Political Party Conferences returned this year, and it has been wonderful to be with Conservative friends and colleagues from all parts of the country again. The focus this year has been ‘Build Back Better’ and ‘Levelling Up’. Although these may sound like slogans, they represent a huge amount of policy and work to improve people’s daily lives and offer greater opportunities to all generations of people around the country.
A big part of the Prime Minister’s message was his ambition to tackle social care, which is politically difficult and has been passed around like a hot potato by successive Governments – and one now firmly in my hands as the Minister for Care and Mental Health. For me, the conference has been a great opportunity to meet people from the social care and mental health sector and hear their first-hand experiences, as I get to grips with what we must do to improve our social care system and provide more access to mental health support.
I met with charities, such as Guide Dogs, Cancer Research, and the British Heart Foundation all at the request of constituents who support their work. Of course, I also met with charities that fall within my ministerial role including Marie Curie, Sue Ryder, and the Alzheimer’s Society – who kindly presented me with a card signed by over 6,000 of their supporters welcoming me into the new job, which was very touching.
This week the temporary Universal Credit uplift ended. Let me reassure you, support did not. For those who need it, there is targeted support in place such as the Local Housing Allowance which provides an extra £600 a year to 1.5 million households. In addition, people on Universal Credit could be eligible for the Household Support Fund, which is providing £500 million to help with food and utility bills; child support and allowances which offer an extra £237 per month per child; an expanded work allowance worth around £630 a year; and 85% of their childcare costs covered – worth up to £1,108 a month. Further detail on how to access these support schemes will be available on my website in due course.
Closer to home, it was fantastic to hear our Police and Crime Commissioner, Katy Bourne, was successful in securing nearly £1 million from the Safer Streets Fund to tackle Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG). I supported her bid to the Home Office, and I am very glad to hear our efforts paid off. Across Sussex, this money will develop important education programmes such as ‘Healthy Relationships’ which are sessions for year 8 students at Sussex secondary schools focusing on harassment and misogyny. As well as others like ‘Bystander to Upstander’, which focuses on supporting attendees to feel more confident in recognising and challenging unacceptable behaviours towards women and girls. The funding will also support 3 VAWG Community Navigators for 12 months to support all VAWG campaign activity in Sussex. I am very much looking forward to seeing how the team get on and their positive impact across the county.
