Delivering in Government: your weekly round up of good news Labour stories

It was a busy week for the Labour government.

While campaigning was underway in Gorton and Denton, departments were hard at work fixing the country’s underlying problems.

Here are the eight most exciting breakthroughs and announcements this week that you can use, whether you’re on the doorstep, sparring on social media, or debating in the pub.

1. Same-day GP appointments for urgent cases

Labour is requiring GPs to see patients with urgent needs on the day they call.

That comes alongside a £485 million increase in GP funding, a real-terms increase for the second year in a row.

Separately, nearly £300 million of existing NHS funding will be diverted to recruit more GPs and increase the number of shifts for existing doctors working at practices.

Since Labour took office, patient satisfaction has risen after a decade of decline. In December 2025, 75% of patients said contacting their GP was easy, up from 61% in July 2024.

2. Halving the education gap

Labour has set a target to halve the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers.The plan is part of the schools white paper. 

Right now, only 44% of children eligible for free school meals achieve a pass in GCSE maths and English. For other pupils the rate is 70%.

To fix that, the government will reform how deprivation funding works by using more granular data, basing it on actual household income rather than whether a child receives free school meals, so schools serving the poorest children get the most support.

3. Individual support plans for every SEND child

Labour is introducing a legal requirement for schools to create individual support plans for every child with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Currently, over 70% of children with additional needs – more than a million pupils – have no legally enforceable rights. Under the new plans, every school must draw up an individual support plan, drawn from a national framework of proven interventions.

Subscribe here to our daily newsletter roundup of Labour news, analysis and comment– and follow us on TikTok, Bluesky, WhatsApp, X and Facebook.

4. Millions more dental appointments

Labour has delivered an extra 1.8 million dental appointments in the last seven months.

One million of those were urgent appointments, beating the government’s target of 700,000.

Now it’s going further by expanding the kinds of appointments that count as ‘urgent’. That means patients with serious issues like tooth decay or rotting teeth can now access the extra capacity.

From April, every high-street dentist also will be required to offer a minimum number of unscheduled appointments, including for new patients.

5. Extra £50 million to tackle rough sleeping

Labour has launched two new funds to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.

A £37 million Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund will support small voluntary organisations, often the first port of call for people in crisis. A further £15 million targets the 28 areas of England facing the greatest rough sleeping pressures.

Both funds form part of the government’s £3.6 billion National Plan to End Homelessness, with a target to halve long-term rough sleeping by the end of this Parliament.

6. £27 billion social home programme gets underway

Homes England has opened bidding for a new ten-year Social and Affordable Homes Programme, part of the biggest investment in social and affordable housing in a generation.

The programme runs from 2026 to 2036 and is designed to deliver hundreds of thousands of homes for social rent, affordable rent, and shared ownership. At least 60% of every development funded through it must be for social rent.

7. Requiring safety checks on all building products

Labour is requiring every construction product to be properly assessed for safety before being used in a building, in response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

Right now, only around a third of construction products are regulated. The Construction Products Reform White Paper, published this week, sets out that all products must be properly assessed before being used in the building process.

8. A new law against honour abuse

Labour is introducing the first ever legal definition of honour-based abuse.

Nearly 3,000 honour-based abuse offences were recorded by police in England and Wales last year, but experts believe this is a fraction of the true total. The new definition, introduced via the Crime and Policing Bill, will help police, social workers, and prosecutors identify and pursue cases more effectively.

The change is backed by over 60 charities and follows years of campaigning by organisations like Karma Nirvana, which fought for this reform after the murder of Fawziyah Javed in 2021.

Share your thoughts. Contribute on this story or tell your own by writing to our Editor. The best letters every week will be published on the site. Find out how to get your letter published.

• SHARE: If you have anything to share that we should be looking into or publishing about this story – or any other topic involving Labour– contact us (strictly anonymously if you wish) at [email protected].
• SUBSCRIBE: Sign up to LabourList’s morning email here for the best briefing on everything Labour, every weekday morning.
• DONATE: If you value our work, please chip in a few pounds a week and become one of our supporters, helping sustain and expand our coverage.
• PARTNER: If you or your organisation might be interested in partnering with us on sponsored events or projects, email [email protected].
• ADVERTISE: If your organisation would like to advertise or run sponsored pieces on LabourList‘s daily newsletter or website, contact our exclusive ad partners Total Politics at [email protected].