Labour

Angela Rayner MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Education, responding to the Government’s announcement they will resume plans to sell off the student loan book, said

“Time and again, this Government is returning to the same failed policies. They have repeatedly tried to privatise the student loan book, only to abandon the idea when it became clear that it was a bad deal for taxpayers and a bad deal for students.

“This new attempt at privatisation is typical of the short-sighted approach to financial management we have seen under the Tories, desperately swapping future income for a one-off boost to flatter their terrible record on our national debt, which has almost doubled since 2010.                                                                                                                                                                                           “The next Labour Government will address the real issues in student finance, by scrapping tuition fees and bringing back maintenance grants as we build a National Education Service that will transform Britain into a country for the many, and not the few.”

Justin Madders MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Minister, responding to today’s Royal College of Midwives report on agency spending in the NHS, said:

“The Government’s management of the NHS workforce has been a disaster for both staff and patients. The country is now 3,500 short of the number of midwives needed and the RCM say almost £100m is being used to plug the gaps with temporary staff.

“It’s essential that hospitals are able to get the right number of midwives in place to keep mothers and their babies safe. Labour’s research published earlier this year showed a huge rise in temporary closures of maternity units because of short staffing. The Government’s underfunding of the NHS is failing families in their time of need.

“Ministers must step in with a long term workforce plan for the NHS and they should put an end to the self-defeating pay cap. At the moment too much money is going to employment agencies when it should be going to frontline patient care.”

Justin Madders MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Minister, responding to today’s Royal College of Midwives report on agency spending in the NHS, said:

“The Government’s management of the NHS workforce has been a disaster for both staff and patients. The country is now 3,500 short of the number of midwives needed and the RCM say almost £100m is being used to plug the gaps with temporary staff.

“It’s essential that hospitals are able to get the right number of midwives in place to keep mothers and their babies safe. Labour’s research published earlier this year showed a huge rise in temporary closures of maternity units because of short staffing. The Government’s underfunding of the NHS is failing families in their time of need.

“Ministers must step in with a long term workforce plan for the NHS and they should put an end to the self-defeating pay cap. At the moment too much money is going to employment agencies when it should be going to frontline patient care.”

Andrew Gwynne MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, commenting on the National Children’s Bureau’s survey of local councillors responsible for children’s services, which has revealed that rising demand and a lack of resources are leaving children’s needs unmet, said:

 “The pressures facing children’s services are unsustainable, with a combination of Government funding cuts and huge increases in demand leaving many authorities struggling to cope.

 “The Government urgently needs to get a grip of the crisis facing children’s social services, as the £2 billion funding gap facing these services by 2020 threatens to put more children at risk.“

Richard Burgon MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, responding to today’s statement by Justice Secretary David Lidington that the government’s review into its Legal Aid reforms will conclude by July 2018, said:

 “When people can’t afford to defend their rights, those rights are worth nothing more than the paper they are written on. Government cuts to legal aid have priced out hundreds of thousands of people from being able to enforce their hard won rights.

 “Justice delayed is justice denied, so it is disappointing that even though the Government first announced its review nine months ago, it still won’t conclude for another nine months.

 “The Government must use this review to fundamentally repair the damage caused by its legal aid reforms, rather than simply applying a sticking plaster to a broken system.”