What we have done in our first year in government to fight for Good Jobs

This week marks one year since we won the 2024 general election. Labour campaigned on a promise to change Britain by ending the 14 years of Tory chaos & decline and instead deliver economic stability, rebuilt public services, and rising living standards.

During that campaign, fighting for Good Jobs was one of my four priorities for local people, and this is what we have done so far to deliver more secure & better paid decent jobs for local people:

Achieved the 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝟕, while 380,000 jobs have been created, highest business confidence in 9 years, and interest rates have been cut four times.

Started legislating for the Employment Rights Bill which will 𝐛𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐳𝐞𝐫𝐨-𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬, end fire-and-rehire, strengthen statutory sick pay, and expand day-on rights.

Completed the expansion of Bee Network buses to every route in Greater Manchester with 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 & 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬 & 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐬; tap-and-go system for payment, 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 £𝟐 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐩, and commuter rail across our region being brought into local public ownership in the network, including at Mills Hill and Moston stations by 2028.

Approved £𝟐.𝟓 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 in the Spending Review which includes 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 for constituents in Heyside at Cop Road; taking the Oldham-Rochdale line 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐞𝐲𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐲, 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫; and 𝟏,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐁𝐞𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬 to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030.

Begun to break down the barriers to apprenticeships and skilled jobs with a new law to streamline processes for introducing new qualifications & adapt to emerging skills gaps; establish Skills England; and put £1.2 billion each year to support 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 & 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬.

Continued to complete the jigsaw in 𝐎𝐥𝐝𝐡𝐚𝐦 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐥 with both the New Market Hall in Spindles and the Old Library restoration nearing completion; Oldham Council offices opening at Spindles; the Egyptian Room opening, taking on the Prudential Building, and opening of The Hive as a co-working and social enterprise hub. All of these projects are regenerating our town centre, preserving heritage buildings, and driving footfall to high street businesses.

Supported independent shops, chain stores, restaurants and bars on 𝐑𝐨𝐲𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐭 in their dispute over service charges, so we can ensure the precinct can thrive and have a stable long-term future.

Established 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐄𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 as a new publicly owned, clean power company to lower bills and drive-up living standards in the face of cost-of-living pressures. A first step to delivering clean power by 2030, along with the £24 billion of private investment we have secured for clean energy projects, £22 billion we have invested in carbon capture in our northern industrial heartlands, and the Tory offshore wind ban we have overturned.

Completed the first phase of our 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥-𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐛𝐬 at Whitegate End, Richmond Academy, Westwood Academy and Northmoor Academy, which will expand to every primary school in the country, putting £𝟒𝟓𝟎 𝐚 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬’ 𝐩𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐬 and providing at least 30 minutes of free childcare every morning.

Expanding access to 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝟏𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 in Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton from September 2026, lifting 𝟏𝟎𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐲 across the country and putting 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 £𝟓𝟎𝟎 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬’ 𝐩𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐬.

Made our business rates reforms the law to deliver certainty for our town centre retailers with 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝟒𝟎% 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟. By putting the online & the on-street on a level playing field, redressing the imbalance between the out-of-town & the in-town, and protecting 1 million properties protected from any inflationary increases next year – we are breathing new life into high streets & communities.

Ended deregulation failure of our railways with the Public Ownership Act, which has started to bring train services back into public hands, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐚𝐮𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

Making work pay by increasing the National Living Wage in April to £12.21 per hour, which has brought 𝐚 £𝟏,𝟒𝟎𝟎 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝟑 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 across the country. In Oldham alone, over 𝟕𝟎𝟎𝟎 people have directly benefitted from this uplift.

Started public consultation on the 𝐀𝐭𝐨𝐦 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐞 which through co-operation between local authorities in Oldham, Bury & Rochdale, and coordination from the GMCA & Mayor Andy Burnham, will create a growth cluster in the North of the Greater Manchester conurbation and 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝟐𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐣𝐨𝐛𝐬.

Our goal is a decade of national renewal is well underway. While we are encouraged by progress so far, we are not complacent and there is much more still left to do.