- Action to be taken on cost of living, local regeneration and
essential services to drive down costs and support families.
- Taskforces will tackle the immediate priorities of the
public, building on action already taken including cutting bus
fares and cracking down on subscription traps.
- First Secretary of State, to drive forward work across
government to develop local solutions for local communities.
Three new cross-government taskforces are being launched in the
new Office of the Prime Minister & Cabinet, tackling systemic
issues like the cost of living and public control of essentials
and supporting local communities.
The three taskforces will coordinate departments and ministers,
focusing on the priorities set out by the Prime Minister to
Cabinet yesterday.
The priorities will be driven forward by First Secretary of
State, , who will work across central
and local government - including with regional Mayors as the
government continues to pass powers from Westminster.
Immediate action will focus on challenging everyday rip-offs, the
visible decline of local town centres and the failure of many
privatised utilities to deliver basic services at a fair price.
First Secretary of State said:
The Prime Minister has been clear that the government's
priorities are the public's priorities. This is about putting
people back in control of the things that matter most to them and
ensuring that the everyday essentials are more affordable and
more accountable.
Based in the Office for the Prime Minister and Cabinet, the
taskforces will be fully integrated with No10 and across
government to deliver the change the public rightly expect to
see.
Details on the three priorities and taskforces:
Cost of Living
On the cost of living, earning back public trust begins with
understanding the pressures facing families at the kitchen table.
Action has already been taken in this area, including cuts to bus
fares, support with energy bills and cracking down on
subscription traps, but we must go further. The taskforce will
look to address the long term issues facing families, many of
which have too often fallen through the cracks.
Public Control
For decades, the essential services that underpin daily life -
housing, water, energy and transport - have suffered from
over-privatisation, leading to high costs for the public. The
Government is clear that the public has a right to expect these
services to be affordable and accountable.
The public control taskforce will rewire the state, examining how
public control across those four sectors can be utilised to
return them to public service, and bring down costs for families.
Looking at areas including market reform that could support these
aims.
Community Renewal
Our communities have been left behind, high streets falling into
disrepair, rubbish piling up at the sides of our streets - we
will reverse that, improving people's everyday experience of
where they live.
Working with local leaders, we will create a genuine plan to
rebuild Britain, not just replicating high street strategies that
have gone before, ensuring communities are supported to drive
through solutions, and deliver growth in every postcode.