A brief summary of current government consultations of potential interest to RSN members. This is not intended as an exhaustive list of all relevant consultations.

- Download a printable version of the Government Consultations here

Modern leasehold: restricting ground rent for existing leases – Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities

This consultation sets out a series of options for how the government could intervene to cap the ground rent leaseholders have to pay. The government has already legislated to ensure that new residential leases are restricted to a peppercorn ground rent. This consultation sets out a series of options to extend this protection to existing leaseholders.

The consultation outlines 5 options including;

• capping ground rents at a peppercorn
• setting maximum financial value for ground rent
• capping ground rents at a percentage of the property value,
• limiting ground rent to the original value when the lease was agreed
• freezing ground rent at current levels.

This consultation closes on 21 December 2023.

Modern leasehold: restricting ground rent for existing leases - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Alalogue Community Radio Licensing – Department for Culture, Media & Sport

Analogue community radio licences will begin to expire from October 2025, and given the need for stations - and Ofcom, who are responsible for managing these licences - to have clarity well in advance of this date, government state that it is now time to review the legislative framework for analogue community radio licensing.

To date, analogue community radio licences have been issued for an initial five years in accordance with the provisions of the Broadcasting Act 1990 and the Community Radio Order 2004, with subsequent Orders amending the relevant provisions such as to enable Ofcom to extend these licences for a further five years on three occasions. These incremental changes to the legislation have balanced both the relative scarcity of analogue spectrum (which has acted as a counter-argument against longer, or indeed perpetual licences), and a desire to ensure that stations have the stability and certainty to develop their services. Government are seeking views in this consultation on whether - and if so, for how long - to legislate to enable licences to be extended again.

They would also welcome views on the current restrictions on the capacity of stations to raise money through advertising and sponsorship.

This consultation closes on 31 January 2024.

Consultation on analogue community radio licensing - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Minimum Service Levels (MSLs) in education – Department for Edcuation

The Department for Education (DfE) is publicly consulting on the most appropriate approach for delivering minimum service levels (MSLs) for education services.

Government state that: “Any minimum service levels regulations we might implement following the consultation would apply on days when strike action is taking place in education services, and help minimise disruption to children and learners across education settings.”

If introduced, regulations would be brought forward under the powers provided to the Secretary of State in the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023.

The Strikes Act amends the legal framework around industrial action by giving the Secretary of State the power to set MSLs for certain key services, including education.

This consultation closes on 30 January 2024.

Minimum service levels (MSLs) in education - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)