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

It was a busy week for the Labour government.

While the Chancellor was talking trade in Washington, departments at home were making positive changes across housing, health, and the environment.

Here are the seven 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. Ending no-fault evictions

Labour is funding councils to enforce the Renters’ Rights Act, which kicks in on 1 May.

All local authorities are getting a share of £60 million, backed by a legal duty to enforce, which means councils that fail to act will be breaking the law.

The Act bans Section 21 no-fault evictions, rental bidding wars, and discrimination against tenants with children or on benefits. Rogue landlords face fines of up to £40,000, double what they faced before.

The government is also investing up to £50 million to modernise the civil courts for housing disputes, and £5 million a year in housing legal aid so renters facing eviction can get free legal support.

2. Cancelling carers’ debts

Labour is writing off debts owed by tens of thousands of unpaid carers who were wrongly told they’d broken the rules.

Carer’s Allowance has an earnings limit (if you earn too much, you lose the benefit), but for a decade, the government’s own guidance on how to calculate earnings was wrong. That meant carers who were within the limit were told they’d exceeded it and hit with repayment demands.

Around 25,000 people are expected to have their debts reduced, cancelled, or refunded.

3. NHS scans closer to home

Labour is building or upgrading 36 new community diagnostic centres across England to offer faster tests, checks, and scans.

The £237 million investment will open four new centres in Gorton, Luton, Boston, and Bideford, and upgrade 32 existing sites with new MRI, CT, and ultrasound equipment.

The NHS carried out a record 29 million tests and scans in England last year.

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4. Rejoining Erasmus+

Labour has signed the legal text bringing the UK back into the Erasmus+ programme from 2027.

Over 100,000 people are expected to benefit in the first year alone, including students on placements, apprentices at European companies, and school groups on cultural exchanges. The UK secured a 30% discount on the default contribution rate.

The Conservatives pulled the UK out of Erasmus+ after Brexit, replacing it with the Turing Scheme, which sent around 28,000 students abroad each year. Erasmus+ is expected to reach more than three times that number.

5. Criminalising harmful pornography

Labour is criminalising the possession and publication of pornography depicting incest and adults roleplaying as children.

New amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill set maximum sentences of five years for publication and three years for possession. A separate amendment makes senior tech executives personally liable to imprisonment or fines if their platforms fail to comply with Ofcom enforcement orders to remove non-consensual intimate images.

This builds on earlier bans on strangulation porn and harmful nudification apps.

6. Building first nuclear reactors in a generation

Great British Energy has signed a contract with Rolls-Royce to build the UK’s first small modular reactors.

The three SMRs, compact nuclear power plants that generate low-carbon electricity quickly and cheaply, will be built on Anglesey. Each unit can power around 1 million homes, and together they’ll run for more than 60 years.

The project is expected to support 3,000 jobs at peak construction, with thousands more across the supply chain.

7. Reintroducing golden eagles in England

Labour is funding the return of golden eagles to England for the first time in over 150 years.

A feasibility study confirmed England has the capacity to sustain golden eagle populations, with eight potential recovery zones identified, mostly in northern England. The last golden eagle in England died in the Lake District in 2016, and juveniles could be released as early as next year.

It follows Labour’s decision last year to allow the legal return of beavers to the wild in England, and a record £60 million commitment to protect threatened native species.

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