Andy Burnham committed £442m to offering every rough sleeper in England a route off the streets by Christmas, in a package trailed on Tuesday evening. The Prime Minister also confirmed the first bus franchising rescue of his premiership in the West Midlands and 24-hour free travel for disabled bus pass holders, as Moscow threatened Britain with "consequences" over drone strikes on Russian soil. This is UKFCP's Tuesday 24 hours in politics round-up.
Parliament is in summer recess and Burnham's government is a month old, with the Prime Minister filling the August news vacuum with a run of domestic announcements. Alan Milburn's review of young people and work is due in the autumn, against a backdrop of long-term borrowing costs at multi-year highs.
£442m to 'get everyone in for Christmas'
The package combines the £340m announced in July for settled accommodation for long-term rough sleepers with £102m of new funding for immediate routes off the street, including £8.4m for charities and community organisations through the Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund. The Cabinet Office said the money was fully funded from uncommitted budgets at the housing ministry. A national summit on rough sleeping is promised for the autumn.
"We're putting £442m behind a national drive to get everyone in for Christmas," Burnham said.
Shelter chief executive Sarah Elliott called the pledge "a game-changing move". Campaigners welcomed it but said more was needed on temporary accommodation.
Buses brought under public control in the West Midlands
Burnham travelled to Wolverhampton to confirm with Mayor Richard Parker and Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander that the West Midlands network will be taken into public control, backed by £11.5m over three years, after the parent company behind National Express signalled it was leaving the market. Six mayoral authorities are being supported to set up franchising.
Time restrictions on disabled bus passes in England will also be scrapped from 1 April, at a cost of £60m met from existing departmental allocations, £40m of it from the Department for Work and Pensions. Burnham said a million people would benefit: "I did it before in Greater Manchester and I'm proud to do it now for the whole country."
Moscow warns of 'consequences' over British drones
Russia's embassy in London said reports that British-made drones had been used to strike targets inside Russia "confirm that London is deliberately opting for an escalation of the Ukraine crisis", adding that Britain's actions "will inevitably carry consequences for which it will have to answer".
Asked for his message to Vladimir Putin, Burnham told ITV News: "We are not fair-weather friends. We will be there in Ukraine's hour of need, and that won't change." The Ministry of Defence rebuffed the threats, saying the UK remained committed to providing the equipment Ukraine needs to defend itself.
Reform suspends Montgomerie as Labour asks gambling regulator to act
Reform UK suspended board member Tim Montgomerie after he criticised home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf in a Spectator podcast interview, accusing him of failing to be a "team player" and suggesting Nigel Farage had "fallen out of love" with him. The party said he had broken its rules; Montgomerie plans to appeal, according to BBC News.
Separately, Labour chair Bridget Phillipson wrote to the Gambling Commission asking it to investigate whether Tether.bet and Fispay had provided gambling facilities in the UK without a licence, as reported by the Sunday Times. "Nigel Farage cannot dodge them for ever," she said. Fispay's owner said the company exclusively brokered private jet travel and had never offered gambling.
Charities warn against cuts for disabled young people
More than 40 charities, including Action for Children, Sense and Trussell, wrote to Milburn and Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden warning that tighter eligibility or sanctions would push vulnerable young people further from work. They fear the revival of a proposal to remove the universal credit health element for under-22s, saving around £300m a year.
Nearly a million 16- to 24-year-olds are not in employment, education or training, a figure Milburn has warned could reach 1.25 million. The government said it looked forward to receiving his final report in the autumn.
Also on Tuesday
- ONS figures put vacancies at 707,000 in the three months to July, the lowest in more than five years, with private sector regular pay growth down to 2.8%.
- UK 30-year gilt yields rose to 5.86% in a global bond sell-off, with the equivalent US Treasury at its highest since 2007.
- State-owned Ferguson Marine opened voluntary redundancies for up to 70 posts; Scottish Secretary for the Economy Stephen Flynn called the move "necessary" to secure the yard's future.
- Sir Ed Davey urged ministers to join the EU's Migration and Asylum Pact, saying Farage and the Conservatives "should hang their heads in shame".
- The Conservatives said they would amend the Town and Country Planning Act to stop unauthorised traveller sites; the housing ministry called claims its planning changes would help such developments "completely misleading".
Disabled pass holders gain unrestricted travel on 1 April, with Milburn's report and the rough sleeping summit both due in the autumn.
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