Big pronouncements

ronib

If average households save £45 annually, it’s peanuts in the scheme of things.
Also the Uk has always had rough sleepers and the numbers are not huge thankfully. To make rough sleeping the signature tune for this new government, doesn’t inspire confidence. I’d be more impressed with a full on approach to getting the economy up and running - but maybe that’s for this afternoon?

Yes, maybe.

Let's face it, there's no shortage of possible signature tunes after the discordance of 14 years of the Tories. The country is in a huge mess, and whoever is in charge has to start somewhere.

Homelessness has long been a 'cause' of mine. I remember being about 25 and going back to my home city after some time away (this would be in the mid eighties) and being shocked to see people on the streets - something I had never seen before. Of course it has got a lot worse since then. I immediately set up a DD to Shelter, and have supported homelessness charities ever since. The thought of not knowing where you are going to sleep at night is terrifying, not least as it shows that you have nobody in your life who is willing to give you a bed.

A determination to do something about this does inspire confidence in me. The UK didn't used to be like this, and it shouldn't be like this now.

I doubt the economy has escaped Burnham's notice. I'm sure he has it in his sights too, but as I say, he has a lot to put right, so mentioning one thing doesn't equate to ignoring everything else.

I am disappointed at the reaction of some on here regarding the removal of VAT from electricity bills. It may only be approx £45 a year but to a family on the breadline, struggling to afford their electricity bills, that is a significant amount. It shows the directions he is moving. I am not an Andy Burnham fan but give the manager chance!

Man a chance! Not manager.

As a rather starry eyed teenager back in the 1960s, I remember going on soup runs in London in the middle of the night. So seems to me still that mental health of the UK has been neglected with priority being given to physical health. Maybe the new brooms can look at that?

Darren Jones has come out and said that the voluntary digital ID scheme had not been fully costed and that there had been no money allocated to pay for it.

Which indeed he has today now that he's lost his job but that's somewhat different to what he said here.

In November 2025, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) estimated the cost of digital ID at £1.8 billion between 2026/27 and 2028/29, and highlighted that no funding had been identified for the programme. No. 10 rejected this estimate, and stated that the costs of the programme up to 2028/29 would be met from within existing budgets. The Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister [Darren Jones] argued that it was realistic to meet these costs from existing budgets because “at the moment we are just spending money on staff support, producing and running the consultation, drafting the legislation and bringing the Bill to the House.” He added that the government would need to get further authority for spending “at the point at which we start building the technology”. The Chief Secretary also disputed the OBR’s estimated costs for the programme of £1.8 billion, but in stating that the government does not yet have its own estimate of costs for the programme, he left open the possibility that the costs will be greater than £1.8 billion.

committees.parliament.uk/publications/53099/documents/297132/default/

for those worrying about the cost to government, don't forget that when the £45 is spent it will attract tax in one way or another at a higher rate than 5%. So the government will recoup some of it.

I think that AB's choice of rough sleeping is intended to send a message that his government will not simply be concentrating on the rich.

There's nothing wrong with being rich, but the balance has been wrong with those who are disadvantaged being labelled as scroungers.

Hopefully his flagging this up right from the start sends an important message about their thinking.

MaizieD

for those worrying about the cost to government, don't forget that when the £45 is spent it will attract tax in one way or another at a higher rate than 5%. So the government will recoup some of it.

Thank you for that, Maizie.

That was always my argument when people claimed it was wrong that pensioners were not spending their Winter Fuel Payment on fuel (not that it has ever been mandatory to do so).

Far better in terms of tax yield to spend £200 on 20 bottles of Christmas wine which would yield £90 in VAT and alcohol duty alone plus business taxes from shop profit, staff PAYE and NIC and local business rates rather than just £10 in VAT.

Am I the only person who thinks that £45 is the most insignificant number in terms of the cost of living crisis? £4500! might help?? Ludicrous start.

Doodledog

I don't think that we should give up though. I appreciate that a lot of rough sleepers are addicts, but not all - some, particularly single men, have fallen on hard times and if they have no children (and, ironically, no MH problems) go to the bottom of the lists.

Such a man called Storm and Alexis (TV phone in) this morning, and I really felt for him. He has worked since leaving school at 16 (I think he said he is now 41) and has lost his job through redundancy. As he is single, childless and has no 'issues' he's been told h doesn't qualify for help. People like him need help too.

I've never worked in housing, and clearly I don't have the answers, but I am confident that there are those who do, and with the right support we should be able to return to the days when we didn't see people in doorways in cities. We won't eradicate addiction (which is not to say we shouldn't try), but losing a job shouldn't mean people having to sleep on the streets.

Having a space of your own, your own front door, somewhere to call home, is a great source of motivation alongside the drugs / alcohol services that exist & need expanding.
I imagine it's all to easy to think "what's the point" if you're struggling coming off something & you don't even have a place to call your own.

The figure of £45 isn't per year, this is a temporary measure for this year only starting in October and ending 31st of December and the average saving for those 3 months has been calculated at £45.00.

5% vat removed from an average domestic electricity bill for an entire year would be a lot more than £45.

Is affordable housing not subsidised by someone else who has had to pay full price for theirs, should my children who have huge mortgages pay tax so someone else can get an equal house subsidised not sure that is fair.

Should I be made to feel like a pariah because I have a holiday home (I don't actually, but if I did) it's not my fault the government have let in millions of people without the infrastructure and housing for them.

Graphite

I hope we can welcome this premiership with far less negativity than we saw on this platform two years ago.

I posted on the other thread about how I welcomed the promise to end rough sleeping and to build more council homes. Everybody deserves a roof over their head. Do that and all else follows, domestically at least.

I do know that there is money sitting in savings that could be directed towards social projects. Over £800 billion is sitting in ISAs and around £140 billion in Premium Bonds.

If the government were to invite people to put money into a social housing bond paying a moderate return, I’d certainly invest.

Also as I have written about before, there are a million homes in England alone sitting long term empty (Action on Empty Homes) These need to be brought into use.

We can provide an affordable home for everybody.

We need legislation to stop developers hoarding land to deliberately control the supply of new homes and keep prices high.

We need more apprentice schemes for young people to train them in the necessary skills to build and renovate homes.

We need a cap on private rents. I was struck by this young man’s post on another social media platform:

My bank tells me I cannot afford £800 a month to pay a mortgage to buy a flat. But apparently I can afford £1,200 a month to pay my landlord’s mortgage.

This needs to stop.

As I understand it developers are not hoarding. It costs them x to build a house and make a reasonable profit. Prices of building materials have shot up. They are finding that if they build houses the housing associations cannot afford to buy them. So they have stopped building and just hold onto the land in the hope the situation eases.
The cost if building the house is more than anyone can pay to buy it, simply put.

Nandalot

I am disappointed at the reaction of some on here regarding the removal of VAT from electricity bills. It may only be approx £45 a year but to a family on the breadline, struggling to afford their electricity bills, that is a significant amount. It shows the directions he is moving. I am not an Andy Burnham fan but give the manager chance!

I don’t agree, £45 goes nowhere these days, especially £45 a year.It’s better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick but won’t make any difference really for most people.

ronib

As a rather starry eyed teenager back in the 1960s, I remember going on soup runs in London in the middle of the night. So seems to me still that mental health of the UK has been neglected with priority being given to physical health. Maybe the new brooms can look at that?

I think you’re right, and I really hope that more will be spent on MH outcomes.

It isn't £45 a year, it's only from October to December this year.

I think, moving forward, Labour will be feeding the media and controlling them to a certain extent. Although I don’t understand why they didn’t do it under the previous PM ? Either Starmer didn’t want them to or they didn’t want the government communicating with the electorate telling them what was being achieved.

Moii

Is affordable housing not subsidised by someone else who has had to pay full price for theirs, should my children who have huge mortgages pay tax so someone else can get an equal house subsidised not sure that is fair.

Should I be made to feel like a pariah because I have a holiday home (I don't actually, but if I did) it's not my fault the government have let in millions of people without the infrastructure and housing for them.

Only in the same way that all social measures (education, health, benefits etc) are subsidised by those who don't need them so that those who do (which might one day include them) can have access to them when needed.

A worker subsidises those who don't work, but one day might need to claim benefits. Someone who is healthy subsidises people in hospital, but might take ill one day, and so on.

Social housing used to be a safety net - in fact that's overstating it, it used to be an option for all who wanted it - but since it was sold off it has become a scarce resource.

Holiday homes are a different case, IMO - as they tend to be centred around particular areas they rip the heart out of the communities that used to thrive in those places. With few people there in the winter, and those who are tending to bring food with them and not using services such as GP surgeries, bus routes, libraries and so on, shops and services close, so residents move out and the cycle continues.

If the £45 was just till the new financial year that would tally with the £1800 bill.
5%

Smileless2012

It isn't £45 a year, it's only from October to December this year.

It is six months from 1st October, not three months.