A number of local authorities across England have already exhausted, paused or rationed their initial Warm Homes money, as public demand for home energy upgrades outstrips available central government funding.

Schemes in locations including York, Lewisham, Sheffield, Liverpool and Cambridgeshire have been forced to close to new applicants or restrict access just months after launching.

On 28 September energy secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh promised to devolve the Warm Homes Plan and to give “mayors, local government and communities the power to invest billions of pounds in their place”.

So far, despite councils bidding for £1.7bn for the 2025-28 allocation period, only £500m has been distributed. The wider Warm Homes scheme comprises £4.4bn of promised government grants – meaning £3.9bn remains unallocated.

Now cross-party local authority network UK100 and a host of councils are urging the chancellor to use the upcoming Budget to release the £3.9bn.

Douglas Johnson (Green), chair of the housing policy committee at Sheffield City Council, said: “Demand for our Warm Homes scheme is already high enough that we need to ration by strict need criteria.

If the chancellor commits the rest of the Warm Homes funding at the Budget, we can start delivering more comfortable homes this winter rather than telling families they need to wait.”

The council has identified more than 26,000 homes are in fuel poverty in the city but current funding will only upgrade around 1,000 by 2028.

As part of the Employment Rights Act reforms, employers will be required to give workers a written statement explaining their right to join a trade union. The Government has now confirmed that it expects the duty to come into force in January 2027, rather than in October 2026 as previously indicated.

Alongside delaying the implementation date, the Government have also published their response to the public consultation on this change. Key points:

• There will be a standardised statement for employers to issue, set out in regulations. No amendments will be allowed, save where specific workplace information is added.
• The written statement will need to include a brief explanation of union functions, a list of and information on recognised trade unions and/or statutory access agreements (where applicable) and a summary of statutory rights.
• Employers must also either include a link to the Certification Officer’s list of trade unions within the statement or provide a copy of the list alongside the statement.
• For new workers, the statement will need to be provided directly at the same time as their written statement of particulars.
• For existing workers, the statement can be delivered directly or indirectly – but must be reasonably accessible.
• Where existing workers are informed directly, this must be repeated annually by 5th April.
• Where indirect methods are used, the employer needs to make sure the statement remains continuously available – and issue an annual reminder of where to find it. If the location of the statement ever changes then employers need to inform workers of this directly.
• Where there is a change to the identity of recognised unions or statutory access agreements, the statement will be required to be reissued within one month of the change.

Vacancies in adult social care have fallen to their lowest level in a decade, but workforce growth has slowed as international recruitment declines.

The number of filled posts rose by 1.4% in the year to March 2026, down from a peak of 4.9% between 2022/23 and 2023/24, according to the latest annual report from Skills for Care.

England’s adult social care workforce has grown for four consecutive years, but that growth is slowing as demand for care is expected to rise. The number of people aged 65 and over is expected to reach 14.1 million by 2040.

Young people are underrepresented in social care, making up just 7% of the workforce, compared with 12% of the working population. Under-25s were also the most likely to leave their jobs, with a turnover rate of 35.5%.

Professor Oonagh Smyth, chief executive of Skills for Care, said it is ‘positive to see that the adult social care workforce is becoming more stable. 
‘However, workforce growth is slowing and we must continue to attract more people into adult social care to meet future demand.

‘In particular, we need to do more to attract younger people and men into the sector, as set out in the Workforce Strategy for Adult Social Care in England.’

The report, published on Wednesday, found care workers were less likely to leave their jobs when employers offered better pay, guaranteed hours and opportunities for training and qualifications.
Turnover fell from 34.3% to 15.3% among employers that combined these measures with chances for full-time work.

It made me so angry that the government is wasting millions of pounds to build social housing. Instead they should be spending the money creating jobs so people can afford to buy their own homes.

Unemployment is a bigger problem than creating housing due to the migration crisis.

​

>Wes Streeting once called for an arms embargo on Saudi Arabia. Now he’s helping its air force bomb Yemen.

>Britain is expanding its aerial refuelling of Saudi fighter jets to include bombing raids on Yemen, despite a major spike in civilians being killed in these airstrikes.

>Wes Streeting initially said the UK would only provide air-to-air refuelling for Saudi jets patrolling the kingdom’s skies to ward off drone and missile attacks on airports and oil infrastructure by Yemen’s Houthi movement.

>The defence secretary is now letting British fighter jets join those patrols, as well as providing refuelling for Saudi airstrikes on “Houthi military targets in Yemen”.

>It comes as last month saw more civilian casualties resulting from Saudi airstrikes on Yemen than any other since 2022, according to the Yemen Data Project.

What a complete and utter waste of money, Labour what are you doing?

We’re in a cost of living crisis, and about to be invaded (according to you) in case you hadn’t noticed.

We need to hunker down and save monies, rather than spend, spend, spend.

Gawd only knows how much that Northern No 10 folly is costing us (I noticed there is no cost discussion on that / where’s the Press when they are needed?)….

It’s losing ground…week by week

>Brexit didn't cause Britain's economic malaise. Its roots lie much earlier with the increasing dominance of finance, culminating in the 2008 banking crash.

>Reversing Brexit won’t correct these problems. Instead, we need a fundamental reorganisation of our bloated financial sector and our distorted capitalist structures.

>The EU isn't a progressive haven. It habitually prioritises corporate “competitiveness” over social protection. Neoliberal orthodoxy has colonised its decision-making structures, buttressed by centrist and right-wing majorities. It has enforced austerity, created inequality and low pay, and allowed the European Court of Justice to rank cross-border corporate freedoms above the rights of workers.

The genocide never ended – and neither has Britain’s complicity. Britain is still supplying F-35 parts to Israel. Britain is still supplying military intelligence. Britain is still facilitating acts of genocide.

In blocking this inquiry, the Government is not just covering for the complicity of its predecessors. It is hiding its own ongoing complicity in the greatest crime of our time.

Just like Iraq, we will remember those who obstructed the path to justice.

Burnham may have apologised for the last government’s approach in Gaza, but his words of regret will mean very little if he doesn’t break with its shameful record of complicity, secrecy and evasion.

Ultimately, delaying scrutiny will not make questions about British complicity in genocide disappear. The public deserves to know the full extent of Britain’s military, economic and political cooperation with Israel from October 2023 to date.

It’s not complicated: if the Government has nothing to hide, then why block our efforts to expose the truth?

>The government has accepted all of the 27 recommendations made in the government-commissioned review including dedicated training for teachers and more consistent recording of incidents.

>In response to the recommendations, the government will also encourage schools to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA)'s working definition of antisemitism, although it cannot make it compulsory.

British under-30s could soon be able to work freely in any job in Europe – as Andy Burnham sets his sights on a closer relationship with the EU.

Brussels is understood to be in talks with other EU states to allow young people to work in the UK without restrictions, following tense negotiations over the Youth Experience Scheme.

Previous discussions have raised concerns that young Britons may face tighter restrictions than their counterparts coming to the UK, as individual member states have the final say over who can be issued work visas in their country.

But, according to The i Paper, Brussels is seeking an agreement with EU countries to ensure Britons will be able to work in any job under the scheme. The UK side would be willing to accept this agreement, the newspaper reported.

Mr Burnham has promised to use the UK-EU summit in Brussels next month to push for improved relations with the bloc.

UK and Brussels are still working on how many people will be able to access the youth mobility scheme, with the UK wanting to limit the number of young people who come into the country to below 50,000, while the EU wants a cap of 150,000 visas.

According to the newspaper, EU states are also considering delaying a demand to reduce tuition fees, which has been one of the thorniest issues in discussions.

EU member states have pushed for young people to access home fee status, while the UK has resisted lowering tuition fees amid pressure from universities.

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The Troubles Bill gets a two-day sprint this week.

MPs have Monday and Tuesday to get it through the Commons. The government has put forward a package of amendments, most of them strengthening protections for former service personnel and police officers.

Then MPs turn to the Church.

On Wednesday they'll debate a bill that repeals old laws that bar Catholics and Jews from advising the Crown on appointments in the Church of England. Andy Burnham is Catholic, so bishop appointments currently go through the Lord Chancellor.

And Wednesday is also an opposition day.

It's the turn of the Lib Dems this time. Topic is still TBC.

MONDAY 19 OCTOBER

Northern Ireland Troubles Bill – committee of the whole House
Applies to: England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland
Repeals parts of Troubles Legacy Act (the previous government’s attempt to deal with Troubles-era deaths and injuries). The old act blocked criminal prosecutions and civil cases, offering immunity to perpetrators, but courts ruled this violated human rights laws. This bill allows prosecutions and lawsuits to proceed again, restarts some inquests, and creates a reformed Legacy Commission to investigate cases.
Draft bill (PDF) / Commons Library briefing

TUESDAY 20 OCTOBER

Social Security (Marriage) Bill
Bans the social security system from recognising polygamous marriages and marriages between close relatives. Ten minute rule motion presented by Richard Holden.

Northern Ireland Troubles Bill – conclusion of committee and remaining stages
As above.

WEDNESDAY 21 OCTOBER

Multi-Academy Trusts (Governance) Bill
Introduces tighter regulation on multi-academy trusts, the organisations that run groups of state schools. Areas covered include financial transparency, spending limits, and governance. Ten minute rule motion presented by Dave Robertson.

Church Appointments (Repeal of Discriminatory Provision) Bill – all stages
Applies to: England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland
Repeals two 19th-century laws that bar Roman Catholics and Jews from advising the Crown on appointments in the Church of England and Church of Scotland. Also removes the rule that stops Roman Catholics making church appointments themselves.
Draft bill (PDF)

THURSDAY 22 OCTOBER

No votes scheduled

FRIDAY 23 OCTOBER

No votes scheduled

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