The government has announced a £600 million package for help with recruitment and retention in social care.
The fund is intended to support the social care workforce and boost capacity in social care and support the NHS throughout winter and into 2024.
The care minister will also be writing to local authorities about preparations for winter. NHS England has already written to NHS organisations encouraging contingency planning to prepare for winter demands on the health service.

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs has announced new plans setting out the government’s long-term aim to use fewer new resources, drive up the repair and reuse of existing materials, and increase recycling.
‘Maximising Resources, Minimising Waste’ brings together a set of measures which will help to keep products and materials in circulation for as long as possible and at their highest value, including through increasing reuse, repair and remanufacture.

The prime minister has announced that hundreds of new oil and gas licenses will be granted in an attempt to make the country more energy independent, by slowing the rapid decline in domestic production of oil and gas, secure our domestic energy supply and reduce reliance on hostile states.
The Government and the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) have announced a joint commitment to undertake future licensing rounds, which will continue to be subject to a climate compatibility test.

Basildon Borough Council has rolled out seven fully electric food waste trucks as part of a contract hire agreement with NRG Riverside, which includes full service and maintenance provision, saving the local authority over 900.000kg of CO2 over the contract's lifetime.
Basildon's first high-spec 12.5-tonne Electra eCargo went into service in April 2023, with the entire fleet operational at the beginning of July.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Homes England have launched the Cladding Safety Scheme to give thousands more buildings access to government funding to fix dangerous cladding for the first time.
The fund means that that costs associated with removing unsafe cladding in mid-rise buildings will now be covered by government funding, protecting leaseholders from costs where the responsible developer cannot be made to pay.

Liverpool has been announced as the UK's second Investment Zone.
The announcement could unlock £320 million of private investment and deliver 4,000 jobs, across Liverpool, Runcorn, St. Helens, Maghull and Prescot over the next five years.
The investment zone is backed by an initial £80 million in government funding and will benefit from a range of interventions which could include skills, infrastructure and tax reliefs, depending on local circumstances.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has announced that training providers across England can bid for a share of £8.85 million government funding to offer courses in retrofitting and installing insulation.
It is hoped that the training will equip thousands of people with the right skills to make homes more energy efficient, and reduce emissions and energy bills.
The courses will be free or provided at low cost, and will cover a range of key energy efficiency measures, from putting in loft insulation to draft proofing measures.

The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) has launched a consultation on a new set of standards for social landlords, intended to protect tenants and improve the service they receive.
The regulations would apply to all social landlords including councils and housing associations, as current standards do. However the new standards are set to be stronger and give tenants more power to hold their landlord to account.

Rishi Sunak has announced that the government will meet its manifesto commitment to build 1 million homes over this parliament.
Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities announced the long-term plan for housing in a speech in which he laid out the plans.

The Scottish government has announced £3.2 million to be shared across more than 50 projects tackling social isolation and loneliness.
The Social Isolation and Loneliness Fund will be dispensed to organisations such as community choirs, walking football, Men’s Sheds and volunteering opportunities.
On a visit to Inverness Foodstuff, one of the successful projects, equalities minister Emma Roddick said: