Ahead of the Conservative Party Conference in October, the LGA Conservative Group has been working hard to bring together our manifesto publication to launch at the conference.
This document will highlight our key asks of the Conservative Government ahead of the next General Election, with the aim of getting some of these included in the King’s Speech on 7 November.
For those of you who are interested in seeing our manifesto, please do come along to our conference reception, which will take place on 1 October at 3.30pm in the Trafford Room at the Midland Hotel.
I also wanted to use my first article this month to highlight one of the recommendations for which we intend to seek the support of government.
I know that for councils that are responsible for the collection of fly-tipping and the removal of litter, the fines that are currently in place simply don’t cover the removal and cleaning costs that are incurred.
We will therefore be asking the Government to give councils the powers to set their own fine levels for fly-tipping, littering, and graffiti offences, with these decided by local councillors.
This proposal will give councils the powers they need to ensure that they can fully recover the costs that they incur.
“It is only right that council budgets are not penalised by the actions of criminals who cause havoc on our environment.”
While recognising the recent uplift in fine levels from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, we believe we can go further!