THE new year fireworks have gone with a bang, the festive lights are being put into storage and 2026 is finally here.
It’s a year that promises to be key in Labour’s Plan for Change which set out ambitious but achievable milestones that we aim to reach by the end of this Parliament.
Among our national missions are kickstarting economic growth, breaking down barriers to opportunity, building an NHS fit for the future, taking back our streets and making Britain a clean energy superpower.
I want to see people in our communities start to feel improvements in their daily lives from pothole-riddled roads being repaired with the record funding Labour has given to local authorities and more money in people’s pockets from interest rate cuts.
We now have the fastest-growing wages in more than a decade and many are starting to feel the benefit of that; energy bills are being reduced, and the state pension is rising four point eight per cent from April under the triple lock. It’s change that has been badly needed, and once the squeeze on people’s finances lessens, the pressure on businesses who rely on their support will lessen too.
I have always had a habit of “cleaning house” for the new year. Sometimes it’s a declutter, sometimes it’s a mental exercise in what I want to do better for the coming year and sometimes it’s a serious cleaning and finishing of one of the many to do lists I keep.
Barrow town centre is also undergoing a much-needed deep clean with money in the pipeline for the installation of CCTV.
The Alfred Barrow Health Centre is getting a £7m upgrade and our local hospital trust is obtaining £22m additional annual funding to recognise its unique geography.
These are just some of the changes we will see in 2026.
I’m as impatient as the next person to see change happen, but just like the snowdrops that are scheduled to start popping up, we’re beginning to see the green shoots on the back of the changes we’ve made.
I’d like to use this column to acknowledge the good work carried out by Sam Plum, who retired from her post as chief executive of Westmorland and Furness Council on December 16.
A native of east Lancashire, and a cold-water swimmer of some repute, Sam took the hot-seat as head of Barrow Borough Council in the summer of 2019 before becoming chief of WAF – as it’s commonly known – on the last day of 2022.
We welcome the council’s incoming chief executive Miranda Cannon who has served as executive director of resources and transformation at Salford Council – experience and abilities that I’m sure can be put to effective use as she leads our authority into the future.
Less welcoming were the messages I received over the Christmas break from clinicians and members of the public who are worried about plans by the University of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust to reduce the number of beds at Furness General Hospital because of financial pressures.
I’m increasingly concerned over the way the trust decides and communicates changes that deeply affect our hospital. The trust needs to think carefully about the long-term implications of the decisions it makes – they will be held accountable.
I am seeking answers from UHMBT and raising those concerns.
Finally I’d like to end on very happy news and join the rest of you in applauding our own Georgia Stanway who was awarded an MBE in the new year’s honours for services to association football.
It was another well-deserved feather in the cap for the England Lioness.
Well played Georgia!