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

It was a busy week for the Labour government.

While Westminster was consumed by Nigel Farage’s by-election plans backfiring spectacularly, individual departments were hard at work.

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. Cutting £1,000 off school costs

Labour is expanding free breakfast clubs across England.

They’re starting at 1,400 more schools from September, taking the total past 2,700 and helping families save up to £450 a year through free food and childcare.

On top of that, new legal limits on branded uniform items mean parents can buy shirts and trousers from any supermarket or high street shop. Free school meals are also expanding to every household on Universal Credit, and together these changes could save families up to £1,000 a year.

2. Protecting hospital workers from abuse

Labour is introducing mandatory standards for how NHS trusts treat their own staff.

For the first time, trusts will be publicly ranked on how well they protect workers from violence, racism, and sexual harassment, with results feeding into official performance league tables from July. Staff treatment will count toward a trust’s overall rating, alongside waiting lists and A&E performance.

The change follows two years of rising reports of violence against NHS workers from patients, relatives, and the public. It covers more than 1.5 million staff, with plans to extend the same standards to GPs and dentists in future.

3. Ending surprise vet bills

Labour is publishing plans to make pet care costs clear and comparable.

Vet practices will have to publish price lists for common treatments. There is also a new £21 cap on written prescription fees. It follows research showing vet fees have risen at nearly twice the rate of inflation.

The white paper also proposes a new independent ombudsman with the power to make binding rulings on complaints, plus a licensing system for vet businesses so pet owners can see who owns them.

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4. Fresh reviews for rape victims

Labour is giving survivors the right to a second opinion before prosecutors drop their case.

If a different prosecutor decides a case should continue after all, it can still go to trial. The pilot will expand to all regions of England and Wales from 13 July.

In the pilot areas of West Midlands, North West, Yorkshire and Humberside, and Cymru-Wales, 14 victims asked for a review and two decisions were overturned, allowing those prosecutions to proceed. The rollout forms part of the government’s commitment to halve violence against women and girls within a decade.

5. Faster fines for water polluters

Labour is letting regulators punish water companies without a criminal trial.

Regulators will be able to issue civil penalties of up to £500,000 for breaking environmental rules, using a lower standard of proof than before. Under the old system, many cases were too slow and costly to pursue because they needed to meet the same standard used in criminal courts.

New automatic penalties, similar to a speeding ticket, will also apply for clear breaches such as failing to report a serious pollution incident within four hours. These penalties can’t be passed on to customer bills.

6. Ending the earnings cliff edge in supported housing

Labour is changing how earnings affect support for people in supported housing.

More than 300,000 residents in supported housing and temporary accommodation will no longer lose income when they increase their working hours, once the new rules take effect in October. Under the old system, some landlords even discouraged residents from taking a job to protect their own rental income.

The change brings Housing Benefit calculations into line with Universal Credit, delivering on a commitment made in the Autumn Budget.

7. Speeding up cladding removal

Labour is widening the criteria for funding to make homes safe from fire risk.

Buildings under 11 metres will now qualify for support to remove dangerous cladding, ending a system that judged risk mainly by height. Leaseholders in these buildings were previously left to face large bills for problems they didn’t cause.

The government has also asked the Financial Conduct Authority to review whether leaseholders are being charged fairly for buildings insurance, and is setting up a new regulator to simplify building safety rules.

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