Andy Burnham to focus on fly-tipping and local transport links on 'summer tour'

The new Prime Minister started with an announcement that eligible disabled bus passengers will get free transport all day, every day.

Andy Burnham is set to continue his “summer tour” this week, with a focus on local transport links, fly-tipping and rough sleeping.

The new Prime Minister believes that these issues “have been ignored for too long – deemed by Westminster to be too hard to tackle”, No10 said.

He started with an announcement that eligible disabled bus passengers will get free transport all day, every day.

Currently these concessions only get free rides between 9.30am and 11pm.

Mr Burnham believes the change will make it easier for disabled people to get to work, training or education.

The change is set to come in from April, and will be paid for by £60m from the Department for Transport and Work and Pensions’ budgets.

Mr Burnham said: “Buses are a lifeline for so many people - making it easier to get to work, education and healthcare.

“It’s simply not right that many disabled people cannot travel using their pass during certain times of the day.

“So we’re fixing that. Disabled people will now have unlimited free bus travel 24/7.

“I did it before in Greater Manchester and I’m proud to do it now for the whole country.

“This is part of our ongoing action to bring back hope and give people some much needed breathing space on the cost of living.”

Later in the week, Mr Burnham will focus on his pledge to end rough sleeping and the environmental waste scandal, which has seen picturesque roads in the Dales desecrated by dumped detritus.

The new Prime Minister is expected to visit Yorkshire at some point in his summer tour and he will work at No10 North in Manchester this week, marking a month since the new base was established.

A Downing Street spokesperson said: “The Prime Minister wants to bring back hope that we can finally fix the difficult issues facing the country that have been ignored by Westminster for too long.

"This includes taking on issues that others have said are intractable, like ending rough sleeping and resolving the toxic dump, fly-tipping and environmental vandalism scandal that is blighting communities across the UK.

“The coming week will see the Prime Minister take on some of these issues as he continues his tour around the UK, which will inform his upcoming 10-year plan to make Britain better off.”

Last week, the Prime Minister visited Derbyshire, the West Midlands, Devon, and Cornwall to hear from local people and businesses to inform his 10-year plan to improve the lives of people in the UK.

He has tried to keep his focus on the cost of living crisis, although this has risked being derailed by the early prison release scandal.

More than one million people have now signed a petition set up to stop Pc Andrew Harper’s killers from being released early.

Pc Harper was fatally injured in the line of duty when he got caught in a strap attached to the back of a car and was dragged down a country road as the killers fled the scene of a quad bike theft in Sulhamstead, Berkshire, in 2019.

Two out of three of Pc Harper’s killers, Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole, are set to be released next year halfway through their 13-year sentences under Government plans for early releases designed to tackle overcrowding in jails.

The prospect of their release has prompted widespread condemnation of the scheme and the online petition set up by Aileen O’Connor, chairwoman of Thames Valley Police Federation, had reached more than one million signatures.

It comes after Mr Burnham said this week that he “wouldn’t forgive myself” if he did not try to lessen the “anguish” of the officer’s family.

The Prime Minister is looking to move the focus back onto the cost of living crisis, announcing plans to build more houses near train stations yesterday.

Under the new National Planning Policy Framework published yesterday there will be default approval for homes built within “reasonable walking distance of well-connected stations”.

Mr Burnham’s promises of devolution, the planning shake-up will also mean conflicting local positions will carry less weight if they are inconsistent with national decision-making policies.

The plans to protect pubs will make it harder for developers to turn them into flats or shops.