Latest news with #PlanForChange
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
'This is fantastic news for our NHS trust' - hospital trust gets £6.5 million
A YORK hospital trust is set to get £6.5 million in Government funding to help fix its crumbling buildings. York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - which runs hospitals in York, Selby, Malton, Scarborough and Bridlington, is getting £6.5 million from the national Estates Safety Fund as part of the Government's mission to fix public service infrastructure through its Plan for Change. The money is going to hospitals and schools across the country and includes works to the roof as well as improvements to the internal and external building fabric and fixtures at Scarborough Hospital. Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, David Skaith said: "For too long, people have had to put up with leaking hospital roofs, crumbling classroom walls, and public buildings left to decay. Staff working in rundown facilities. "Children learning in classrooms patched up year after year. Patients treated in spaces that are barely fit for purpose. It's not good enough and people deserve so much better. "That's why I welcome the news that over £8 million is being invested in our hospitals in Scarborough, York and Harrogate, alongside millions more for schools - including in our region - as part of a Government programme to make public buildings fit for the future. "Our NHS staff, our children, and their teachers deserve so much better than a decade of decline. This is just the first step - but we're committed to rebuilding the modern, safe, and dignified public services our communities deserve.' Scarborough Hospital The Government says that fixing the backlog of maintenance at NHS hospitals will help prevent operation cancellations. Luke Charters, MP for York Outer, said the investment will help improve hospital infrastructure, enhance patient safety, and support vital upgrades to ensure high-quality healthcare delivery for local communities. 'This is fantastic news for our local NHS trust. I'm proud to support the hardworking staff at York and Scarborough hospitals, who go above and beyond every day for patients. This funding will make a real difference — it will improve safety, modernise our buildings and help ensure our hospitals can continue delivering for residents across York," he said. "Investment in our local NHS is not just investment in buildings – it's investment in the health and wellbeing of everyone in York. I will continue to fight for further support to make sure our local health services get the backing they need. "This extra investment comes from the Estates Safety Fund, a national strategy to upgrade and maintain hospital facilities ensuring that NHS buildings can adapt to future healthcare demands. "This alongside waiting lists coming down for 6 months in a row, is the true difference a Labour government makes."
The Sun
a day ago
- Business
- The Sun
Flight paths shake-up could mean quicker journeys and fewer delays for passengers
PASSENGERS could enjoy quicker journeys and fewer delays under the first shake-up of flight paths in 70 years. Ministers have ordered an overhaul of UK airspace to create more direct routes. The review could also let planes climb into the sky quicker to reduce the noise for communities below. In the long-term, the government says the redesign would even create the necessary airspace for the 'flying taxis' of the future to operate. Britain's flightpaths have not been changed since the 1950s when there were just 200,000 flights per year, compared with 2.7million in 2024. It has resulted in flight congestion that often forces planes to circle overhead before landing, causing frustration to passengers as well as more emissions. A new UK Airspace Design Service will be up and running by the end of the year, and will first focus on re-carving London's flightpaths in anticipation of a third Heathrow runway. Transport Minister Mike Kane said: 'Redesigned 'skyways' will turbocharge growth in the aviation industry. "Not least by boosting airport expansion plans and supporting job creation, driving millions into the UK economy as part of the Plan for Change. 'Modernising our airspace is also one of the simplest ways to help reduce pollution from flying and will set the industry up for a long-term sustainable future.' Tim Alderslade of Airlines UK added: 'Modernising UK airspace is long overdue. "These changes will help to speed up a programme that will provide tangible reforms, from a reduction in delays, improved resilience and lower carbon emissions.' Travelers have only days before May 23 'flight switch' rule ends – you face long delays if you don't act immediately 1
Times
a day ago
- General
- Times
How Keir Starmer's ‘Plan for Change' became the slogan of choice
What links a ban on Manchester City and Chelsea hooligans travelling to the Club World Cup in the US and a nature reserve in Kent? They are all part of the government's 'Plan for Change' — the slogan that is inserted into every government announcement, press release and mentioned as many times as possible in media interviews by ministers. All government departments and agencies have been instructed to include a mention of how every announcement they make is part of the plan, regardless of how tenuous the link is. So when the Home Office announced it was banning troublemaking fans of City and Chelsea from attending the Club World Cup, it was all part of the government's 'Plan for Change to cut down on crime and make our streets safer'. When Mary Creagh, the minister for nature, announced last week a new national nature reserve in Kent, home to 'species including Man and Lady orchids, the Maidstone mining bee and Hazel dormouse and skylarks', she said it was 'in line with our Plan for Change'. Other announcements claiming to be part of the plan include a scheme to digitise the registration of deaths, an announcement on the use of computer evidence in court, a new programme to help maternity staff better identify signs of distress in babies during labour and AI sensors on fridges and kettles that will help vulnerable people to live independently. The phrase has become so central to Downing Street's communication strategy that at one point this year, it ran a leaderboard scoring ministers on how many times they could manage to fit 'Plan for Change' into interviews. Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the Treasury, won the challenge with 16 mentions in a single ten-minute interview on Today on Radio 4 in January. The phrase has even been adopted by government officials, who are usually shielded from political phrases to maintain their neutrality. At a Home Office briefing in April, one official — who had worked on the previous government's Rwanda policy — used the phrase ten times within an eight-minute period. So why is Downing Street so obsessed with cramming in 'Plan for Change' in every nook and cranny of government communications? It all stems from focus groups and polling organised by Starmer's political strategist, Morgan McSweeney, that informed the prime minister's key speech in December that set out six 'milestones' that he wants the voting public to measure his government against at the next election. They are: putting more money in the pockets of working people, building 1.5 million homes, treating 92 per cent of NHS patients within 18 weeks, recruiting 13,000 more neighbourhood police officers, ensuring three quarters of five-year-olds are school-ready and having 95 per cent clean power by 2030. There was concern that the public was unsure of what Starmer stood for and was not crediting his government with changes of policy or direction. The public was also feared to be not separating Starmer's government from the record of previous Conservative administrations. Once members of the public were told that specific policies or announcements were part of a 'Plan for Change' under Labour, they started to give Starmer's government more credit, according to the results from the focus groups and polls. That led to Downing Street's communications team instructing all of the government's special advisers (spads) — the political aides to ministers — to ensure every announcement was accompanied by the slogan. The message came in one of the weekly hour-long ' spad school ' sessions held on Thursday afternoons in No 10. A government aide said: 'The slogan did very well in focus groups because it gives reassurance to members of the public that the government knows what it's doing and has a plan to change the country. 'We were told to put it in every single press notice, every quote and encourage our ministers to say it in broadcast rounds.' However, other political aides are more sceptical and said the test of whether it is working will be following the spending review on June 11, when Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, will set out the government's spending plans for the next three years — from 2026 until 2029, when the next general election will probably be held.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Southend Hospital to receive second new 'state-of-the-art' radiotherapy machine
A second new state-of-the-art radiotherapy machine is set to be introduced at Southend Hospital in a bid to provide faster cancer treatment. The new linear accelerator (LINAC) machine is set to be installed by March next year and will be funded by the government. This will sit alongside the current operating machine that was brought in earlier this year. The addition comes as part of the government's £70 million investment to enhance cancer care through its Plan for Change. David Burton-Sampson, MP for Southend West and Leigh, expressed his delight at the news. Mr Burton-Sampson said: "It is great that we are one of the lucky ones earmarked to receive a new radiography machine at our hospital. "It is fantastic news for people needing crucial cancer care. "It was wonderful to go to the hospital only last week and see the newly installed LINAC machine, to now hear we will be getting another in a few months' time is a huge leap forward for treatment in our city. "This modern technology will reduce delays, which is critically important when treating cancer. "It will improve outcomes for everyone. "The new machines mean that some people will need fewer rounds of treatment, and they will receive more precise treatments, which helps them to recover sooner." "This government said it would fix the NHS and it is doing exactly that. "I welcome the improvements in care at our hospital; it is excellent news for patients and their families." This comes after a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at Southend Hospital earlier this week to mark the opening of the first LINAC machine. This introduction was described as a "major step forward" in cancer treatment across Essex, and is part of a £5.3million purpose-built extension to the radiotherapy department at Southend Hospital. The first machine has already been in use for several weeks, with 20 patients having received daily radiotherapy courses.
Telegraph
7 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
IMF upgrades UK growth but warns of looming trade war hit
Last week, the Prime Minister announced an about-turn on his flagship policy to withhold winter fuel payments from some pensioners, while the Government is also considering lifting the two-child limit on benefits to families. Mr Eyraud said: 'We take note of the announcement of the PM to change the winter fuel payments. From the IMF perspective, it is very important that the authorities stay the course, that they stick to their commitment to reduce fiscal deficits gradually over the medium term. 'The authorities will need to offset that with other savings measures somewhere else. Our view is that these other measures could be both on the tax or on the spending side.' The IMF also warned that finances were on a dangerous path in the longer term, as rising pension and healthcare spending would leave future governments having to choose between significantly raising taxes or slashing spending. Ms Reeves hailed the upgraded forecast. She said: 'The UK was the fastest-growing economy in the G7 for the first three months of this year and today the IMF has upgraded our growth forecast. 'We're getting results for working people through our Plan for Change – with three new trade deals protecting jobs, boosting investment and cutting prices, a pay rise for three million workers through the National Living Wage, and wages beating inflation by £1,000 over the past year.'
