The business of government is mostly dull slog, not dramatic fireworks. Most of the time, voters pay little attention unless something dramatic happens, or they are personally involved in an issue. But the work must go on. And the mainstream media often focus on the quarrels and personalities, rather than what is actually happening. So, there are many issues which you will not hear about. Our mission, as citizen journalists, is not to promote a particular party, but to fill the gaps, by reporting things that the mainstream media have missed or chosen to ignore.
As we said in yesterday’s article, polling suggests that most people think the government has done nothing much. Whether you approve of the action or not, that is clearly untrue. So to help put the record straight, here we describe some of what has really been going on. Future articles will cast a more critical eye on some of these topics.
Resolved long-running industrial disputes
The government has ended a number of long-running strikes. This was costly, but given how public sector pay had fallen behind the private sector it was always inevitable that resolving the disputes in the NHS and on the railways would need money.
Improved the incomes of many of the poorest
Living standards are always a major electoral issue, and in 2024, declining real incomes saw incumbent parties of left and right lose elections all round the world. Labour’s decisions to raise the minimum wage for three million low-paid workers and to retain the triple lock for the 13m state pensioners, mean that most of the poorest are now a little better off. However, the decision to link the winter fuel allowance to other benefit rates did penalise a group of pensioners earning just above the new threshold. And although prices are historically high, average wages have been rising faster than inflation.
However, the media often chose to focus, not on what the government had done, but what they had not done. Driven by financial constraints, the government retained the previous government’s two-child benefit cap, and refused to compensate the WASPI women for losses associated with equalising state pension age.
Fast-tracked legislation to improve workers’ rights
One of the government’s first pieces of legislation honoured the manifesto promise to reverse decades of erosion of people’s rights at work. The Employment Rights Bill, with well over 100 clauses, passed its second reading in October. It will bring reform on issues including flexible working, family-friendly policies, dismissal, equality at work, fair pay and a voice at work. It also creates a new national Adult Social Care Negotiating Body.
By conrast with previous governments, which have often passed popular legislation without any resources for enforcement, this Bill will give the Secretary of State new powers and staff to enforce labour market legislation.
Restored NHS funding
The NHS faces major challenges, which contributed to the downfall of the Conservatives. The service already accounts for a fifth of all public spending; and it faces growing demand from an ageing and sicker population, from the aftermath of Covid and inflation of all costs. And this is compounded by the structural confusions of past reorganisations.
The government has restored NHS spending to its highest level since 2010, bringing it back to the average level since 1980. This is to fund 40,000 additional elective appointments, investment in technology, and the creation of new mental health crisis centres.
Lord Darzi’s report, commissioned by the government and delivered in record time, has prepared the ground for the launch of a major long-term plan for the NHS in 2025. Darzi makes a clear case for shifting resources from hospitals to primary care, but it remains to be seen whether ministers will be able to resist the lobbying of the former.
Meanwhile, hospitals are full of people with limited medical needs who should be in much cheaper social care. The additional £600m allocated to local authorities for social care merely maintains the status quo. Despite decades of reports and consultations, it now seems that serious reform may not happen before the next general election.
Launched housing and planning reform – including security for tenants
The nation faces a chronic shortage of houses, causing high rents for tenants. And, while ever-rising house prices look appealing to current owners, they are increasingly driving young people out of the market and leading to dysfunctional concentrations of wealth. This puts pressure on living standards and feeds a populist narrative that the country is ‘full’.
Past governments have repeatedly set, but failed to achieve house-building targets. This government has set extraordinarily ambitious targets and intends to impose those on local authorities if necessary. It also proposes to overhaul planning processes which currently cause delays and are heavily loaded in favour of those who already own houses, as against those who don’t.
Over decades, right-to-buy policies have led to a dramatic decline in social housing and a consultation on reform closes on 15 January.
The Renters Rights Bill, which is expected to complete its progress through the Commons this month, will provide a major overhaul of the private rented sector with greater security for tenants and new enforcement powers for local authorities.
One way of avoiding the housing sprawl around existing communities, which raises public opposition and stresses existing infrastructure, is to create planned New Towns. A new New Towns Taskforce has been created with a mandate to identify sites for 12 new towns by this summer, and they have issued a call for local authorities to propose suitable locations.
Legislated to improve the regulation of the water industry
Conservative privatisation policies conspicuously failed in the case of the water industry, where there has been growing public concern about increased charges, flooding, and sewage in rivers and on beaches. The water companies have clearly been failing in their duties and in managing their finances, and the regulator has not proved up to the task of enforcing improvement. The costs of restoring the system are massive, and although renationalisation is popular, it would be extremely complex and probably expensive. A first, modest step to address public concern is the Water Special Measures Bill. This will enable the Regulator to block bonus payments to water company executives, improve pollution reporting, and allow imprisonment for obstructing investigations.
Launched a major devolution of powers to local government
We have one of the most centralised systems of local government in the developed world, with most policy decisions made far from those affected. In December, the English Devolution White Paper set out plans for the most comprehensive restructuring of local government since 1974, and a process for progressively devolving power from Whitehall to local mayors. Local authorities have been invited to indicate how quickly they expect to produce plans, and those most advanced may be authorised to cancel May’s local elections.
Improved international relations
Although most voters’ focus is on domestic issues, the international context has a major bearing on the lives of people in Britain. The conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East have both spilled over into UK domestic politics, generating higher energy prices and migration. Keir Starmer and the Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, have spent considerable time building working relationships with world leaders, including meetings with the US president designate, the Chinese President and leaders in the EU. This is clearly critical in an increasingly unstable world and when we need to strengthen trade and defence links.
Launched a strategic defence review
The government has committed to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP, reflecting rising global tensions, and the increasing complexity of defence issues. Conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East and Africa have demonstrated the weakness of the international order, and the changing shape of warfare itself. There is widespread concern about the future position of the US government on NATO. A major Strategic Defence Review, launched in August with widespread consultation, will report in the first half of 2025.
Strengthened environmental policies
At the COP29 in November, Keir Starmer announced new and more demanding aspirations for UK environment policy including the creation of Great British Energy, with an £8.3bn fund to speed the development of green technologies. The ban on land-based windfarms has been lifted and a ban introduced on new gas and oil exploration in the North Sea. A record number of clean energy projects have been approved and new regional clusters created to develop carbon capture, usage and storage.
Launched improvements to public transport
The unreliability and cost of rail and bus travel drives road congestion, creates pollution, and is a drag on economic activity. There is widespread public support for renationalising the railways, and the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024 has become law, setting the process in motion alongside the creation of Great British Railways. Government has increased the powers of local authorities to shape rail services.
The government has also committed £1bn to improve bus services and has capped single bus fares at £3. The Bus Services Bill will give local authorities new controls over routes, timetables, connections and fares.
Strengthened police response to violence against women and girls
The government has launched a number of measures to reduce violence against women and girls. They include a Safer Streets Mission Board to coordinate across government. It is also piloting new Domestic Abuse Protection Notices and Domestic Abuse Protection Orders in five areas, and is embedding domestic abuse specialists in 999 call centres.
Strengthened border control and increased returns of failed asylum seekers
Although more than 95% of immigrants arrive with government approval, concern about levels of immigration and small boat crossings remains high. The government has mandated the Migration Advisory Committee to work with Skills England, the Industrial Strategy Council, and the Department of Work and Pensions, to monitor the use of skills visas and reduce employers’ dependence on imported labour. UK Visas and Immigration have been mandated to increase investigations to weed out visa abuse.
Resources freed by the cancellation of the Rwanda deportation scheme are being used to speed up the process of removing failed asylum seekers, aided by new bilateral agreements with some countries of origin, and return numbers have increased.
A series of measures have been introduced to restrict the ability of people-smugglers to do business in the UK, and work is in hand with European countries to coordinate detection and prosecution.
Other actions
There are many other areas of activity. As an indication of the range and complexity, here is a list of some:
- Allocated £11.8bn for infected blood compensation.
- Allocated £3bn more for Ukraine.
- Allocated £500m to local Warm Home grants.
- Allocated an additional £550m for pothole repair.
- Appointed Covid Counter-Fraud Commissioner.
- Created cross departmental Child Poverty Taskforce.
- Created Skills England to reform training and apprenticeships.
- Created the Women’s Justice Board.
- Launched Domestic Abuse Protection Orders.
- Launched legislation to remove hereditary Peers from the House of Lords.
- Piloting free breakfast clubs in 750 schools.
- Piloting new training for Community policing.
- Plan to recruit 6,500 more teachers.
- Published a Green Paper on industrial strategy.
- Published new rules on online safety.
- Published the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.
- Published the Product Regulation and Metrology Bill to regulate product safety.
- Removed VAT exemption from private school fees.
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