Nugent’s response to the King’s Speech
In response to the King’s Speech on 7th November, Jo Henney, Nugent CEO, said:
A lot came out of the King’s speech on Tuesday, but the key things I’ve taken away from it is that Our Future Now matters more than ever. It was a speech as much for what it did not say as what it did.
We wished to hear more about the Government’s ambitions to alleviate child poverty, with an estimated 25% of children’s families unable to afford the basics and foodbank use on the rise.
Welfare reform and supporting people in to work is positive, but only if the services exist to support this transition. Easing of the cost of living needs to be bold enough to deliver on household bottom lines. I’m broadly supportive of getting more young people into high quality apprenticeships and improving their future chances.
The mental health reform bill was not mentioned, but improving mental health services by delivering the NHS workforce development plan was. People need these services to prevent them from entering crisis and to ensure mental health services are available to schools.
Reform of the housing market to give renters more rights is positive, but it has been discussed nationally that there are loopholes that need closing to ensure renters get a fair deal and reduce the risk of homelessness for the 11 million people who rent in the UK.
I support empowering police forces and the criminal justice system to prevent new and complex crimes such as grooming, but we wait to see what ministers think this will look like.
