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

It was a busy week for the Labour government.

While the prime minister held his first talks with President Trump at the UN General Assembly, there was plenty of tangible progress at home across government departments.

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. Bereavement and pregnancy loss leave

Labour is creating a legal right to time off work after the death of a loved one.

Workers who lose a spouse, partner, parent, adult child, or sibling will be able to take leave from their first day in a job. The rules also cover step, half, adoptive, kinship care, and foster relationships, which currently have no legal right to leave.

Women who lose a pregnancy before 24 weeks, and their partners, including through miscarriage, termination, or an unsuccessful IVF embryo transfer, will also get up to two weeks of unpaid leave. It’s estimated that one in five women experience a miscarriage in their lifetime, yet there’s no legal right to time off today.

2. Targeting knife crime hotspots

Labour is expanding police patrols and prevention work in the worst-hit communities.

More than 230 areas across 27 forces will get a tailored plan built by local police and councils, combining extra patrols, CCTV, and early prevention work for young people at risk, backed by £26.25 million from the Knife Crime Concentrations Fund.

In the seven forces already seeing results, including the Met, West Midlands, and Greater Manchester, knife robbery is down 23% since the general election. Overall knife crime has fallen 11% since Labour came into office.

3. Cheaper heating for 750,000 homes

Labour is investing in shared hot-water networks for whole neighbourhoods, in a bid to lower energy bills.

It’s putting £90 million into new networks and repairs to leaky pipework. The hot water can come from spare heat produced by places like data centres and factories.

The biggest project runs under and alongside the River Thames, where electric barges and a specially built tunnel will carry hot water across London to supply 650,000 homes. It’s the first of its kind in the UK, and similar systems have run for decades in Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Vienna, and Berlin.

Become a friend of LabourList and join our community. Our friends support our vital non-factional work and get access to exclusive content and events.

4. Specialist courtrooms for rape cases

Labour is giving survivors of sexual violence a fixed date for their trial, rather than being placed on a floating list.

Every Crown Court in England and Wales will get at least one courtroom built for these cases within two years, with private entrances, private waiting rooms, and facilities to pre-record evidence.

Rape cases took an average of 424 days to complete in 2025, and too many victims withdrew before their case was heard. All court staff will now also get trauma-informed training.

5. 40,000 work opportunities for young people in defence

Labour has signed its biggest ever deal with industry to get more young people into skilled careers.

Young people will be offered 40,000 opportunities in skilled defence careers every year by 2030, rising to 50,000 by 2035. BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, Airbus, and Babcock are among the firms behind the pledge.

That includes at least 14,000 apprenticeships by 2035 and a 25 percent more work experience placements. Unsuccessful applicants can also be considered for other roles in the supply chain, with their consent.

6. £22.5 million for school clubs

Labour is helping children in disadvantaged areas join sports teams and learn instruments.

More than 400 secondary schools will get tailored support to put on more activities, from music groups and engineering clubs to football teams and outdoor learning. Hundreds of thousands more pupils are expected to benefit.

The programme is part of a commitment to halve the gap in activity participation between disadvantaged young people and their peers by 2035. It’ll be delivered by the Youth Sport Trust, with co-ordinators working across clusters of local schools.

7. New vocational GCSEs

Labour is putting technical education on an equal footing with academic study.

Subjects could include Building and Construction, Digital Tech, Child Development, and Creative Media Production. The qualifications will involve the same amount of study as a GCSE, with nationally set content and grading regulated by Ofqual.

Alongside the new qualifications, Labour is launching a National Mission on Work Experience, calling on employers to offer 200,000 extra placements for 14-to-16-year-olds.

Subscribe here to our daily newsletter roundup of Labour news, analysis and comment– and follow us on TikTok, Bluesky, WhatsApp, X and Facebook. You can also write to our editor to share your thoughts on our stories and share your own. The best letters are published every Sunday.

• • 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.
  • BECOME A FRIEND: If you enjoyed this, why not consider becoming a Friend of LabourList? Help sustain our journalism, and of course Friends do get benefits… 
  • 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].