As part of intensive work across Government, Chancellor of the
Duchy of Lancaster today gathered ministers to accelerate work on
tackling winter pressures.
The meeting saw ministers update on how they are mitigating the
challenges people may face this winter.
Those assembled, who will meet regularly to discuss progress,
included ministers and officials from HM Treasury, the Department
of Health and Social Care, the Department of Work and Pensions,
the Department for Transport, the Department for Levelling Up,
Housing and Communities, and the Department for Education. Senior
officials, including the Chief Medical Officer, also
attended.
Ministers discussed the rising cost of living, energy prices, NHS
pressures and industrial action, as well as the comprehensive
work being undertaken to mitigate their impact.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster tasked departments with a range of priority actions
to take forward to ensure smooth preparations for winter and
report back on their progress.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster said:
The winter is always a challenge, but a particular difficulty
this year is the number of problems coming together at the same
time.
People are already feeling the squeeze of rising energy and fuel
costs, and we are continuing to work on boosting our energy
security to mitigate these. We also have the wider global
inflation problem, which is further adding to the cost of living
pressures. Our NHS is also still recovering from
Covid-19 but is going into a winter where there may again be
a rise of cases but also the usual seasonal flu.
My job is to test, challenge, and coordinate work across
government, working with ministers and officials, as well as our
partners and industry, to make sure we have a real grip of the
issues and that they’re all addressed at the same time, making
sure we protect people as much as possible from the challenges
this winter will bring.
The government has already taken a number of steps to mitigate
the impact of the global spike in energy prices on the most
vulnerable, these include allocating £37 billion of help for
households including the £400 discount on energy bills this
winter, and £1,200 of direct support to help with the cost of
living.
Elsewhere, the Department of Health and Social Care and the UK
Health Security Agency are further developing their plans for
health resilience at pace, including to boost the NHS and Adult
Social Care workforce ahead of winter - this includes a new DHSC
taskforce for international recruitment.
The Department of Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy is
also continuing to strengthen its contingency plans for winter
energy security. Equinor and Centrica recently signed a major
agreement to shore up Britain’s gas supply over the next three
winters – adding around one billion cubic metres of gas per year
to our supply.
