This week, young people across High Peak will be getting their A-Level results. I just want to say to them, whether you have got the results that you wanted or haven’t done as well as you would have liked, a massive well done for getting through the exams. I was the first person in my family to do A-levels and I remember just being proud that I had actually completed them.
A-Levels can open a whole world of opportunities. So, if our young people are going on to study at university, undertake an apprenticeship or travel the world, I want to wish them good luck with whatever comes next.
Giving young people in High Peak the very best start in life is my number one priority and the work that I do as your Member of Parliament, whether here in High Peak or down in Westminster, is done with this in mind.
One of my biggest achievements since being elected a year ago is the extension of the Our Pass bus pass scheme to students in High Peak. By working with Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward, we’ve saved families in High Peak hundreds of pounds a year and opened up opportunities for young people in our area.
One of the foundational missions of this Labour Government is to deliver opportunities for young people. This is because we believe how you’re able to get on in life, shouldn’t be dictated by what your parents do or where you come from.
To do this, we’re working to deliver higher standards through all strands of the education system. Be it by fixing our crumbling school buildings, making sure that all new teachers are qualified and ensuring that there is dedicated mental health support in schools. This is all in addition to free breakfast clubs for primary school children and extending free school meals to 3,000 more kids in High Peak, helping to take many of them out of poverty.
There will also be a Youth Guarantee, which is a genuine game changer for young people. It means thousands of young people will receive targeted support to develop the confidence and life skills which will ensure they can access help to find work.
In that vein, I’m delighted to announce that, after the success of the first High Peak Careers, Skills & Jobs Fair in April, I’ll be hosting another event at Glossop Cricket & Bowling Club on Friday 10th October between 10am-1pm.
There are over 30 exhibitors already confirmed and many more in the process of signing up. We’ve got employers and education providers offering jobs and training. There’ll be talks from industry leaders and interactive sessions like CV writing and interview skills.
If you’re looking for an apprenticeship, job or a career change – I hope to see you in Glossop on Friday 10th October so you can make the most of the excellent opportunities on offer.
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Watching my father disappear into Alzheimer’s is something my family will never forget. It is a story that, sadly, will feel painfully familiar to so many families across High Peak.
People often say that with Alzheimer’s and dementia you lose the person twice. First, as the illness slowly robs them of the person they once were, and then again when their body finally gives up after a long and cruel battle.
As heartbreaking as that is, it is often accompanied by another burden: the constant worry about how to provide the care they need, and how that care will be paid for.
For decades, social care has been the problem every politician acknowledges but no government has truly solved. Almost everyone agrees the system is broken. Yet whenever serious reform is proposed, the debate quickly descends into scare stories, political point-scoring and accusations of “death taxes”, leaving families exactly where they started.
That has to change.
Last week, Andy Burnham said he was prepared to spend political capital on fixing social care and to work with other political parties to build the consensus needed to make lasting reform possible.
I know this is deeply personal for Andy. His own father is living with Alzheimer’s. But long before that, as Health Secretary, he argued that social care should be valued alongside healthcare as an essential part of the system, not treated as an afterthought.
For too long, social care has been the forgotten partner of the NHS.
When we think about our health service, we rightly picture doctors, nurses and hospitals. But social care is every bit as vital. It helps older people remain independent, supports disabled adults to live fulfilling lives, gives families reassurance, and frees up hospital beds by helping people return home safely when they are ready.
When social care fails, the NHS feels the consequences. Hospital beds stay occupied, ambulance queues grow longer, families are left exhausted, and vulnerable people do not receive the support they deserve.
Years of underinvestment have left providers struggling to survive, care workers undervalued despite the extraordinary job they do, and families facing impossible choices at the most difficult moments of their lives.
Getting social care right is not simply about one public service. It is about making our entire health and care system work better.
Andy has instructed that the review of social care should report much sooner, with conclusions expected by this time next year. That gives us a real opportunity to have the honest, grown-up conversation the country has avoided for far too long.
As your MP, I will work with anyone - whatever their political party - who is serious about delivering the lasting reforms families deserve.
My father’s journey with Alzheimer’s will stay with me forever. It reinforced something I have always believed: every one of us deserves to grow old with dignity. Every family deserves the confidence that, when the time comes, good care will be there without fear, uncertainty or impossible financial decisions.
We’ve talked about fixing social care for long enough. It’s time we finally did it.
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