It has been a great last fortnight in government as Minister of State as we begin to deliver the change that working people across our country deserve, like constituents of mine in Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton.

Last week’s King’s Speech offered a bold and comprehensive plan to get Britain’s future back with measures to create wealth in every community, get Britain building, and hand power back to local people.

Our ministerial team went to Number 10 to meet with the Prime Minister to talk about our contribution to deliver the change the country voted for. Local government, our Councillors, Mayors and communities are central to our missions.

Angela Rayner and I took questions from councillors from across the country at the LGA forum, while we made clear that we were committed to resetting the relationship between local and central government.

We want to extend devolution not from the top down, but from the grassroots upwards, which is why Angela Rayner wrote to local leaders across England who still operate in devolution deserts.

I was also re-elected as Chair of the Co-operative Party last week. As part of the new government, the Co-op Party is determined to help drive co-operative growth and put bills that were in the King’s Speech into law which share power and ownership, protect and respect shopworkers, and ensure communities benefit from clean energy.

I ended this week at the launch of the Future Governance Forum where I spoke with the report authors about work on advancing the debate on devolution in England. This is an important time as we prepare the ground for the ground-breaking English Devolution Bill.

The last two weeks have been busy and inspiring, with big challenges to face head on, but with bigger opportunities that lay ahead too. Despite a difficult inheritance after 14 years of the Conservatives, we know that very exciting times still lie ahead.

It was great to visit Royton Town Hall yesterday to see its restoration nearing completion. The building is just one example of the Royton’s rich heritage.

The time and care put in by Oldham Council to restore it is a testament to the administration’s commitment to protecting our historic and valuable community venues, especially given the tough economic climate councils around the country have been operating under in recent years.

Oldham Council is rightly placing heritage at the centre of its plans for our borough.

This is an end of week thank you to my amazing constituency team for delivering a great Summer School 2024, I know how much work goes into making it a success.

And to the fantastic young people who attended for the time you gave and the way you engaged and embraced the opportunity.

And to the organisations who gave time during week to support it including Oldham Council, GMP Oldham, Ultimate Products, Manchester Evening News, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Parliament and the Sharp Project.

Its brilliant to see two big sports clubs in our borough, which matter to so many local people, working together to ensure they and Boundary Park all have secure futures.

Promoting community ownership, which was one of my priorities at the election, can be delivered by securing sports grounds as Assets of Community Value to safeguard their future, which we worked hard to achieve for Boundary Park.

This means it will be put into even better use for local people so that they can enjoy great football, great rugby and other social and youth events at the venue in the knowledge that the ground and both clubs are all in good hands.

Thank you Oldham Athletic and Oldham RLFC.

Today, the new Labour government’s legislative programme was spelled out in the first King’s speech under a Labour government for over 70 years.

For the people of Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton, plans have been announced which will deliver on my local priorities:

In delivering better paid and more secure jobs, the government will introduce the Employment Rights Bill. This will implement our New Deal for Working People to level up workers’ rights by banning exploitative zero-hour contracts, ending Fire and Rehire, and giving people rights at work from day one.

In creating a safe place on our high streets and in our neighbourhoods, the government announced both the Crime and Policing Bill and the Victims, Courts and Public Protection Bill. These focus on measures such as strengthening community policing powers to deal with anti-social behaviour and to help victims, while also tackling the causes of crime with the Youth Futures programme.

In fighting for more decent family homes for local people, we will set in motion both the Planning and Infrastructure Bill and the Renter’s Rights Bill. These include measures to reform planning so we can build 1.5 million new homes and measures to support renters such as ending no-fault evictions.

In terms of promoting community ownership, I am proud of the recent work we’ve done to save the Oldham Coliseum using the co-operative model of ownership to safeguard our town’s community venue in a way that puts local people in power.

As Minister of State in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, I will play a role in implementing the English Devolution Bill. The purpose of it is to bring in new powers for metro mayors and combined authorities in England to support local growth plans. We will push power out of Westminster and give it to those who know their areas best because we think democratic decisions are best made by people with skin in the game.

Labour promised during the election campaign to change Britain by ending the chaos and decline we suffered under the previous government. This King’s Speech begins a decade of national renewal to boost the living standards of working people and get Britain’s future back.

Oldham Council has received a “Good” Ofsted judgement across all areas of its Children’s Services.

I want to pay tribute to the staff and political leadership who have made this such an important focus of work.

Keeping our children safe and providing the best possible outcomes is essential, and there can be no doubt that the financial cliff edge facing councils has hit hard and made this challenge much harder.

However that hasn’t stopped investment nor political focus, the opposite has happened.

The Ofsted report said;

“Since the last inspection in March 2019, when services for children and families were judged to be requires improvement to be good, there has been a relentless focus on improvement, driven by the director of children’s services and his strong and stable leadership team.

“The pace of change has been purposeful and has ensured that children now benefit from good-quality help and support.

“Political and corporate commitment have translated into significant financial investment to strengthen services and provide increased workforce stability.”

They have my full support in continuing this focus.

https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50252252