Tag: 2025

  • PRESS RELEASE : Organised drug trafficker has sentence increased [June 2025]

    PRESS RELEASE : Organised drug trafficker has sentence increased [June 2025]

    The press release issued by the Attorney General’s Office on 6 June 2025.

    A member of an organised crime operation that trafficked cocaine across the Southwest has had his sentence increased, after the Solicitor General intervened.

    Stephen Wills, 36, from Bridford, Exeter, has had his sentence increased by five years under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme, following an intervention by the Solicitor General Lucy Rigby KC MP.

    The court heard that between 2019 and 2020, Wills was part of two organised crime groups that trafficked tens of thousands of pounds-worth of cocaine across the country.

    The group delivered drugs from a foreign crime group operating in London to drug dealers around Exeter.

    Wills played a significant role operating from the rented farmhouse where he lived with his family, using the outbuildings to store and package cocaine and to harvest and produce cannabis.

    Police discovered this when the offender was stopped in his vehicle and arrested on 1 May 2020.

    A subsequent investigation of the property found several firearms, ammunition and more than a quarter kilogram of cocaine, with a wholesale value of over £46,000.

    The court also heard that Wills had 33 previous convictions, including for firearm offences. Wills was prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition for five years in 2018. In 2021, he was convicted for three offences relating to possession of an air rifle and ammunition

    The Solicitor General Lucy Rigby KC MP said:

    This offender was part of two organised crime gangs which trafficked significant quantities of drugs across the country.

    We know that the impact of organised crime on our communities is devastating and I welcome the Court’s decision to increase Wills’ sentence following my intervention.”

    On 13 March 2025, Stephen Wills was sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment at Exeter Crown Court after he was sentenced for conspiracy to supply and possession with intent to supply class A and B drugs and possession of a prohibited firearm.

    On 5 June 2025, Wills’ sentence was increased from nine years to 14 years after it was referred to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement Joint Committee Statement [June 2025]

    PRESS RELEASE : Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement Joint Committee Statement [June 2025]

    The press release issued by the Department for Business and Trade on 6 June 2025.

    Summary of a joint statement following the second meeting of the Australia-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement Joint Committee on 3 June 2025.

    Alongside the OECD 2025 Ministerial Council Meeting held in Paris, Australian Minister for Trade and Tourism, Senator the Honourable Don Farrell and UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade, the Rt Hon Jonathan Reynolds MP, met on 3 June 2025, for the second meeting of the Australia-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement Joint Committee.

    The Ministers celebrated the strong trade and investment relationship between the UK and Australia.  Two-way trade between our economies reached AUD36bn or GBP23bn in 2024.

    As of 2024, the stock of UK Foreign Direct Investment in Australia reached AUD156bn or GBP77bn, and Australian Foreign Direct Investment in the UK rose to AUD210bn or GBP104bn – an increase of 6.5% and 11.5% respectively on the previous year.

    The strong uptake of the Agreement’s benefits is resulting in real savings for businesses, workers and consumers.

    Since entry into force on 31 May 2023, AUD4.7 bn or GBP2.4bn worth of traded goods benefited from preferential tariff access, i.e. around 70% of goods traded between the UK and Australia made use of available preferences.

    Between June 2023 and December 2024:

    • AUD3.4bn or GBP1.8bn (65%) of eligible goods imports into Australia from the UK made use of an FTA tariff preference.

    Had this trade occurred at standard Most Favoured Nation (MFN) tariff rates, up to an additional GBP89m or AUD172m in duties would have been collected.

    • GBP662m or AUD1277m (77%) of eligible goods imports into the UK from Australia made use of FTA tariff preferences.

    Had these occurred at standard Most Favoured Nation (MFN) tariff rates, up to an additional GBP139m or AUD269m in duties would have been paid.

    The Ministers noted that free and inclusive trade is a cornerstone of prosperity in both countries.

    Recognising that open markets, and reliable legal and regulatory frameworks are essential for trade, the Ministers committed to strengthening the rules-based trading system.

    Ministers also noted progress on recognition of professional qualifications in key sectors through the FTA’s Professional Services Working Group, and the ongoing work under the FTA’s Innovation Chapter to explore the potential for a ‘biobridge’ between our countries to expedite new and innovative medicines, diagnostics, and therapeutics to market.

    The Ministers agreed to continue working together to strengthen the role that free trade plays in increasing prosperity and reinforcing resilience against economic turbulence and share the benefits of trade to all including through the World Trade Organization, OECD and Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

    Note to editors:

    Figures reported are from UK Official Statistics and Australian official sources.

    Australian trade data is sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/international-trade/international-trade-supplementary-information-calendar-year/2024

    UK trade data sourced from the ONS publication of UK total trade: all countries seasonally adjusted October to December 2024 data.

    Trade asymmetries exist between the UK and Australia official trade statistics, but this does not mean that either country is inaccurate in their estimation. Differences can be caused by a range of conceptual and measurement variations between the estimation practices of different countries.

    Investment data is sourced from the Australia Bureau of Statistics https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/international-trade/international-investment-position-australia-supplementary-statistics/2024

    The underlying data for the imports into the UK preference utilisation figures were sourced from HM Revenue and Custom’s (HMRC) UK goods imports by tariff regime, April 2025 data. This data is provided on a country of origin basis.

    The methodology used to calculate UK preference utilisation rates can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/preference-utilisation-of-uk-trade-in-goods-technical-annex/preference-utilisation-of-uk-trade-in-goods-official-statistics-technical-annex#methodology-note-for-preference-utilisation-of-uk-trade-in-goods

    Estimated duty savings are based on exchanged country tariff schedules and preference utilisation data. For UK imports, these are all calculated using the Ad Valorem, Specific, or Compound tariffs applied at the CN8 level. Where appropriate, Ad Valorem Equivalent tariffs were used (source: MacMap). The Bank of England spot exchange rates (June 2023-December 2024) was used to convert from GBP to AUD.

    Estimates of Australia’s preference utilisation and duty savings for the June 2023 to December 2024 period are drawn from Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade calculations using ABS trade data and DFAT tariff schedule data.


    Investment data is sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

    UK-AUS total goods trade values may not equal the sum of UK goods imports and AUS goods imports due to rounding and methodological differences in calculating preference eligible imports.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Government’s new law sees unfair bonuses banned for six water companies with immediate effect [June 2025]

    PRESS RELEASE : Government’s new law sees unfair bonuses banned for six water companies with immediate effect [June 2025]

    The press release issued by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 6 June 2025.

    Government bans unfair bonuses for water companies that don’t meet high standards.

    • Unfair bonuses now banned for water companies that don’t meet high standards.
    • Water bosses awarded themselves over £112 million in bonuses and incentive payments in the last decade.
    • Strengthened enforcement is just one part of the Government’s strategy to reform the water sector and attract investment as part of its Plan for Change.

    Unfair bonuses have been banned for senior executives at six water companies, as new measures in the Water (Special Measures) Act come into force today (Friday, 6th June).

    The government is clear that transformative change across the water sector is needed to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas, and modernise the sector for decades to come.

    Under new rules, companies are not permitted to pay bonuses to water bosses that oversee poor environmental and customer outcomes. This delivers on a key manifesto commitment and has been backdated to apply to any bonuses relating to the financial year from April last year.

    This applies to Thames Water, Yorkshire Water, Anglian Water, Wessex Water, United Utilities, and Southern Water, where bosses are not permitted to receive bonuses with immediate effect.

    Water companies have awarded over £112 million in bonuses and incentives over the last decade. Last year alone, £7.6 million in bonuses were paid to water bosses in England.

    It’s crucial that companies attract the best talent to deliver essential upgrades to the water system. Companies that do meet Ofwat’s standards will still be eligible to pay executives bonuses – a powerful incentive for them to deliver immediate environmental improvements, better customer outcomes, and improve financial resilience.

    Environment Secretary Steve Reed said:

    Water company bosses, like anyone else, should only get bonuses if they’ve performed well, certainly not if they’ve failed to tackle water pollution.

    Undeserved bonuses will now be banned as part of the Government’s plan to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good.

    Promise made, promise delivered.

    Today’s ban holds water bosses to account and ensures they can no longer cash in while their companies pollute rivers, neglect customers, or mismanage finances.

    Strengthened enforcement is just one part of the government’s strategy to reform the water sector, which also includes working with the companies and their investors to make the water industry one of growth and opportunity, attracting investment and ensuring its stable financial footing for years to come.

    The government is determined to reform the sector in a way that continues to attract high quality, long-term investors to rebuild our water infrastructure. Following the publication of the Independent Water Commission’s interim report, Ministers will look at proposals carefully, and outline further action in due course.

    While it is for water companies to set their own remuneration, new standards published by Ofwat that come into force today mean bonuses will not be permitted be handed out in specific cases when a water company:

    • Fails to meet core environmental standards and presides over serious pollution offences
    • Fails to meet basic financial resilience standards (e.g. meet minimum credit rating requirements)
    • Fails to meet core consumer standards (e.g. failure to operate and maintain sewage networks)
    • Is convicted of a criminal offence (e.g. criminal convictions for serious environmental failings including illegal spills)

    Under new rules published by Ofwat today, any company failing to meet key standards will automatically lose the right to award bonuses. If a company pays a bonus while banned, Ofwat has the powers under the Water (Special Measures) Act to direct the company to claw back the money. Any company that does not comply with Ofwat’s directions will face enforcement action.

    To further protect customers and clean up our waterways, the government has secured a record £104 billion of private investment – the largest ever since privatisation to cut sewage discharges by nearly half over the next five years. This money will now be ringfenced for new pipes and treatment works, not shareholder payouts.

  • PRESS RELEASE : More than £32 million to resurface roads and build new cycle lanes in the north east and Yorkshire as region hosts UK’s largest women’s cycling race [June 2025]

    PRESS RELEASE : More than £32 million to resurface roads and build new cycle lanes in the north east and Yorkshire as region hosts UK’s largest women’s cycling race [June 2025]

    The press release issued by the Department for Transport on 6 June 2025.

    Investing in safer roads will encourage more women to cycle, build healthier, stronger communities and help ease pressure on the NHS.

    • an extra £20 million boost will improve roads across the north east and Yorkshire – part of an additional £500 million to tackle potholes nationwide
    • future of Roads Minister visits the Lloyds Tour of Britain Women – the UK’s biggest women’s cycling race – to promote safer roads for female cyclists
    • this is on top of nearly £12.8 million to build new cycle lanes and pavements in the north east – making active travel easier and easing pressure off the NHS, all part of the government’s Plan for Change

    Cyclists in the North East and Yorkshire will get around safely and easily as the government invests an extra £32 million to tackle potholes and build new cycle lanes in the region.

    Today (6 June 2025), the Minister for the Future of Roads will be in Saltburn-by-the-Sea, North Yorkshire, to speak to local schools, cycling clubs and female cycling champions during Stage 2 of the Lloyds Tour of Britain Women – the UK’s biggest women’s road cycling race.

    The minister will show how the government is taking action to resurface roads and emphasise the need to make them safer and more accessible for all road users, including female cyclists. Her visit follows the £15.6 billion boost announced earlier this week to empower local leaders to invest in local transport projects that will make a real difference across England’s city regions – including South Yorkshire, the north east and Tees Valley.

    Pothole-ridden roads put everyone off cycling, with this impact felt the most by women. According to research from Cycling UK, more than half of women (58%) said their cycle journeys were limited by safety concerns and a lack of suitable infrastructure, with 36% of women pointing to poor roads as a main factor.

    The government is investing an extra £20 million to resurface roads across the north east and Yorkshire so that cyclists and all road users can get around more safely, more easily and with confidence.

    On top of this uplift, local cyclists are also benefiting from an almost £13 million boost to build new cycle lanes and pavements in the north east.

    Better roads and new cycle lanes will make it easier and safer for people to cycle. This will lead to 43,000 fewer sick days a year across the country and add £1.4 billion to the UK economy, putting money in the pockets of hardworking families to help deliver the government’s Plan for Change.

    Future of Roads Minister, Lilian Greenwood, said:

    Safer roads mean safer spaces to cycle. The Lloyds Tour of Britain Women is a fantastic way to show women and girls the power of cycling and the difference it can make to their lives.

    By investing in better roads, we’re delivering our Plan for Change – encouraging more women and girls to hop on a bike, easing pressure on the NHS and building healthier, stronger communities.

    Across the country, the government is investing a total of £1.6 billion to resurface roads – enough to fill 7 million extra potholes – which includes an extra £500 million boost to go above and beyond the government’s manifesto commitment.

    Lizzie Deignan MBE, Olympic silver medallist and world champion, said:

    I am incredibly passionate about getting more women and girls on bikes, whatever their background or ability. The benefits of cycling are vast, from improving your health, meeting new people and developing new skills and confidence.

    Having better cycling infrastructure across the UK will definitely break down barriers, which currently prevent women and girls from participating in cycling.

    Programmes like British Cycling’s Breeze and Go-Ride clubs are reaching out to local communities and creating opportunities to make it easier for women and girls to access cycling, so we can enable safe and fun environments to make sure that everyone can enjoy the freedom of riding a bike.

    With more investment in our roads and cycle lanes, programmes like this can go further as we bring the joy of cycling to more people across the country.

    The £13 million for new cycle lanes and pavements in the north east comes from a £291 million package to build new active travel infrastructure across the whole country and encourage more people to walk, wheel, scoot and cycle.

    The improvements will help people across the country make 30 million more journeys by bike or foot every year, including more than 20 million new walk-to-school journeys by children and their parents.

    Caroline Julian, Director of Brand and Engagement at British Cycling, said:

    Significant barriers still exist that prevent many people from accessing the health, economic and social benefits that cycling brings. We know from our research that road safety is the biggest reason that holds people back from getting on a bike. This is, unfortunately, particularly the case for women.

    We are encouraged to see the significant government investment in road and cycle lane infrastructure in the north-east and Yorkshire regions. Investing in infrastructure and places to ride, alongside strengthened promotion and enforcement of the Highway Code, is of critical importance to make cycling accessible to all.

    RAC Senior Policy Officer, Rod Dennis, said:

    Whether on two wheels or four, the quality of the nation’s roads must be improved to make journeys smoother and safer. It’s crucial now that councils use this cash as effectively as possible.

    While dangerous potholes must be filled quickly, councils need to do more surface dressing work to ensure decent roads stay in a better state for longer and resurface those that are beyond repair.

    IAM RoadSmart Director of Policy and Standards, Nicholas Lyes, said:

    Poorly maintained roads are not just a nuisance, they are a road safety hazard, particularly for those on two wheels. We welcome this additional funding that focuses not just on smoother surfaces but safer infrastructure, which will improve journey choice for people.

  • PRESS RELEASE : New ambulances and faster emergency care for patients next winter [June 2025]

    PRESS RELEASE : New ambulances and faster emergency care for patients next winter [June 2025]

    The press release issued by the Department of Health and Social Care on 6 June 2025.

    Patients will receive better, faster and more appropriate emergency care as the government sets out reforms to shorten waiting times in A&E.

    • Nearly £450 million investment to expand urgent and emergency care facilities to provide faster care for patients
    • 800,000 fewer patients each year to wait more than 4 hours at A&E, and more will receive urgent treatment in their community
    • Part of government’s Plan for Change to modernise NHS services and improve emergency care

    Patients will receive better, faster and more appropriate emergency care as the government sets out reforms to shorten waiting times and tackle persistently failing trusts.

    The new package of investment and reforms will improve patients’ experiences this year, including by caring for more patients in the community, rather than in hospital which is often worse for patients and more expensive for taxpayers.

    Backed with a total of nearly £450 million, the urgent and emergency care plan 2025 to 2026 will deliver:

    • around 40 new same day emergency care and urgent treatment centres – which treat and discharge patients in the same day, avoiding unnecessary admissions to hospital
    • up to 15 mental health crisis assessment centres to provide care in the right place for patients and avoid them waiting in A&E for hours for care, which is not the most appropriate setting for people who are experiencing a crisis. These centres will offer people timely access to specialist support and ensure they are directed to the right care
    • almost 500 new ambulances will also be rolled out across the country by March 2026

    The plan’s emphasis will be on shifting more patient care into more appropriate care settings as part of the move from hospital to community under the government’s Plan for Change to rebuild the NHS, while tackling ambulance handover delays and corridor care.

    Health Secretary Wes Streeting said:

    No patient should ever be left waiting for hours in hospital corridors or for an ambulance which ought to arrive in minutes.

    We can’t fix more than a decade of underinvestment and neglect overnight. But through the measures we’re setting out today, we will deliver faster and more convenient care for patients in emergencies.

    Far too many patients are ending up in A&E who don’t need or want to be there, because there isn’t anywhere else available. Because patients can’t get a GP appointment, which costs the NHS £40, they end up in A&E, which costs around £400 – worse for patients and more expensive for the taxpayer.

    The package of investment and reforms we are announcing today will help the NHS treat more patients in the community, so they don’t end up stuck on trolleys in A&E. Hundreds of new ambulances will help cut the unacceptably long waiting times we’ve seen in recent years. And new centres for patients going through a mental health crisis will provide better care and keep them out of A&E departments, which are not well equipped to care for them.

    By shifting staff and resources out of hospitals and into communities, and modernising NHS technology and equipment, our Plan for Change will make sure the NHS can be there for you when you need it, once again.

    NHS Chief Executive, Sir Jim Mackey, said:

    Urgent and emergency care services provide a life-saving first line of defence for patients – but for too long now, despite the incredible hard work of staff, the speed and quality of NHS care has often not been good enough.

    Our patients and staff deserve better, so that is why we need a radical change in approach and to ensure we get the basics right.

    This major plan sets out how we will work together to resuscitate NHS urgent and emergency care, with a focus on getting patients out of corridors, keeping more ambulances on the road, and enable those ready to leave hospital to do so as soon as possible.

    NHS National Director for Urgent and Emergency Care, Sarah-Jane Marsh, said:

    It is vital that patients can access our urgent and emergency care services in the right place at the right time, and that the care provided is to a standard we would want for ourselves and our own families.

    While the 10 Year Health Plan will set out a longer-term vision to transform urgent and emergency services for the 21st century, there is so much more we could all be doing now.

    This plan sets out not only what we know is working across the country, but how systems must work together to improve access and quality for the benefit of our patients.

    In order to support this shift in delivery focus, NHS England will be asking providers and systems to be accountable to their own local boards and populations, creating robust winter plans which will be tested during winter exercises throughout September.

    Every day, more than 140,000 people access urgent and emergency care services across England. Since 2010 to 2011, demand has almost doubled, with ambulance service usage rising by 61%.

    A&E waiting time standards have not been met for over a decade, while the 18-minute target for category 2 ambulance calls has never been hit outside the pandemic.

    But at least 1 in 5 people who attend A&E do not need urgent or emergency care, while an even larger number could be better cared for in the community.

    The plan focuses on making winter 2025 to 2026 significantly better than recent winters by setting ambitious but achievable targets and increasing transparency about progress.

    It marks a fundamental shift in our approach to urgent and emergency care – moving from fragmented efforts to genuine collaboration across the whole system, and mean better co-ordination between NHS trusts and primary care to identify patients most vulnerable during winter.

    And it aims to make the most difference to patients by focusing on specific improvements across the healthcare system, aligning resources to areas that need them most.

    The plan will also see more patients receive care in the community, rather than being unnecessarily admitted into hospital, through measures including:

    • more paramedic-led care in the community – which means patients will receive more effective treatment at the scene of an accident or in their own homes from ambulance crews
    • increasing numbers of patients seen by urgent community response teams – which provide urgent care to people in their homes, helping to avoid hospital admissions and enable people to live independently for longer. Local areas will be told to lay out how they will expand access to these teams, which includes understanding level of needs
    • better use of virtual wards – which use modern technology to provide patients with hospital-level care at home safely and in familiar surroundings, speeding up their recovery while freeing up hospital beds for patients that need them most
    • publishing league tables on performance to drive improved transparency and public accountability and as well as encouraging less effective systems to work more closely with high performing systems to accelerate improvement

    Thanks to the investment and reforms announced today (6 June 2025), 800,000 fewer people should be forced to wait more than 4 hours for care in emergency departments this year.

    Chief Executive of NHS Providers, Daniel Elkeles, said:

    There is a lot to like about this plan. It’s helpful that we’re seeing it in early summer, with time to ensure meaningful measures are in place ahead of the added pressures of winter.

    It’s also good to see that so many parts of the system, including primary, community and mental health care, in addition to ambulance and hospital services, have been factored in.

    The extra capital investment for same day emergency care and mental health crisis assessment centres and ambulance services is particularly welcome, as is the emphasis on vaccination – and on this we’d urge NHS staff and the public to play their part by getting that protection.

    This plan should result in meaningful progress compared to last winter. As the plan acknowledges the public and our staff want to know the NHS can respond quickly, safely and effectively in an emergency. NHS Providers would like to work with NHS England and the government to develop long-term urgent and emergency care plans that are bold and ambitious.

    Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE) Managing Director, Anna Parry, said:

    The new urgent and emergency care plan reaffirms AACE’s vision for the future of NHS ambulance services. By extending and formalising a wider ambulance sector remit in urgent and emergency care, we will be better placed to help resolve some of the key system pressures, reduce the risks for patients and transform patient care while offering a more positive working environment for our people.

    By underscoring the importance of a system-wide focus to achieve improvements in urgent and emergency care, this new plan acts as a genuine challenge to all health and social care leaders, encouraging them to plan and act with purpose to achieve the transformation that is needed. Ambulance service leaders continue to proactively seek increased opportunities for greater collaboration with system partners while identifying new strategies and initiatives within their own ambulance trusts to achieve the transformation targets outlined in the plan.

    We are particularly heartened to see the plan’s emphasis on the reduction and improved management of hospital handover delays. Handover delays have the greatest detrimental impact on ambulance resources and create unnecessary delays and additional harm for thousands of patients each year. The elimination of corridor care and the focus on reducing 12-hour waits at emergency departments is also welcomed.

    Finally, we wholeheartedly endorse and support the plan’s underlined recognition of the impact of the delivery of sub-optimal care on NHS staff, alongside the pivotal role both leadership and a strong system-level approach must play in the transformation of urgent and emergency care.

    NHS Confederation Chief Executive, Matthew Taylor, said:

    Health leaders across systems, providers and primary care will welcome this plan to provide better, faster and more appropriate emergency care, an area which is facing high demand and rising public concern over performance.

    As the plan shows, there is a lot of good practice across the health service to build upon, including expanding the number of same day emergency treatment and mental health crisis assessment centres and rolling out more ambulances.

    Making sure the NHS does not continue to fall into crisis each winter will be essential for improving public confidence in the health service. Strong collaboration between health partners and with local government to improve discharges out of hospitals will also be key to progress.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Rooftop solar for new builds to save people money [June 2025]

    PRESS RELEASE : Rooftop solar for new builds to save people money [June 2025]

    The press release issued by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero on 6 June 2025.

    New homeowners stand to benefit from rooftop solar and cheaper bills, with the Future Homes Standard being published this Autumn.

    • Families will have lower energy bills in new homes as part of the Plan for Change, as government confirms new build homes will have solar panels by default
    • Proposed changes in the Future Homes Standard, being published in Autumn, will ensure new homes will be modern and energy efficient, cutting bills and boosting the nation’s energy security with clean, homegrown power

    Working people stand to save hundreds of pounds off their energy bills as the government confirms new build homes will have solar panels by default, unleashing a rooftop revolution.

    Ministers are publishing the Future Homes Standard this autumn and have confirmed today (Friday 6 June) that solar panels will be included, leading to installation on the vast majority of new build homes.

    Illustrating the benefits of solar panels, a typical existing UK home could save around £530 a year from installing rooftop solar, based on the current energy price cap.

    This means today’s new proposals could significantly cut energy bills for the recipients of new build homes, tackling the cost of living for aspirational young families and new house buyers.

    Under proposed changes, new homes will also have low-carbon heating, such as heat pumps and high levels of energy efficiency, cutting people’s energy bills and boosting the nation’s energy security with clean, homegrown power, in line with the Prime Minister’s Plan for Change.

    To deliver these aims, the proposed Future Homes Standard would see building regulations amended to explicitly promote solar for the first time, subject to practical limits with flexibility in place for new homes surrounded by trees or with lots of shade overhead.

    From switching on the kettle to cooking dinner and doing the weekly wash, families will now be able to seize the benefits of powering their lives with clean, renewable energy from the very first day in their new home, with cheaper energy bills that put more money back in their pockets.

    Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said:

    Solar panels can save people hundreds of pounds off their energy bills, so it is just common sense for new homes to have them fitted as standard.

    So many people just don’t understand why this doesn’t already happen. With our plans, it will.

    Today marks a monumental step in unleashing this rooftop revolution as part of our Plan for Change, and means new homeowners will get lower bills with clean home-grown power.

    Housing and Planning Minister, Matthew Pennycook said:

    As part of the government’s Plan for Change to build 1.5 million homes, we are maximising the use of renewable energy to cut people’s bills and power their homes.

    The Future Homes Standard will ensure new homes are modern and efficient with low-carbon heating, while our common-sense planning changes will now make it easier and cheaper for people to use heat pumps and switch to EVs so they can play their part in bolstering our nation’s energy security.

    After legislation came into force last week, more homeowners will now be able to install a heat pump within one metre of their property’s boundary without having to submit a planning application, unlocking even more savings and cutting unnecessary paperwork for working people.

    With figures from Octopus showing that 34% of those who order a heat pump are discouraged or drop out for reasons attributed to the need to submit a planning application, this change will help families who may have less space outside their home make the upgrade to clean power.

    The first quarter of 2025 saw a record number of applications to the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, up 73% from the same quarter in 2024.

    The scheme provides households with up to £7,500 off the cost of a heat pump, which can save families around £100 a year by using a smart tariff effectively.

    Chris Hewett, Chief Executive, Solar Energy UK, said:

    The solar industry is very glad to hear that almost all new homes will be fitted with solar power from under the Future Homes Standard. Making solar panels a functional requirement of the Building Regulations will cut energy bills, lower carbon emissions, help drive polluting natural gas off the grid and improve our nation’s energy security, too.

    Aadil Qureshi, Co-Founder and CEO, Heat Geek, said:

    Installing a heat pump, particularly alongside solar panels is an amazing way for homeowners to save hundreds of pounds on their energy bills and create a more comfortable home. The simplification of planning rules will help millions of homeowners, particularly in normal family homes in towns and cities, take advantage of this technology.

    Charles Wood, Deputy Director of Policy (Systems) at Energy UK, said:

    The addition of rooftop solar to the Future Homes Standard is welcome and necessary in ensuring that homes built today are fit for the future. Building homes to the right standards now will deliver immediate benefits of warmer, more comfortable, and more cost-efficient homes, preventing the need to retrofit these properties later at higher costs to the customer.

    This change, alongside wider reforms to planning processes and network connections, will reduce bills for people in new build properties while also giving the industry confidence to invest in increased manufacturing and installer training as demand increases, creating jobs and bringing down technology costs for everyone.

    Ensuring our future energy security relies on producing more British power, the electrification of our economy and cutting waste. The energy sector continues to deliver energy efficiency improvements and install low-carbon heating, generation, and transport technologies for households and businesses across the country.

    Chris O’Shea CEO of Centrica, said:

    The age of solar is well and truly upon us, with millions of households up and down the country already benefiting from generating their own free electricity from the sun. Our research shows that customers can shrink their energy bills by 90% when they combine solar and battery with the right energy tariff, and this announcement means even more households can soak up the savings—and the sunshine—by generating their own clean, free electricity. And with the Future Home Standard expected in the Autumn, momentum is building behind Great Britain’s rooftop revolution.

    Jack Brayshaw, Head of Technical Innovation at Vistry Group, said:

    Vistry is wholeheartedly committed to the use of low-carbon technology – developing sustainable homes and communities is at the core of what we do.

    Over the past year alone, we have installed solar panels on nearly 10,000 homes, and solar panels and electric car chargers are part of our standard specification.

    Vistry is proud to be leading the way on sustainable placemaking, but we know that this is more to be done. Working with our partners, we have also been increasing the number of air source heat pumps we install on-site and exploring other measures, such as heat recovery, to promote low-carbon technologies while reducing energy bills for our customers.

    Through our unique partnerships model, we are committed to working with the government to optimise the benefits of low-carbon technology, future-proofing homes across the country.

    Ed Lockhart, Chief Executive, Future Homes Hub, said:

    The Future Homes Standard represents a major opportunity to build a generation of higher performing new homes. Moving to all electric homes, with photovoltaics, a better fabric system, better ventilation and smart technologies to optimise the way new homes use energy means that new homes will not only be better for the planet but also more comfortable, healthier to live in and cheaper to run for customers.

    The Future Homes Hub is ready to support this mission, bringing homebuilders, social housing providers, suppliers, financial institutions and other experts together to work with government departments to find the best solutions to secure the benefits of the Future Homes Standard whilst accelerating housing delivery, crucially helping smaller developers to get the right support at the right time.

    Nigel Banks, Zero Bills Director at Octopus Energy, said:

    People deserve lower energy bills, and adding solar panels to a house as it’s built is an incredibly effective way to slash costs from day one.

    With the right smart tech and storage added to the mix, some households won’t have to pay a penny for energy.

    We’re delighted to see the Future Homes Standard enable house builders to now build the homes of the future.

    Matthew Hart, Director of Residential New Build at E.ON Next, said:

    Ensuring that every new home comes equipped with solar panels is a vital step forward for the UK. Our vision at E.ON has always been to make clean, affordable energy the standard, not the exception, and this move will empower homeowners to take control of their energy use and keep bills low from day one. It’s exactly the kind of bold, practical action we need to build a more secure, low-carbon future for everyone.

    Mark Wakeford, National Chairman, National Federation of Builders, said:

    Solar panels on new homes make sense because they lower bills and progress the clean energy revolution we so desperately need. Credit must also be given for recent announcements on grid investment and connection reforms, as these were important challenges to recognise and solve for a rooftop revolution to happen in practice.

    Charlotte Lee, CEO, Heat Pump Association, said:

    The HPA welcomes clarity on the publication timeline for the Future Homes Standard and confirmation that all new homes will be required to have low-carbon heating, such as heat pumps. Coupled with solar PV, highly efficient heat pump installations will result in low consumer energy bills and increase the UK’s energy security. This announcement provides a clear signal to the heat pump sector to scale up delivery in terms of workforce and manufacturing to meet the anticipated growth in the market and demonstrates the government’s commitment to decarbonise buildings.

    Garry Felgate, Chief Executive of The MCS Foundation, said:

    These plans by the government are a huge boost to the UK renewables sector, to our efforts to meet net zero, and in reducing energy costs for households.

    This announcement clearly shows that clean energy in the UK is the future. Maximising renewable energy technologies can benefit households by reducing bills as well as enhancing our national energy security.

    Trevor Hutchings, Chief Executive of the Renewable Energy Association (REA) said:

    The growth of solar power has been one of the UK’s biggest renewable energy success stories, demonstrating without a doubt that we don’t have to choose between lowering our emissions and lowering household energy bills.

    Today’s announcement – which the REA has long campaigned for – takes this one step further – not only enabling thousands of future homeowners to experience the benefits of affordable and clean power, but supercharging growth in the British renewable energy industry and driving forward our energy transition.

    Notes to editors

    Future Homes Standard

    The changes outlined today will maximise the use of solar energy through the Future Homes Standard.

    In 2023, the previous government proposed that new build homes would either need solar panel coverage equivalent to 40% of the building’s floor area or none at all.

    This approach would have allowed for too many exemptions and no solar being installed on these developments.

    The government is intending to bring forward rigorous proposals, that if developers cannot meet 40% coverage, they would still be required to install a reasonable amount of solar coverage.

    Under this proposal, it would be a functional requirement of the Building Regulations that new homes, with rare exceptions, are built with renewable electricity generation. In the vast majority of cases, we expect this would be solar panels.

    We are working with industry to set the technical detail ahead of publishing the final Future Homes Standard this Autumn.

    The Future Homes Standard will also see homes built with low carbon heating such as heat pumps and heat networks.

    Solar

    The £530 a year saving is based on government’s published Home Energy Assessment tool, which allows the user to produce an estimate of the bill savings they could expect from solar given the characteristics of their home.

    The figure is the potential savings for a home and is included to illustrate the benefits of solar panels. An estimate of the bill savings for a Future Homes Standard home will be included in the final impact assessment published in Autumn.

    The figures are based on a typical 3.5 kW south-facing installation using the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) methodology.

    The costs and savings individuals experience will be affected by factors such as how often they heat their home, the precise technical details of their installations, and future energy prices.

    The savings displayed are based on the April 2025 price cap. As energy prices change, so will the estimates of savings.

    Domestic heat pumps

    The changes to permitted development rights, which came into force on Thursday 29 May in England, cover:

    • removing the 1m boundary rule, enabling air source heat pumps to be installed within 1m of the property boundary
    • increasing the size limit of the heat pump for dwellinghouses from 0.6m3 to 1.5m3
    • doubling the number of heat pumps permitted per detached dwellinghouse, from 1 to 2
    • allowing for air source heat pumps that can be used for cooling as well as heating – facilitating the role out of air-to-air models – and providing consumers more choice

    Modern heat pumps are generally perceived as quiet and typically no louder than a fridge. When installed under a permitted development right, they must also comply with a noise assessment methodology which includes an upper noise limit assessed at the nearest neighbouring habitable room window or door, as part of the Microgeneration Certification Scheme Planning Standard.

    There were a total of 11,256 applications to the Boiler Upgrade Scheme between January and March 2025, which was up 73% from the first quarter of 2024.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Appliance servicing company which used high pressure sales tactics on elderly and vulnerable is shut down [June 2025]

    PRESS RELEASE : Appliance servicing company which used high pressure sales tactics on elderly and vulnerable is shut down [June 2025]

    The press release issued by the Insolvency Service on 6 June 2025.

    UK Service Plan Ltd pressured elderly people – some of whom had Alzheimer’s and dementia – into service agreements to protect household appliances.

    UK Service Plan Ltd sold monthly and annual plans which they said would provide service cover for household appliances.

    The company had a pattern of behaviour which involved targeting the elderly and vulnerable and creating direct debits without permission.

    The company was subject to a successful winding up order at the High Court in London on 19 May 2025, and its director was disqualified for eight years.

    A company which used high pressure sales tactics to sell service plans for household appliances has been shut down after an Insolvency Service investigation found it targeted the elderly and vulnerable.

    UK Service Plan Ltd, registered at Princess Street in Manchester and formerly Trafalgar Place, Brighton, offered protection plans for white goods to cover the cost of callouts, replacement parts and labour.

    The company charged around £29 a month for a service plan, and some people were persuaded to take on lengthy agreements of up to three and five years.

    Additionally, the company pressured people – some via cold calls – into buying plans by offering a discount which they falsely claimed was only applicable if they pay on the day.

    The Insolvency Service looked at 14 complaints which had been received from UK Service Plan Ltd customers, all of whom were over the age of 71.

    Seven of the complainants were described as being vulnerable, with variable memory recall and conditions including Alzheimer’s or dementia.

    Three were cold called despite being registered with the Telephone Preference Service.

    Six had direct debits set up apparently without their permission and three were told they were existing customers when they were not.

    Insolvency Service Chief Investigator Mark George said:

    UK Service Plan Ltd targeted and pressured some of the most vulnerable people in our society.

    They were persuaded into buying a service agreement, which it appears many did not want or need.

    Being able to shut this company down is a vital step toward protecting the public from becoming victims of their bad business practices.

    The company was not represented at the hearing and did not defend the petition, with the company’s director – 41-year-old Mohamed Anoir Dhimi, of Manchester – giving an undertaking to the court not to be involved in the promotion, formation or management of any company whose business is in the same or a similar field for a period of eight years.

    Dhimi did not fully co-operate with the investigation and provided limited information to the Insolvency Service.

    As evidence of poor trading practice, between August 2021 and July 2022, it was found the company had paid more than £200,000 in refunds to 740 people.

    In 2022, the company claimed to have a turnover of more than two million pounds.

    But the recorded cash in the filed accounts did not match the balance in the known bank account at the relevant date.

    In addition, the company failed to maintain accurate records and accounts the company filed at Companies House contained potentially false information.

    UK Service Plan Ltd, incorporated in 2021, was last registered at an address on Princess Street in Manchester. It claimed to have 10 employees, but no actual trading address has been found.

    The company had previously been registered in London and Brighton.

    The Official Receiver has been appointed as liquidator of UK Service Plan Ltd.

    The Insolvency Service worked in collaboration with Trading Standards on the investigation.

    • Mohamed Anoir Dhimi: Date of Birth, October 1983. Address: Princess Street, Manchester.
  • Rachel Reeves – 2025 Statement at the 2025 Spending Review

    Rachel Reeves – 2025 Statement at the 2025 Spending Review

    The statement made by Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in the House of Commons on 11 June 2025.

    My driving purpose since I became Chancellor is to make working people in all parts of our country better off, to rebuild our schools and our hospitals, and to invest in our economy so that everyone has the opportunity to succeed after 14 years of mismanagement and decline by the party opposite, culminating in a £22 billion black hole in the public finances. That was the Conservatives’ legacy, and the first job I faced as Chancellor was to set it right. So at the Budget last October and again in the spring, I made the choices necessary to fix the foundations of our economy. We wasted no time in removing the barriers to growth: the biggest overhaul of our planning system in a generation; launching Britain’s first National Wealth Fund; and reforming our pensions system to unlock billions of pounds of investment into our economy.

    We are starting to see the results. The stability we have provided has helped support four cuts in interest rates, saving hundreds of pounds a year for families with a mortgage. Real wages have grown by more in the first 10 months of this Labour Government than in the first 10 years of the Conservative Government. And the latest figures show that we are the fastest growing economy in the G7. Countries around the world are lining up to do business with Britain again, with new trade deals with India, the United States and the European Union.

    We are renewing Britain, but I know that too many people in too many parts of our country are yet to feel it. This Government’s task, my task as Chancellor, and the purpose of this spending review is to change that—to ensure that renewal is felt in people’s everyday lives, in their jobs, and on their high streets. The priorities of this spending review are the priorities of working people: to invest in Britain’s security and Britain’s health and to grow Britain’s economy so that working people are better off.

    Today, I am allocating the envelope I set out in the spring. I am enormously grateful to my excellent team of officials at the Treasury and to my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury for his tireless work throughout this process, crunching the numbers and looking at the assets and liabilities. On that note, I thank all my Cabinet colleagues for their contribution to this process—they are all assets to this Labour Government.

    In this spending review, total departmental budgets will grow by 2.3% a year in real terms. Compare that to the Conservatives’ choice of austerity. In contrast to our increase of 2.3%, they cut spending by 2.9% a year in 2010. Let us be clear: austerity was a destructive choice for both the fabric of our society and our economy, choking off investment and demand and creating a lost decade for growth, wages and living standards. That is their legacy.

    My choices are different. My choices are Labour choices—the choices in this spending review that are possible only because of my commitment to economic stability and the decisions this Government have made. The Conservatives’ fiscal rules guaranteed neither stability nor investment, and that is why I changed them. My fiscal rules are non-negotiable, and they are the foundation for stability and investment.

    My first rule is for stability: day-to-day Government spending should be paid for through tax receipts. That is the sound economic choice. It also the fair choice, because it is not right to expect our children and future generations to pay for the services we rely on today. This first rule allows me, as I set out in the Budget, to allocate £190 billion more to the day-to-day running of our public services over the course of this spending review compared with the previous Government’s plans.

    My second fiscal rule enables me to invest in Britain’s economic renewal while getting public debt on a downward path. This rule allowed me to increase public investment by more than £100 billion in the autumn and a further £13 billion in the spring. That is investment to rebuild our transport networks, our defence capability and our energy security—in short, to grow our economy.

    I have made my choices: tough decisions for stability and changing Britain’s fiscal rules for investment. Today, I am delivering that investment for the renewal of Britain. Now, it is time for the parties opposite to make their choices. The spending plans I am setting out today are possible only because of the decisions I took in the autumn to raise taxes and the changes to our fiscal rules, every one of which was opposed by the parties opposite. Today, they can make an honest choice and oppose these spending plans as they opposed every penny I raised to fund them, or they can make the same choice as Liz Truss: spend more and borrow more, with no regard for the consequences.

    In their clamour to cut taxes for the richest, the Conservatives crashed our economy, sent mortgage rates spiralling and put our pensions in peril. I will never take those risks. Yet Reform is itching to do the same thing all over again. The hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage) may be playing the friend of the workers now, but some of us are old enough to remember when he described the disastrous Liz Truss Budget as “the best Conservative Budget” since the 1980s. [Interruption.] Mr Speaker, after the damage is done, he still nods along. Reform has learned nothing. His party has been in Parliament for less than a year, yet it has already racked up £80 billion of unfunded commitments. Reform is simply not serious. Every day it becomes clearer that it is Labour—and only Labour—that has a credible plan for the renewal of Britain.

    As I said in my spring statement, the world is changing before our eyes. Since the spring, the challenges that we face have become even more acute. The signs of our age of insecurity are everywhere, so we are acting on the promise in our plan for change: building renewal on the foundations of national security, border security and economic security. As the Prime Minister said earlier this month,

    “A new era in the threats that we face demands a new era for defence and security.”

    That is why we took the decision to prioritise our defence spending by reducing overseas development aid. Defence spending will now rise to 2.6% of GDP by April 2027, including the contribution of our intelligence agencies. That uplift provides funding for my right hon. Friend the Defence Secretary, with an £11 billion increase in defence spending and a £600 million uplift for our security and intelligence agencies. That investment will deliver not only security, but renewal in Aldermaston and Lincoln; in Portsmouth and Filton; on the Clyde and in Rosyth. Investment in Scotland, jobs in Scotland, and defence for the United Kingdom—opposed by the Scottish National party; delivered by this Labour Government.

    Investing in our armed forces, our military technology and our supply chains also brings huge opportunities: £4.5 billion of investment in munitions, made in factories from Glasgow to Glascoed, Stevenage to Radway Green; and over £6 billion to upgrade our nuclear submarine production, supporting thousands of jobs across Barrow, Derby and Sheffield. We will make Britain a defence industrial superpower, with the jobs, the skills and the pride that come with that.

    A more unstable world presents new challenges at our borders too. Conflict has opened the way for organised criminal gangs. The British people rightly expect us to have control of who comes into our country. The Conservatives said that they would “take back control”. Well, Mr Speaker, they lost control. With one failed policy after another, there was no control and no security. In contrast, in the Budget last year I announced £150 million to establish the new Border Security Command, and today, to support the integrity of our borders, I can announce that that funding will increase, with up to £280 million more per year by the end of the spending review period for our new Border Security Command.

    Alongside that, we are tackling the asylum backlog. The Conservative party left behind a broken system: billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money spent on housing asylum seekers in hotels, leaving people in limbo and shunting the cost of failure on to local communities. We will not let that stand. I can confirm today that, led by the work of my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary, we will be ending the costly use of hotels to house asylum seekers in this Parliament. Funding that I have provided today, including from the transformation fund, will cut the asylum backlog; allow more appeal cases to be heard; and return people who have no right to be here, saving the taxpayer £1 billion per year. That is my choice, that is Labour’s choice, that is the choice of the British people.

    If we want national security in a dangerous world, that does not stop at the strength of our armed forces or at our borders. I have long spoken about what I call “securonomics”—the basic insight that, in an age of insecurity, Government must step up to provide security for working people and resilience for our national economy. Put simply: where things are made, and who makes them, matters.

    Take energy: the Tories neglected our nuclear and renewables sectors and closed our gas storage facilities, leaving us exposed to hikes in energy prices when Russia invaded Ukraine, and it was working people who paid the price for their mistakes. Labour understands that energy security is national security. Because it is the right choice for bills, jobs and growth, this Government are investing in the biggest roll-out of nuclear power for half a century, with a £30 billion commitment to our nuclear-powered future.

    Yesterday my right hon. Friend the Energy Secretary and I announced £14 billion for Sizewell C, which will produce energy to power 6 million homes and support more than 10,000 jobs, including 1,500 apprenticeships, in order to build the nuclear workforce of tomorrow. That is not all. We are investing over £2.5 billion in a new small modular reactor programme. Our preferred partner is Rolls-Royce—a great British company based in Derby. This investment is just one step towards our ambition for a full fleet of small modular reactors, and it provides a route for private sector-led advanced modular reactor projects to be deployed across the UK.

    Alongside these actions, we are making nuclear-approved land available in Sellafield to attract private investment and create thousands more jobs. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Whitehaven and Workington (Josh MacAlister) for his work in this area. To strengthen Britain’s position at the forefront of a global race for new nuclear technologies—a cause championed by Mayor of the East Midlands Claire Ward and my hon. Friend the Member for Bassetlaw (Jo White)—and to support pioneering work taking place in West Burton in Nottinghamshire, we are investing over £2.5 billion in our nuclear future.

    To back British industries, pioneering work in carbon capture, usage and storage will take place. Last year we announced funding for two sites, one on Merseyside and one in Teesside, where we are building the world’s first commercial-scale CCUS plant. Today I can announce support for the Acorn project in Aberdeenshire to support Scotland’s transition from oil and gas to low-carbon technology—a challenge and an opportunity well understood by the leader of Scottish Labour Anas Sarwar and my right hon. Friend the Scotland Secretary. We are also backing the Viking project in Humberside—a cause long supported by my hon. Friend the Member for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes (Melanie Onn).

    Because I am determined to ensure that the energy technologies of the future are built here and owned here and that jobs come to Britain, this spending review invests in the wholly publicly owned Great British Energy, headquartered in Scotland. These investments will ensure that the towns and cities that powered the last industrial revolution play their part in our next industrial revolution. Reducing our reliance on overseas oil and gas, protecting working families from price shocks, and a new generation of energy industries for a renewed Britain—that is my choice, that is Labour’s choice, that is the choice of the British people.

    Economic security relies on our ability to buy, make and sell more here in Britain. In April, this Government faced a choice: to let British Steel in Scunthorpe go under or to intervene. [Interruption.] That choice was a choice not of the metal trader but of this Labour Government. We heard representations from workers, trade unions and my hon. Friend the Member for Scunthorpe (Sir Nicholas Dakin). My right hon. Friend the Business Secretary and I were not prepared to tolerate a situation in which Britain’s steel capacity was fatally undermined. We were not prepared to see another working-class community lose the pride, prosperity and dignity that industry provides, so we did intervene to save British Steel and the jobs that come with it, and I am proud of that decision.

    The Government will invest in Scunthorpe’s long-term future and the future of steelworks across our great country. In a vote of confidence in our home-grown steel, Heathrow airport, where we are backing London by backing a third runway, has signed the UK steel charter—a multibillion-pound airport expansion backed by Labour and built with British steel.

    Building our train and tram lines, our military hardware and our new power stations will mean orders for steel made in Britain at Sheffield Forgemasters, where we are investing in nuclear-grade steel, and in Port Talbot, where the spending review confirms the £500 million grant to Tata Steel. A future for British-made steel and a proud future for Britain’s steel communities. Things built to last, built here in Britain—that is my choice, that is Labour’s choice, that is the choice of the British people.

    This Labour Government are backing British business. There will be more to come in the weeks ahead with our 10-year infrastructure strategy and our modern industrial strategy: a plan drawn up in partnership with businesses and trade unions. When I speak to businesspeople and entrepreneurs about what they need to succeed, they say that they need the chance to innovate, they need access to finance and they need a deep pool of talent. We have heard that message, and today we are taking action.

    First, on innovation, which is a great British strength. Our universities are world-leading, and we are proud of them. We want our high-tech industries in Britain to continue to lead the world in years to come in car production, in aerospace and in life sciences, so we are backing our innovators, backing our researchers and backing our entrepreneurs with research and development funding rising to a record high of £22 billion a year by the end of the spending review. Because home-grown artificial intelligence has the potential to solve diverse and daunting challenges, as well as the opportunity for good jobs and investment here in Britain, I am announcing £2 billion to back the Government’s AI action plan overseen by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology.

    Secondly, to champion those small businesses seeking access to finance as they look to grow, I am increasing the financial firepower of the British Business Bank with a two thirds increase in its investments, increasing its overall financial capacity to £25.6 billion to help pioneering businesses to start up and scale up, backing Britain’s entrepreneurs and backing Britain’s wealth creators.

    Thirdly, as we invest, if we are to thrive in the industries of the future, we must give our young people the skills they need to contribute to our national success as scientists, engineers and designers, and as builders, welders and electricians. I know the ambition, the drive and the potential of our young people; it cannot be right that too often those ambitions and that potential are stifled. Young people who want training find courses are oversubscribed and are turned away at the door, forcing growing businesses, eager to recruit that talent, to look elsewhere—potential wasted and enterprise frustrated. So today I am providing record investment for training and upskilling with £1.2 billion a year by the end of the spending review to support over a million young people into training and apprenticeships so that their potential, their drive and their ambition is frustrated no longer.

    On the subject of skills, we should all recognise the Leader of the Opposition’s own commitment to lifelong learning. At the weekend, she promised to learn and “get better” on the job. I am sure that Opposition Members will be supporting her in that endeavour. Good luck with that.

    As we build a strong, secure and resilient economy, working people must feel the benefits. That starts with the security of a proper home. Our planning reforms have opened up the opportunity to build. Now, we must act to make the most of those opportunities, and a plan to match the scale of the housing crisis must include social housing, which has been neglected for too many decades, but not by this Labour Government. So, led by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister, we are taking action. I am proud to announce the biggest cash injection into social and affordable housing in 50 years with a new affordable homes programme in which I am investing £39 billion over the next decade—direct Government funding that will support house building, especially for social rent. I am pleased to report that towns and cities including Blackpool, Preston, Sheffield and Swindon already have plans to bring forward bids to build those homes in their communities.

    I have gone further. Last autumn, I enabled greater use of financial transactions to support investments in our infrastructure alongside strict guardrails that ensure that money is spent wisely through our public financial institutions. So, in line with that commitment, I am providing an additional £10 billion for financial investments, including to be delivered through Homes England, to crowd in private investment and unlock hundreds of thousands more homes. Homes built by a Labour Government; homes built for working people.

    But it is no good investing in new skills, new jobs and new homes if they are not properly connected. That is why last week, with the support of my right hon. Friend the Transport Secretary, I announced £15 billion of investment to connect our cities and our towns—the biggest ever investment of its kind—with investments in buses in Rochdale, train stations in Merseyside and Middlesbrough, mass transit in West Yorkshire and metro extensions in Birmingham, Tyne and Wear and Stockport. Alongside that, we are backing Doncaster airport.

    Today, I am announcing a four-year settlement for Transport for London to provide certainty and stability for our largest local transport network to plan for the future. For other regions in the UK, I am today providing for a fourfold increase in local transport grants by the end of this Parliament to make the improvements put off for far too long, to improve the journeys that people make every day.

    To unlock the potential of all parts of Britain, we are going further by investing in major rail projects to connect our towns and cities. In October, I announced funding for the trans-Pennine route upgrade—the backbone of rail travel in the north, linking York, Leeds and Manchester—with a quarter of that route expected to be electrified by this summer. I know the commitment of my hon. Friends the Members for Huddersfield (Harpreet Uppal), for York Outer (Mr Charters) and for Colne Valley (Paul Davies) to this issue, and today I can announce a further £3.5 billion of investment for that route. But my ambition, and the ambition of people across the north, is greater still, so in the coming weeks I will set out the Government’s plan to take forward our ambitions for Northern Powerhouse Rail.

    I have also heard the representations of my hon. Friends the Members for Milton Keynes North (Chris Curtis), for Milton Keynes Central (Emily Darlington), and for Buckingham and Bletchley (Callum Anderson), and I can tell the House today that to connect Oxford and Cambridge and to back Milton Keynes’s leading tech sector I am providing a further £2.5 billion for the continued delivery of East West Rail. On a matter that I know is of great importance to my hon. Friends the Members for Lichfield (Dave Robertson), for Birmingham Northfield (Laurence Turner) and for Birmingham Erdington (Paulette Hamilton), I can announce today that I am providing funding for the midlands rail hub: the region’s biggest and most ambitious rail improvement scheme for generations, strengthening connections from Birmingham across the west midlands and into Wales, too.

    For 14 years, the Conservatives failed the people of Wales. Those days are over. Following representations from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales, the First Minister of Wales, and Welsh Labour MPs, today I am pleased to announce £445 million for railways in Wales over 10 years, including new funding for Padeswood sidings and Cardiff West junction. That is the difference made by two Labour Governments, working together to undo a generation of underfunding and neglect.

    This Government take seriously their commitment to investment, jobs and growth in every part of the UK. I have heard the concerns of my hon. Friends the Members for Mid Cheshire (Andrew Cooper), and for Rossendale and Darwen (Andy MacNae), and the Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, Steve Rotheram, that past Governments have under-invested in towns and cities outside London and the south-east. They are right, so today I am publishing the conclusion of the review of the Treasury Green Book, which is the Government’s manual for assessing value for money. Our new Green Book will support place-based business cases, and make sure that no region has Treasury guidance wielded against it. I said that we would do things differently, and that we wanted growth in all parts of Britain, and I meant it.

    Backing our nations and regions means backing our devolved Governments, and this spending review provides the largest settlement in real terms since devolution was introduced, with £52 billion for Scotland, £20 billion for Northern Ireland by the end of the spending review period, and £23 billion for Wales. Having heard representations from many Welsh Labour colleagues, and because I know the obligation that we owe to our industrial communities, I am providing a multi-year settlement of £118 million to keep coal tips safe in Wales.

    I know what pride people feel in their communities—I see it everywhere I go—but I also know that, for too many people, there is a sense that something has been lost as high streets have declined, community spaces have closed, and jobs and opportunity have gone elsewhere. The renewal of Britain must be felt everywhere. Today I am pleased to announce additional funding to support up to 350 communities, especially those in the most deprived areas—funding to improve parks, youth facilities, swimming pools and libraries, and to support councils in fighting back against graffiti and fly-tipping, including in Blackpool South, Stockport, Stoke-on-Trent Central, Swindon North, and Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend.

    And there is more. Job creation and community assets are vital to our growth mission, but too often, regeneration projects are held back, gathering dust in bureaucratic limbo. We are changing that. We will establish a growth mission fund to expedite local projects that are important for growth—projects such as Southport pier, an iconic symbol of coastal heritage that has stood empty since 2022; Kirkcaldy’s seafront and high street, where investment would create jobs and new business opportunities; and plans for Peterborough’s new sports quarter, to drive activity and community cohesion. People deserve a Government who share their ambition for their communities, and who deliver renewal, growth, and opportunity, and that is what you get with a Labour Government.

    If people are to feel pride in their community, enjoy their public spaces, and spend time on their high streets, they must feel safe when they do so—safe in the knowledge that when people break the law, they feel the full force of the law. The Conservative party left our prisons overflowing and on the brink of collapse, and left it to us to deal with the consequences. We are taking the necessary action, so my right hon. Friend the Justice Secretary and I have announced that we are investing £7 billion to fund 14,000 new prison places, and putting up to £700 million per year into reform of the probation system. Today, I will do more. I am increasing police spending power by an average 2.3% per year in real terms over the spending review period, to protect our people, our homes and our streets. That is more than £2 billion, supporting us to meet our plan for change commitment of putting 13,000 additional police officers, police community support officers and special constables into neighbourhood policing roles across England and Wales.

    I am determined that every family, as well as every place, should feel the benefits of Britain’s renewal. Falling interest rates, supported by our commitment to economic stability, are already saving many families hundreds of pounds a month on their mortgage. I have accepted pay review body recommendations for our armed forces, nurses, teachers and prison officers, giving public sector workers the fair pay rises that they deserve. In autumn, I increased the national living wage—a pay rise for around 3 million hard-working people. This Government are doing more: we are banning exploitative zero-hours contracts, strengthening statutory sick pay, and ending the use of unscrupulous fire-and-rehire practices. Those are my choices; those are Labour choices.

    I know that for many people the cost of living remains a constant challenge. That is why we are capping the cost of school uniforms. I can tell the House today that I am extending the £3 bus fare cap until at least March 2027. Earlier this week, we announced that over three quarters of pensioners will receive the winter fuel payment this year. And there is more: to get bills down, not just this winter but in winters to come, we have expanded the warm homes plan to support thousands more of the UK’s poorest households. That includes providing £7 million to homes in Bradford, £11 million to homes in Rugby, and £30 million to homes in Blackpool. Today I can announce that I will deliver in full our manifesto commitment to upgrading millions of homes, saving families and pensioners across the country up to £600 off their bills, each and every year. I am determined to do everything in my power to put more money in people’s pockets, to give people security and control in their lives, to make working people better off, and to show them that this Labour Government are on their side.

    Taxpayers work hard for their money, and they expect their Government to spend their money with care. For the first time in 18 years, this Government have run a zero-based review, and made a line-by-line assessment of what the Government spend—something that the Tories did not bother to do in 14 years. As a result of that work, and our wider drive for efficiencies, led by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, in this spending review I have found savings from the closure and sale of Government buildings and land, from cutting back office costs, and from reducing consultancy spend—all of which the previous Government failed to do. Those reforms will make public services more efficient, more productive, and more focused on the user. I have been relentless in driving out inefficiencies, and I will be relentless in cutting out waste, with every single penny reinvested in our public services.

    I joined the Labour party almost 30 years ago because I knew, growing up, that the Conservative party did not care much about schools like mine, or the kids I grew up with. I joined because I believed that every young person should have an equal chance to succeed, no matter where they come from or what their parents do. I believe that just as strongly today as I did then. That is why, at the Budget last autumn, I ended the tax loophole that exempted private schools from VAT and business rates. I put that money where it belongs: into helping the 93% of children in our state schools. The Conservatives opposed money for their local state schools, but I will always prioritise those schools. That was my choice; that is the Labour choice.

    Because of decisions that we made in this spending review, last week, this Government, working with my right hon. Friend the Education Secretary, announced that free school meals will be extended to over half a million more children. That policy alone will lift 100,000 children out of poverty—children in schools from Tower Hamlets to Sunderland, and from Swansea to Bridgend.

    Last year, at the Labour party conference, I was proud to announce the first steps in our plan to deliver breakfast clubs for every child, with an initial roll-out to the first 750 schools. We will continue with that national roll-out as part of our manifesto commitment, so that no child goes hungry, and every child can have the best chance of thriving and succeeding. I know that a good start in life does not start at school, so I can also announce £370 million for school-based nurseries, to put us firmly on track to meet our plan for change commitment to a record number of children being school-ready. On children’s social care, to break the dangerous cycle of late intervention and low-quality care, I am providing £555 million of transformation funding over the spending review period, so that children do not needlessly go into care when they could stay at home, and so that, where state intervention is necessary, there is better care, and there are better outcomes.

    Last week, I was pleased to announce, with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, that more than £130 million from the dormant assets scheme, run with the financial services sector, will be allocated to funding facilities for our young people, to give every child the chance to take part in music, sport and drama, and to fund libraries in our schools, so that the confidence and opportunities that those resources open up are no longer the preserve of the privileged few. Those are my choices, those are Labour choices, and those are the choices of the British people.

    Overall, I am providing a cash uplift of over £4.5 billion a year in additional funding for the core schools budget by the end of the spending review, backing our teachers and our kids. People who went to ordinary comprehensives in the ’80s and ’90s are all too familiar with the experience of being taught in temporary classrooms. The previous Conservative Government oversaw another generation of kids being herded into cold and damp buildings as school roofs literally crumbled. It was not acceptable when I was at school, and it is not acceptable now. I am therefore providing investment, rising to nearly £2.3 billion per year, to fix our crumbling classrooms, in addition to £2.4 billion per year to continue our programme to rebuild 500 schools, including Chace community school in Enfield, Woodkirk academy in Leeds and Budmouth academy in Weymouth. Investing in our young people, investing in Britain’s future and investing in opportunity for all: that is Labour’s choice.

    Finally, let me turn—[Hon. Members: “More!”] I knew they would cheer. Let me turn to our national health service. It is our most treasured public service, and people rightly expect an NHS that is there when they need it; that an ambulance will come when they call one; that a GP appointment will be available when they need one; and that a scan will be performed when they are referred for one. I am hugely grateful to our nurses, our doctors, our paramedics and other healthcare professionals for everything that they do.

    If we want a strong economy where working people can fulfil their potential, we must have a strong NHS—not, as the Reform party have called for, an insurance-based system. We believe in a publicly funded national health service, free at the point of use. Perhaps the hon. Member for Clacton should spend more time focusing on the priorities of the British people, and less time in the Westminster Arms—although, after this week, perhaps the Two Chairmen pub might be a better fit.

    At the Budget, I took the decisions necessary to provide an immediate injection of funding to get the NHS back on its feet. I commend my right hon. Friend the Health Secretary for all the progress that he has already made. In less than a year, this Government have recruited 1,700 new GPs, delivered 3.5 million extra appointments and cut waiting lists by more than 200,000. Fixing our NHS also means delivering fundamental reform across social care, so we are backing the first ever fair pay agreement for that sector. I am also increasing the NHS technology budget by almost 50%, and we are investing £10 billion to bring our analogue health system into the digital age, including through the NHS app, so patients can manage their prescriptions, get their test results and book appointments all in one place.

    We are shifting care back to the community and providing more funding to support the training of thousands more GPs to deliver millions more appointments. We are investing more in prevention, to meet our manifesto commitment of providing mental health support teams in all schools in England by the end of this Parliament. Those investments will enable the delivery of our upcoming 10-year plan for health and will put the NHS firmly back on the path to renewal.

    To support that plan, to back the doctors and nurses we rely on, and to make sure that the NHS is there whenever we need it, I am proud to announce today that this Labour Government are making a record cash investment in our national health service, increasing real-terms, day-to-day spending by 3% per year for every single year of this spending review—an extra £29 billion per year for the day-to-day running of our health service. That is what the British people voted for and that is what we will deliver: more appointments, more doctors and more scanners. The national health service: created by a Labour Government, protected by a Labour Government and renewed by this Labour Government.

    This is a spending review to deliver the priorities of the British people: security, with a strong Britain in a changing world; economic growth, powered by investment and opportunity in every part of Britain; and our nation’s health, with an NHS fit for the future. I have made my choices. In place of chaos, I choose stability; in place of decline, I choose investment; and in place of pessimism, division and defeatism, I choose national renewal. These are my choices, these are Labour choices, and these are the choices of the British people. I commend this statement to the House.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Keir Starmer meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan [June 2025]

    PRESS RELEASE : Keir Starmer meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan [June 2025]

    The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 6 June 2025.

    The Prime Minister hosted His Majesty the King of Jordan Abdullah II at Downing Street this afternoon.

    The leaders discussed the gravity of the intolerable situation in Gaza, and the concerning developments in the West Bank.

    The Prime Minister reiterated that if Israel did not cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid, the UK and its partners would take further concrete actions in response.

    It was vital a sustainable ceasefire and the release of all hostages was secured, and humanitarian aid was delivered at speed and volume, the Prime Minister added.

    Both leaders agreed on the importance of the Palestinian Authority’s reform agenda as part of the path to a two-state solution and lasting peace and security for both Israelis and Palestinians.

    The leaders also discussed the wider bilateral relationship between the UK and Jordan, and the opportunity to deepen business and investment links between the two countries.

    Both looked forward to speaking again soon.

  • PRESS RELEASE : We applaud Syria’s determination to ensure Assad’s chemical weapons programme is destroyed – UK statement at the UN Security Council [June 2025]

    PRESS RELEASE : We applaud Syria’s determination to ensure Assad’s chemical weapons programme is destroyed – UK statement at the UN Security Council [June 2025]

    The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 5 June 2025.

    Statement by Caroline Quinn, UK Deputy Political Coordinator, at the UN Security Council meeting on Syria.

    Let me start by welcoming the strong commitment of the Syrian government to turn the page of history. We applaud Syria’s determination to ensure once and for all that the Assad era chemical weapons programme is destroyed.

    The UK is greatly encouraged by Syria’s operational and logistical support to the deployments carried out by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, including access to sites and people, and by Syria’s commitment to engage with the international community.

    We also welcome the OPCW Technical Secretariat’s deployments to Syria in March and April. The persistence and professionalism shown by OPCW staff in Syria has been exceptional. As has the consistently high quality of the Technical Secretariat’s work on this important file in a very challenging technical environment.

    Important progress has been made towards setting up OPCW offices in Syria and the collection and analysis of samples.

    These are vital steps towards Syria’s full implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention and UN Security Council resolution 2118, which the Assad regime so flagrantly violated.

    There is, however, President, much more work to do in a difficult operational environment.

    Due to the secrecy and complexity of Assad’s illegal chemical weapons programme, the precise extent of the challenge ahead is still unknown.

    Allow me to make three brief points.

    Firstly, both the Syrian government and the OPCW will need to be operationally agile to address any proliferation or health risks found in inspecting sites of concern.

    The OPCW’s role is vital. As mandated by the Chemical Weapons Convention and by resolution 2118, the OPCW must verify the Syrian-led declaration and destruction of any remaining elements of Assad’s chemical weapons programme.

    Secondly, to achieve this, the OPCW will need technical, financial and logistical assistance from the international community.

    The OPCW has provided States Parties with its estimated costs for its work in Syria.

    The UK has already provided more than $1 million to the OPCW Syria Missions to support their immediate work and will look to provide further assistance.

    We join High Representative Nakamitsu in encouraging others to also provide the necessary resources. In particular, President, we welcome Qatar’s role in representing Syria at the OPCW in The Hague.

    Finally, military action by neighbouring states risks delaying OPCW deployments as well as the preservation of evidence at chemical weapons sites. We therefore urge Israel to de-escalate their actions in Syria.

    President, we have a historic opportunity to rid Syria of Assad’s chemical weapons.

    Let us do our part to support Syria and the OPCW, to enable the new Syrian government to finally close the file on the scourge of chemical weapons use, and on this dark chapter in Syria’s history.