It’s great to see that Northumberland County Council is part of a central government pilot to improve local funding and services.

The Test, Learn and Grow programme connects a team from central government to local councils to collaborate on what communities need; rather than trying to form solutions for our constituency from Whitehall.

This bold initiative is separate from party politics. Instead it will focus on the uptake of Best Start Family Hubs to support parents and young children, establishing neighbourhood health services, better supporting children with special needs, getting more people into work, rolling out breakfast clubs, and tackling violence against women and girls.

Cabinet Office Minister, Georgia Gould said: “For too long residents and frontline workers have had to navigate fragmented and underfunded public services, people feeling like they have to arm up to battle to get the support they need. We are going to end this.”