Over the last week, the Prime Minster has set out his five key priorities: halving inflation, growing the economy, reducing the national debt, tackling illegal arrivals on small boats, and cutting NHS waiting lists.
Judging by local feedback these priorities are spot on.
In terms of the NHS, the invaluable role our NHS workers play should not be underestimated, particularly the impact the pandemic has had on staff themselves.
I have been liaising with the Somerset NHS Foundation Trust which highlights that getting patients out of the hospital and back into the community is a major concern.
So, I am pleased that, having listened, in addition to the £500million Adult Social Care Discharge Fund, Government has just announced a further £250 million to speed up hospital discharges.
£50 million of this will expand hospital discharge lounges and ambulance hubs with the rest allocated to local areas to help buy thousands of extra beds in care homes and other settings.
There are currently around 13,000 people occupying hospital beds in England who are fit to be discharged.
Another area I have been working on is education for 16 – 19-year-olds in sixth forms colleges, notably Richard Huish College and Somerset University Centre.
And in recent good news, £125m has been allocated to this sector to plug a problematic funding gap.
This has been well received and will help to ensure young people here can continue to have access to the courses and qualifications they need to go on to successful careers, including T Levels and A levels. It is so important to upskill our young people and to retain them in our area. This fund comes in addition to the extra £291 million announced for 16-to-19-year old’s education in 2021/22 and the £400m increase provided in 2020/21.
Finally, when I visit schools locally, the environment is always top of the agenda, especially concerns about plastic.
So, I’m delighted that as Waste Minister, I will shortly be announcing details regarding a widespread ban of commonly littered single-use plastic items such as plastic cutlery.
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