Labour’s Plan for Change is already delivering for communities, families and public services across the country.
This week alone:
-
40 more neighbourhoods joined Pride in Place, putting local people in control of up to £800 million of investment -
500 additional schools will offer free breakfast clubs from April -
Labour MPs voted to scrap the two-child limit, paving the way for the biggest reduction in child poverty in a generation -
The National Cancer Plan committed to 75% long-term survival rates for future cancer patients -
A new £10 million fund will cover travel costs for families of children with cancer -
10,000 vulnerable children will be placed into loving foster homes -
£6.5 million invested to protect Britain’s historic canals and waterways
Labour is delivering change that people can see and feel – stronger communities, better public services, and opportunity for every family.
Dear Ibrahim,
Welcome to your update from the Political Office in Number 10, keeping you up to date with everything the Labour government is delivering for working people in Britain.
SPOTLIGHT ON
Getting more children in care into loving homes
Thousands more children in the social care system in England will grow up in loving and supportive homes, under Labour’s plans to create up to 10,000 new foster care places this parliament, giving more children the best possible start in life and opening up opportunity for every young person regardless of their background.
A major recruitment drive will tackle the critical shortage of foster carers in England, where approved carer numbers have fallen by almost 12% over the past decade.
New rules will also bring the fostering system into the 21st century, opening fostering up to more people and making clear that carers don't have to be married, homeowners, or not working full time to foster effectively.
The plans are backed by £88 million of funding to support foster carers and the network of frontline services that support them, with the money repurposed from existing budgets. This also means better support for existing foster carers, including clarity on the help available, assistance with home improvements, and access to peer support and advice through regional fostering hubs.
Labour is bringing fostering into the 21st century, removing outdated rules and unnecessary barriers to become foster carers as part of our overhaul of the care system so that every child, no matter their background, can have the best start in life.
Read more Pledge to get 10,000 vulnerable children into foster homes
The Guardian: Ministers to crack down on profiteering in care sector and make renewed fostering push
WHAT WE'VE DONE THIS WEEK
Continuing our roll-out of free breakfast clubs
We are determined to give young people the best start to the day and to provide parents with support to tackle the cost of living while juggling work and family life.
500 more schools will offer free breakfast clubs from April – benefitting over 300,000 children. And applications opened on Monday for 1,500 schools to join the programme in September.
So far, we have served up 7 million meals, saving families up to £450 per year.
The breakfast clubs are proving to be a lifeline – new polling reveals nearly half (45%) of parents prioritise schools offering them.
Read more Parents prioritising primary schools with free breakfast clubs
The Mirror: Parents to save £450 a year as major expansion of free breakfast clubs unveiled
ITV News: Free breakfast clubs rolled out to hundreds of schools as more urged to sign up
Something to share The Education Blog: Free breakfast club roll out: everything you need to know
National Cancer Plan
Thanks to Labour’s radical new plan and record investment in our NHS, three quarters of patients diagnosed from 2035 will be cancer-free or living well after five years.
Under the plan, the NHS will meet all three cancer waiting time standards by 2029, meaning that hundreds of thousands more patients will be treated within 62 days.
From this year, every cancer patient will be given an individual support plan covering treatment, mental health, diet, fatigue and employment support.
They will also receive an end-of-treatment summary when chemotherapy or surgery finishes – giving them clear guidance on warning signs, who to call with concerns, and where to find ongoing support like physiotherapy, counselling or local cancer groups.
This new approach recognises that cancer can affect every part of a patient’s life and that care doesn’t stop when treatment ends.
Additional measures in the National Cancer Plan include:
- We will cover the costs of travel to and from appointments for families of children and young people with cancer – backed by a £10 million funding package. - £2.3 billion invested to deliver 9.5 million additional tests by 2029 – meaning faster diagnostics - Half a million robot-assisted surgeries by 2035 – freeing up hospital beds - Treatment at specialist centres for patients with rarer cancers – so they can benefit from the best doctors - Every patient who could benefit will be offered a test that analyses the DNA of their cancer – helping doctors better understand their cancer and appropriate treatment
We are determined that every person diagnosed with cancer gets the best possible chance of beating it.
Read more Three in four cancer patients to survive long term under new plan
Every cancer patient to get individual support plan
Government to cover travel costs of children with cancer
National Cancer Plan for England
Health Secretary, Wes Streeting launches National Cancer Plan
BBC News: Families of children with cancer to have travel costs covered
The Times: NHS cancer plan expects to save 75% of sufferers
Pride in Place
40 more neighbourhoods across England are joining the Pride in Place programme – meaning local people can decide where up to £20 million will be invested in their neighbourhood.
The new package will build on the success of the £5 billion Pride in Place programme that has already brought real change to hundreds of neighbourhoods.
The results are already visible. In Ramsgate, £500,000 secured the freehold of the town’s last remaining youth centre – saving it for generations to come. In Elgin, Scotland, £1 million has been set aside to build a brand-new regional athletics hub, bringing sports clubs from across the northeast together under one roof.
Read more Pride in Place: 40 neighbourhoods join transformational programme
PM remarks in Hastings: 5 February
SHAREABLE
Here’s seven things Labour’s Plan for Change has delivered this week:
Pride in Place is expanding to 40 more neighbourhoods, giving local people control over how up to £800 million is invested to revive high streets and protect community spaces
From April, 500 more schools will have Best Start free breakfast clubs targeting support at 300,000 children who need it most
Labour MPs have voted to scrap the two-child limit, putting the country on course for the biggest reduction in child poverty in a single Parliament
Through the National Cancer Plan, Labour has committed to ensuring three in four people diagnosed with cancer from 2035 onwards are cancer-free or living well after five years
A new £10 million fund will cover travel costs for families whose child has cancer, so no one misses out on care because of income or postcode
Labour will get 10,000 vulnerable children into loving foster homes with a new £88 million programme reversing the decline in carers and giving more children the stability they deserve
£6.5 million is being invested to protect Britain’s canals, repairing historic waterways, boosting resilience to extreme weather and supporting millions of visitors
Find more local and national shareable content on Labour Social .
