The Prime Minister opened Cabinet by reflecting on delivery over
the year to start the important work of change and fixing the
foundations and looked ahead to the work still to do. He then
asked the Environment Secretary to update on the decisive action
to fix the country's water industry.
The Environment Secretary said that one year ago at the general
election the broken water sector had been a significant issue,
with soaring bills, record pollution, and growth held back. He
said the government was undertaking the biggest overhaul of the
sector in a generation, having already introduced the Water Act
to ban failing executive bonuses and introduce criminal
sanctions, secured over £100 billion investment to rebuild
infrastructure and deliver a visible improvement for households,
and yesterday's announcement to abolish Ofwat and move
responsibilities into one streamlined regulator, increasing
investment, reducing sewage and improving the experience of
customers.
The Education Secretary updated Cabinet on progress to improve
school attendance, which saw such a damaging drop-off during and
after the pandemic, with real impacts on outcomes for children,
the economy and local communities. She said despite progress,
there was more to do, and the scale of the problem for the most
severely affected groups, particularly white working-class kids,
was significant. Ten days missed in year 11 halves your
likelihood of getting grade 5 in English and Maths GCSE while it
also has an impact on lifetime earnings. She outlined work the
government is doing with under-performing schools, increased
mentoring, and tackling issues such as timetabling and the
transition from primary school.
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster updated on work to
deliver the Hillsborough law. He reflected on his experience
attending Liverpool's first game in the weeks following the
disaster, and the profound impact that the tragedy had on the
game of football and the country, and in the aftermath the state
closed ranks and covered up the truth. He said the government is
working with the families to deliver legislation that learns the
lessons this tragedy, and subsequent scandals such as Infected
Blood, have taught us.
The Prime Minister closed Cabinet by saying it was almost one
year from the horrific attacks in Southport, and the whole
country will never forget this unimaginable tragedy. He asked the
Deputy Prime Minister to update on the critical work she has been
leading on social cohesion and the upcoming Plan for
Neighbourhoods, which will underline how vital it is that we are
repairing and improving the social fabric, trust, and integration
in communities across the country.
The Deputy Prime Minister said that economic insecurity, the
rapid pace of de-industrialisation, immigration and the impacts
on local communities and public services, technological change
and the amount of time people were spending alone online, and
declining trust in institutions was having a profound impact on
society. She said it was incumbent on the government to
acknowledge the real concerns people have and to deliver
improvements to people's lives in their communities. She said
seventeen of the eighteen places that saw the worst of the
disorder last summer ranked at the top of the most deprived, and
while Britain was a successful multi-ethnic, multi-faith country,
the government had to show it had a plan to address people's
concerns and provide opportunities for everyone to flourish. She
said as part of this the upcoming Plan for Neighbourhoods would
deliver billions of pounds of investment over ten years in
hundreds of the most deprived places, to restore pride in
people's local areas and improve people's lives.
