcement actions against water companies that do not link dividend payments to performance for both customers and the environment.

In July, Ministers introduced laws to remove the £250,000 cap on penalties that can be handed out by environmental regulators, as well as significantly broaden their scope to target a much wider range of offences. This will ensure that regulators have the right tools to drive compliance across a range of sectors, including water companies. Fines from water companies are being reinvested into the new Water Restoration Fund, which will deliver on-the-ground improvements to water quality and support local groups and community-led schemes which help to protect our waterways.

Further, the Environment Agency has launched the largest criminal investigation into unpermitted water company sewage discharges ever at over 2,200 treatment works. The Environment Agency funding is closely monitored to ensure that it can carry out its duties and functions effectively. Its funding for inspections comes directly from the permits issued to companies; enforcement is funded by government, and in the current Spending Review period, the Environment Agency’s environment RDEL (Resource) grant for 2022/23 increased to £96 million from £56 million in 2020/21.

These measures and others are making progress and Ministers will continue to make further improvements where necessary. Our bathing waters continue to improve, with 93 per cent classified as good or excellent in 2022 compared to 76 per cent in 2010. There is now 80 per cent less phosphorus and 85 per cent less ammonia in our rivers compared to 1990 when water was privatised.

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The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has considered the evidence regarding the use of electronic aids to control dogs. Research commissioned by Defra showed that many e-collar users were not using them properly or in compliance with the manufacturers’ instructions. As well as being misused to inflict unnecessary harm, there is also concern that e-collars can redirect aggression or generate anxiety-based behaviour in pets, making underlying behavioural and health problems worse. In addition, the Government’s consultation on this received more than 7,000 responses.

 

Following this research, as well as engagement with trainers, behaviourists, e-collar manufacturers, the animal welfare sector, veterinary and dog keeping organisations, the Government will ban training collars in England that can deliver an electric shock to a cat or dog by a hand-held remote-controlled device.

 

This ban will not extend to collars which use alternative stimuli, such as noise, spray or vibration. Invisible fencing systems which help animals quickly learn to stay within a boundary and have welfare benefits, such as keeping pets away from roads, will also still be permitted. These new regulations will come into force on 1 February 2024.

 

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The UK has some of the highest animal welfare standards in the world and it shares the highest ranking on the animal protection index and the highest in the G7. The Government takes the issue of low-welfare and illegal supply of animals very seriously. Significant steps have been taken to improve and update the laws in England to crack down on unscrupulous breeders who breed purely for financial greed at the expense of animal welfare.

Under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018, anyone in the business of breeding and selling dogs and/or who breeds three or more litters in a twelve-month period needs to have a valid licence from their local authority. Under these regulations, local authorities have powers to grant, refuse or revoke a licence. Licences must achieve and maintain statutory minimum animal welfare standards, linked to the welfare needs of the Animal Welfare Act 2006.

Further, under these regulations, licensed breeders are prohibited from breeding dogs if it can be reasonably expected that on the basis of their genotype, phenotype or health, this would lead to welfare problems for the mother or the puppies. This applies in the case of brachycephalic breeds. Both licensed and unlicensed animal breeders are required under the Animal Welfare Act to protect the animals involved in breeding from harm and to provide for their welfare in line with good practice. A breach of these provisions may lead to imprisonment, a fine, or both.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is in the process of reviewing the 2018 Regulations.

Finally, Defra’s campaign Petfished raises awareness of issues associated with low-welfare and illegal supply of pets. The campaign provides a list of red flags for buyers to look out for when searching for a pet online. More information can be found here: https://getyourpetsafely.campaign.gov.uk/

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