Rayner: Councils to Get More Power to Fight Homelessness
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Angela Rayner, the UK's housing secretary, has announced that local councils will be given more power to tackle homelessness.
She made the announcement at the Labour Party conference, a major yearly event where the party shares its plans.
Rayner said the new measures would remove what she called 'Tory barriers' that have stopped local leaders from acting effectively.
'Tory' refers to the Conservative Party, which led the UK government before Labour won power.
According to Rayner, these old rules held back local leaders from dealing with the growing problem of homelessness in their communities.
By removing these barriers, the government hopes councils will have more freedom to create their own solutions.
Homelessness has been a serious and growing issue across the UK in recent years.
The announcement was one of several made at the Labour conference in Liverpool this week.
Andy Burnham, another senior figure, also spoke at the event. He promised to reverse privatisation by creating a government-backed body to invest in the electricity grid.
Privatisation means moving control of services, like energy, from the government to private companies.
These announcements suggest Labour is focusing on giving more control to local and public bodies rather than private companies.
More details on how the new council powers will work are expected to be released soon.
Vocabulary8 words
- housing secretary
- a top government official who deals with homes and housing policy
- homelessness
- the situation of having no home to live in
- conference
- a large meeting where a group discusses plans and ideas
- barriers
- rules or things that block progress
- Conservative Party
- a major UK political party, often called 'Tory'
- local leaders
- people who run city or town councils
- privatisation
- moving something from government control to private companies
- grid
- the network that carries electricity across a country
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Quiz
Answer key
1. — 2. Tory barriers 3. To create a government-backed body for the electricity grid
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Fill-in-the-blank listening
Play the audio again and fill in the missing words as you listen.
Angela Rayner, the UK's _____, has announced that local councils will be given more power to tackle _____.
She made the announcement at the Labour Party _____, a major yearly event where the party shares its plans.
Rayner said the new measures would remove what she called 'Tory _____' that have stopped local leaders from acting effectively.
'Tory' refers to the _____, which led the UK government before Labour won power.
According to Rayner, these old rules held back _____ from dealing with the growing problem of homelessness.
Andy Burnham, another senior figure, also spoke at the event. He promised to reverse _____ by creating a government-backed body to invest in the electricity _____.
Discussion questions
- Why do you think local councils need more power to deal with homelessness?
- What problems might 'barriers' create for people trying to help the homeless?
- Do you think removing government control (privatisation) or keeping public control is better for services like electricity? Why?
- What questions would you ask Angela Rayner about these new powers if you could?
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