Weekly Ministerial Round-up

Throughout the week, there have been numerous engagement calls as we 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥 ahead of summer recess. We are committed to working in collaboration through this process, and that is why we have dedicated time to speaking with MPs, councils and group leaders to provide updates as soon as possible.

I attended the 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧’𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 in Liverpool on Wednesday and Thursday. A very full and varied two days of meeting with all the different political LGA leads and seeing how we can work cross-party to create strong local government structures that deliver for residents.

It was a pleasure to 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐥 on the main stage for a plenary where we reinforced the importance of a strong relationship between local & central government, and talked about a new partnership between the LGA & Homes England which will provide bespoke support to councils to increase the supply of council housing.

It was great to meet with Sefton Council leader Cllr Marion Atkinson in a very sunny Southport. They have big ambitions for the town. Very exciting to see! 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭’𝐬 𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫 was allocated funding in the Spending Review and we are supporting the council in their efforts to create a performance space and garden for the child victims of the Southport attack and the wider community.

More widely, its great to see progress continuing this week on what marks one year since the general election, from improvement in the NHS, to good news for childcare.

As we launched our 10 year plan for the NHS, waiting lists are down again, now at their lowest level in two years, with nearly 𝟐𝟓𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐟𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 since the general election thanks to 4.2 million additional appointments in that time, which is double our target & 100,000 more appointments a week than the Tories were doing.

We’re making childcare more accessible & affordable with school-based nurseries now being on track to have more places in September than expected, helping us to deliver 30 hours of government funded childcare and 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 £𝟕,𝟓𝟎𝟎.

These are just two examples from the past week which show we’re getting on with the job. We have made progress: 𝐰𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐰 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝟏𝟎 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝟏𝟎 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬. But there’s much more we still need to do.