Tag Archives: NHS staffing

Mark Valladares

30 May/1 June – a long weekend’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Mon 2nd June 2025 - 11:41 am
  • Military housing: high time for Govt to “get out of the slow lane” and apply decent homes standard
  • Lib Dems on Healey comments: Government “dragging its feet” on reversing Army cuts
  • IFS Briefing: Lib Dems say Government ministers will be “bailing water from a sinking boat with a spoon” if they ignore fixing social care
  • Welsh Lib Dems Respond to Mark Drakeford National Insurance Bombshell
  • Scottish Government rebuked by own watchdog over sewage dumping

Military housing: high time for Govt to “get out of the slow lane” and apply decent homes standard

Responding to the Government’s military housing announcement today , Helen Maguire MP, Liberal Democrat Defence Spokesperson, said:

We’ve been fighting for the Government to get out of the slow lane when it comes to fixing the homes of our military families for years. After years of the Conservatives turning a blind eye, I’m glad to see this Government has finally come to their senses and listened.

Those bravely defending our country deserve proper housing without leaks, mould, floods and freezing temperatures.

But it’s disappointing to see the Government refuse to commit to bring all military homes under the decent homes standard – a change the Lib Dems will continue to champion, so no military family has to suffer in a second-rate home.

Lib Dems on Healey comments: Government “dragging its feet” on reversing Army cuts

Responding to Defence Secretary John Healey confirming that the British Army will not be increased in size this parliament, Liberal Democrat Defence Spokesperson Helen Maguire said:

From lax recruitment goals to slow spending promises, the Government is simply not addressing our defence issues urgently enough. The previous Conservative governments irresponsibly slashed troop numbers, and it’s desperately disappointing to now see Labour dragging its feet on reversing those reckless cuts.

With a war raging on our continent and the twin dangers of an unreliable Trump and an imperialist Putin, we are presented with a once-in-a-generation threat to the UK’s security.

It’s time the Government committed to urgently reversing the Conservatives’ 10,000 troop cut to address that threat.

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Mark Valladares

16-18 May 2025 – the (long) weekend’s press releases (part 2)

By Mark Valladares | Sun 18th May 2025 - 11:00 pm
  • Lib Dems urge Labour MPs to back closer trade with EU which could raise £25 billion a year and avoid welfare cuts
  • Record low number of frontline NHS staff receive flu jabs this winter as some areas see less than one in 10 vaccinated
  • Youth Mobility Scheme news a ‘glimmer of hope’
  • Scottish Water urged to get a grip as bills and bonuses rise

Lib Dems urge Labour MPs to back closer trade with EU which could raise £25 billion a year and avoid welfare cuts

The Liberal Democrats have sent a letter to Labour MPs urging them to back closer trade ties with the EU to boost the public finances and avoid “savage” cuts to support for vulnerable families and pensioners.

It comes as House of Commons Library analysis, commissioned by the party, has estimated that if GDP was 2.2% higher, that could mean roughly £25 billion in extra tax revenues a year. The 2.2% figure is from independent analysis by Frontier Economics commissioned by Best for Britain and is for GDP in the long-run based on a new trade deal with the EU that secured deep alignment on goods and services.

This would easily be enough for the Government to U-turn on its cuts to winter fuel payments (£1.5 billion) and disability benefits (£5 billion), along with future cuts to public spending expected to be announced by the Chancellor in the Spending Review next month.

In the letter sent to Labour MPs, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Calum Miller will say his party would be willing to work constructively on securing a new trade deal with Europe, providing the boost to public finances needed to reverse cuts to disability benefits and the winter fuel payment. The Liberal Democrats’ 72-strong group of MPs is the largest third party in 100 years. Over 100 Labour MPs have reportedly signed a letter calling on the Government to back down from the welfare cuts.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for a new trade deal with the EU including a new UK-EU customs union, which would significantly reduce red tape for British businesses exporting to the continent. Previous independent analysis has found that close alignment with the EU on goods and services could boost GDP by 2.2%. The House of Commons Library has estimated that if GDP was 2.2% higher, this could boost annual tax revenues by roughly £25 billion.

Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Calum Miller MP said:

A far more ambitious trade deal with Europe, including a new UK-EU customs union, would be the single biggest thing ministers could do to boost growth and fix the public finances.

The Liberal Democrats stand ready to work constructively with Labour MPs to boost trade with Europe and avoid savage cuts for vulnerable families and pensioners.

The local elections showed the Government is facing a massive backlash for failing to deliver the change the country was promised. Ministers now face a stark choice: be bold enough to change course or continue with policies that are harming people and our economy.

Record low number of frontline NHS staff receive flu jabs this winter as some areas see less than one in 10 vaccinated

A record low of 37% of frontline health service staff took up flu jabs this winter, with some areas seeing less than one in 10 receive the vaccine. This came as hospitals battled a surge in those admitted due to the disease, House of Commons Library research commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has revealed.

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Mark Valladares

18 March 2025 – the overnight press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 18th March 2025 - 7:30 am
  • Lib Dems force crunch vote on free school meals as 200,000 children miss out
  • Pharmacies: Government has left a “question mark” over support and now consequences “painfully apparent”
  • 51,100 violent incidents directed at NHS staff since 2019
  • New Social Attitudes Survey shows overwhelming support for assisted dying

Lib Dems force crunch vote on free school meals as 200,000 children miss out

New Liberal Democrat analysis estimates that over 230,000 children eligible for free school meals are not receiving the food they’re entitled to, though the true figure could be much higher – as the party prepares to push a key vote in Parliament to bring free school meals to over a million children.

New analysis by the Liberal Democrats has suggested that at least 230,000 children eligible for school meals may not be enrolled to receive the benefit. Combined with the Child Poverty Action Group’s estimate that 900,000 children in poverty are not eligible for free school meals, this figure would bring the number of total vulnerable children in England not receiving free lunches to over 1 million.

On Tuesday, Liberal Democrats will force MPs to vote on auto-enrolling eligible children for free school meals. They will also table a vote on raising the income threshold for free school meal eligibility to £20,000.

The number of eligible children not claiming meals could be far higher than the 230,000 estimated figure. Shockingly, the last Government analysis of the issue took place in 2013. That study suggested 89% of those entitled to free lunches were claiming them, leaving 1 in 10 eligible children missing out. If those numbers hold true today, that would mean over 230,000 young people are going without the meals to which they’re entitled – with the Lib Dems slamming the Government for “flying blind” on this crucial issue.

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Mark Valladares

8 October 2024 – yesterday’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 9th October 2024 - 11:55 pm
  • Water companies revealed to escape fines as Lib Dems force new sewage vote in Parliament
  • Water Bills: Govt must enforce tougher restrictions on water companies
  • Cole-Hamilton calls for support as thousands of NHS staff off on long term sick
  • Action needed on Welsh water quality
  • Cole-Hamilton: A&E in permacrisis under SNP
  • Drug deaths crisis brings untold suffering
  • Rennie responds to Swinney’s poverty comments
  • Chairman of scandal-hit water regulator quits

Water companies revealed to escape fines as Lib Dems force new sewage vote in Parliament

  • Liberal Democrats to force parliamentary vote on outright ban on water company bosses bonuses
  • New Freedom of Information Request reveals Ofwat has failed to levy any fines against disgraced firms and employs just 8 full time staff on sewage investigations
  • Ed Davey slams government decision to let Ofwat decide new water company bosses bonuses

The Liberal Democrats plan to table an amendment which outlaws water company bonuses as the government’s new Water Bill enters Parliament tomorrow (9 October).

It comes as a shocking new Freedom of Information request by the Liberal Democrats found that Ofwat admitted “we have not issued any fines in connection with how water companies manage their sewage treatment” Since they launched their investigation into water companies’ sewage discharges in November 2021. Instead, Ofwat is still in “consultation” with the water companies it aims to fine.

The new findings revealed by the Liberal Democrats goes on to state that Ofwat’s investigation into sewage treatment works has a staffing of just 8.5 full-time employees, “many” of whom are working on the report “alongside other projects”.

This scant, part-time staffing raises serious questions over the regulator’s resources and powers to properly scrutinise water companies it oversees – particularly given that Ofwat’s CEO called the project “the largest and most complex investigation” the watchdog has ever undertaken.

Ofwat told the Lib Dems that “many of the people working on the investigation do so for a portion of their time alongside other projects”, and that the regulator is “in the process of recruiting further staff”.

Under the government’s new Water Bill, water company executive bonuses will be determined by key test indicators established by Ofwat. Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey is calling for Ofwat to be scrapped as a failed regulator which should have no role in determining water company bonuses.

Analysis of Company House records by the Liberal Democrats has found water company executives have made £35 million in bonuses since 2021.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

It is time for Parliament to stand up and take action on the sewage crisis after years of failure under the Conservatives.

The new government’s attempt is sadly a job half done. A toothless and tired regulator will fail to end the scandal of multi-million pound bonuses for sewage dumpers.

We need water company executive bonuses banned until the sewage dumping stops. This disgraced industry has shown it is not worthy of any bonuses.

Conservative MPs spent years voting against a ban on sewage bonuses and propping up a failed regulator. It is time to rip up the industry, with companies which no longer put profit before the environment, and a proper regulator with real power.

Liberal Democrat MPs standby ready to work with the government to make sure the new Water Bill protects local communities from foul sewage.

Water Bills: Govt must enforce tougher restrictions on water companies

Commenting on the latest Ofwat reports, which revealed that water firms have been told to cut bills over poor performance, Liberal Democrat Environment Spokesperson Tim Farron MP said:

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Mark Valladares

If you want a strong public sector, you’re going to have to compete on pay and conditions eventually…

By Mark Valladares | Mon 27th June 2022 - 11:46 am

There is no way in which one can buck the market. – Margaret Thatcher, 10 March 1988

And yet, Governments, especially Conservative ones, keep doing just that when it comes to public sector pay. Even more ironically, there seems to be a belief that, contrary to the notion that there is no such thing as society, people will take an altruistic view when it comes to their own salary prospects in order to work in the public sector.

There may have been a time when the public sector was grossly overpaid in comparison with the private sector. Personally, as a civil servant for well over thirty years, I don’t remember it, but I’m sure that there’s someone out there willing to make the argument.

But, as shortages of nurses, doctors and dentists become ever more noticeable – my own county of Suffolk is increasingly a desert for NHS dentistry, and the issue was a contributory factor in the Tiverton & Honiton by-election – the question of market forces kicks in.

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Mark Valladares

9 January 2020 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Thu 9th January 2020 - 11:53 pm
  • Transport Secretary needs to sack Northern
  • A&E waiting times will be worse with Tories’ extreme Brexit
  • Jardine secures Govt commitment to introduce Domestic Abuse Bill by Easter
  • Lib Dems continue to oppose dangerous Withdrawal Bill

Transport Secretary needs to sack Northern

The Liberal Democrats have called for the Transport Secretary to “sack Northern” following the announcement that the Government is considering awarding Northern a short-term contract.

Liberal Democrat Transport Spokesperson Tim Farron said:

The Conservative Government’s big announcement on Northern is just more delay, something that rail passengers in the North are all too familiar with.

It’s completely unthinkable that the Secretary of State is prepared to award

…

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Mark Valladares

28 November 2019 – the overnight press release

By Mark Valladares | Thu 28th November 2019 - 7:45 am

Lib Dems respond to Health Foundation report on NHS staffing crisis

Responding to a report by the Health Foundation on the severe shortage of nurses facing the NHS, Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary for Health, Well-being and Social Care Luciana Berger said:

This report is clear –there are serious NHS staffing gaps. The NHS is under significant pressure and there are serious questions about the quality and safety of care that patients are receiving today.

Without doctors and nurses from abroad coming to work in our hospitals, the NHS is sunk. Yet Boris Johnson’s plans for a Nurse Tax would mean

…

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Kirsten Johnson

What would we do without the NHS?

By Kirsten Johnson | Wed 15th May 2019 - 12:30 pm

Our family has used the NHS more this year than ever before – all five of us have seen consultants for a range of ailments.

Yesterday my husband saw the Haematology team to be told his cancer was in remission. We left the hospital grateful for the good prognosis, and thankful that we lived in a country with high-quality health care. Over the course of his treatment, from hospital stays to bone marrow biopsies, from chemotherapy to scans, we have been impressed with the professionals overseeing his care. We have not been made bankrupt through high medical bills and he had time off work for his recovery. It was horrendous and worrying, but the NHS was there for us.

However, lack of government funding means that not everyone is getting the same quality of care we have experienced. Recent stories in the papers highlight the shortfall now being experienced by many hospital trusts. There was a combined overspend of around £850 million by ten NHS hospital trusts in England in 2018. Funding per patient has been cut year by year since 2010.

The data is harrowing. Whilst my husband had a good experience with his cancer treatment, the statistics show many others do not.

Four of the cancer waiting-time standards were failed: two-week GP referral to first outpatient appointment; 14-day referral to first outpatient – breast symptoms; 62-day (urgent GP referral) waiting time target for first treatment; and 62-day screening from service referral.

These waiting times didn’t apply in the same way to us as my husband was hospitalised with a severe infection and in trying to figure out the cause of the infection, cancer was found. But for those being referred by GPs for outpatient appointments, the delay of treatment and the extended worry whilst waiting for an appointment adds even more stress to the uncertainty one experiences before receiving a diagnosis.

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The Voice

16 April 2019 – today’s press releases

By The Voice | Tue 16th April 2019 - 11:00 pm

Lib Dems: Time to end period poverty wherever it exists

Free sanitary products will be offered to girls in all primary schools in England from early 2020. This follows Chancellor Philip Hammond’s announcement last month of funding for free sanitary products in secondary schools and colleges.

Layla Moran, the Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson, tabled an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons last month calling on the Government to extend its policy on free sanitary products to primary schools, colleges, universities and NHS GP surgeries.

Commenting on the announcement, Layla Moran said:

It is brilliant news that children in primary schools in

…

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