February 2026 Monthly Newsletter

Preparing for the jobs of the Future

While much of the media attention during February concerned various scandals and conflicts, going almost under the radar there were signs in improvement in everyday economic issues.

The UK's economic growth continued to lead the G7, retail sales grew 4.5% over the year, Government finances recorded the biggest-ever surplus and inflation fell further - hopefully enabling further interest rate cuts to boost housing and businesses.

Despite the recent encouraging news, there is clearly much to do on combating the ongoing cost-of-living crisis and encouraging stronger economic growth.

That's why it is so important to prepare people for the jobs of the future in a labour market that is expected to change with technologies such as AI. This is important to me not just as a Hull constituency MP, but also in my role as Employment Minister.

February saw the annual National Apprenticeships Week, an important opportunity to highlight the role of good quality modern apprenticeships. I was delighted to visit three apprenticeships providers across Hull.

I visited JTL Hull, who provide training and apprenticeships in the building and engineering sector and met electrical and plumbing apprentices. JTL are supporting their apprentices in many ways, including providing support to women entering industries where they’ve traditionally been under-represented.  At JTL I also met local small businesses and discussed the challenges they face. 

On the same day, I visited the Humber Energy Skills Training Academy, where apprentices are equipped with the practical skills required for ca

reers in renewable energy, low-carbon technologies and industrial decarbonisation. I heard about the vital work going into building the skilled workforce needed for the UK’s transition to cleaner energy. 

Finally that day, I met with two apprentices, Phil and Jess, at Asda Kingswood. I had met Phil during last year’s National Apprenticeships Week. At that point he was just starting his journey as an apprentice. It was great to hear from him again a year later about the progress he has made. 

Fighting Hull's corner

My campaign on Hull rail electrification continued in February and there will be further news to report on this during March.

Also on the subject of promoting local jobs, since last year under the Devolution Deal for Hull and East Yorkshire the Mayoral Combined Authority has taken over responsibility for skills and employment support. Hull MPs have been growing increasingly concerned that delays in decision-making on the part of the Mayoral Combined Authority is resulting in local organisations involved in employment support losing vital funding. It is also jeopardising the roll-out of the Government's Connect to Work programme in our area.

Hull MPs have written to Mayor Luke Campbell and the leaders of Hull and East Riding councils to express our concerns about our area losing out. This can be seen at https://x.com/DianaJohnsonMP/status/2026689566258688495.

Lyla's Law

Everyone in Hull will be aware of the campaign by my constituent John Story for the mandatory offer of testing for type 1 diabetes in babies, toddlers, and young children as a routine part of medical assessments following the tragic death of his daughter, Lyla.

John’s petition has now gained over 100,000 signatures and will be debated in Parliament on Monday 9th March 2026. I pay tribute to Lyla’s family for spearheading this campaign to change the law. I will be attending this debate and also welcome the Health Secretary’s commitment to meet with John and myself to discuss his campaign. This will also be happening in March.

Walking Football Tournament

I joined team members from five different local Walking Football Teams for a charity tournament in honour of the incredible Paul Hartley, an ex-England goalkeeper, and his fight against Motor Neurone Disease (MND). If you would like to support Paul’s fundraising for the fight against MND, you can donate here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/paul-hartleys-go-fund-me.

Constituents visit Parliament

It was a pleasure to welcome my constituents Lucia and Eugene to Parliament to watch Prime Minister’s Question Time.

Welcoming constituents to Parliament to learn more about our democracy and my role as your MP is one of the favourite parts of the job. If you are from Hull North and Cottingham, whether a resident, a local school or organisation, please do let me know if you are coming to Westminster by emailing johnsond@parliament.uk. My team will always try to say hello and show you around

A future that works

February was another busy month as Employment Minister at the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP). I answered questions from backbench MPs on the Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee about my ministerial work and the action the Government is taking to provide employment support for sick and disabled people. There was a lot to talk to the Committee about! You can watch the session here: https://committees.parliament.uk/event/26400/formal-meeting-oral-evidence-session/.

Also at Westminster, I spoke to the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Eye Health and Visual Impairment on the important work of removing the barriers to the workplace for those with visual impairments. Earlier this year, the Government announced that WorkWell, a proven health and employment support service, will be rolled out across England, backed by funding up to £259m over the next three years. This will help up to 250,000 people with health conditions to stay in or return to work.

I spoke at an event organised in Parliament by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health about the Government's Keep Britain Working Review and action to cut the economic cost of ill-health.

The hospitality industry provides many jobs in the economy - particularly for those newly entering the labour market. With the challenges facing the sector much in the news recently, at the end of February I spoke at the UK Hospitality Conference in London about the adult skills agenda and the role of the hospitality sector in getting people into work.

Local work projects

I spoke on behalf of the Government in a Parliamentary debate on place-based employment support programmes, led by the Labour MP for Southport, Patrick Hurley. I re-affirmed my commitment to working with mayoral strategic authorities, local government, the voluntary and community sector and others to ensure that employment support works for people, no matter where they live.

I am working with colleagues across government on building a new jobs and careers service that moves away from the one-size-fits-all approach to build a locally responsive service designed to meet the different needs of local labour markets, local people and local employers.

I regularly meet with mayors and leaders in local government and I recently joined the Minister for Skills, Baroness Smith of Malvern, to meet the Local Government Association’s inclusive growth committee to hear from local leaders working across England on youth employment and the jobs and careers service.

Meanwhile, following a recent Government announcement, every UK adult is now eligible to take free courses to gain practical AI skills for work – as the joint government and industry programme sees a major expansion to upskill ten million workers. See Free AI training for all, as government and industry programme expands to provide 10 million workers with key AI skills by 2030 - GOV.UK.

Out around the country

In addition to my visits to local organisations in Hull North and Cottingham, as Employment Minister I travel around the country to meet fantastic frontline teams, partners and residents who do so much to support people back into work and improve their skills.

In recent weeks it has been a pleasure to visit Hope4All in Sunderland, where they are managing to cut local food bank reliance by 40%. I went to JobCentre Plus in Worsley Greater Manchester with Yasmin Qureshi MP and Pendleton Gateway in Salford. I also visited the South Bristol Youth Guarantee and Jobs and Apprenticeships Fair with Karin Smyth MP. 

National Plan to beat Cancer 

On World Cancer Day, the Government published its National Cancer Plan, setting out how cancer care will be improved, including tailored treatment plans, mental health and employment support. The plan aims for 75% of patients diagnosed from 2035 to be cancer-free or living well after five years, following record investment in the NHS.

The plan also sets out a target for the NHS to meet all cancer waiting time standards by 2029, with hundreds of thousands more patients treated within 62 days, major expansion of robot-assisted surgery and faster diagnostics to reduce delays. The Government is already taking tough action on the causes of cancer: introducing a generational ban on smoking and a ban on junk food ads before 9pm. You can read the plan in full here: https://www.gov.uk/.../national-cancer-plan-for-england

HRI green energy funding boost

It was brilliant to hear that Hull Royal Infirmary (HRI) in my constituency was announced as one of 190 areas across the UK set to benefit from Great British Energy’s solar programme. Receiving £670,111 in Government funding means that HRI can install clean power upgrades and cut energy bills every year over the lifetime of the project. The partnership between the Labour Government, Great British Energy and the NHS will mean more money can be put back into the frontline health services that we all rely on.

Extra crisis help

In February, alongside legislation to end the two-child benefits cap, I'm pleased that the Government's £1bn Crisis and Resilience Fund will also now help to give councils the tools to help families build real financial security.

Votes for 16 and 17 year olds coming soon

The Representation of the People Bill was introduced to Parliament in February, heralding the most ambitious change to our democracy for a generation. The Bill will allow 16 and 17 year-olds the vote for the very first time in UK-wide elections.

Votes at 16 was a manifesto commitment and I have always believed that young people should have a say on the issues that affect them, especially as they already contribute to society by working, paying taxes and serving in the military. This Bill also toughens rules on political donations and cracks down on intimidation and abuse directed at those participating in public life. 

Fostering Action Plan

Foster carers do an extraordinary job - providing love, stability and belonging to children who need it most. The Government’s newly-launched Fostering Action Plan sets out a clear plan to renew fostering and expand capacity by 10,000 foster places by 2029.

The plan includes grants to help experienced carers create extra space at home, stronger regional fostering hubs, better training and peer support and a simpler rulebook that puts trusted relationships first. If you’re interested in fostering in Hull, you can find out more here: https://hullfostering.co.uk/apply-foster.

Hospice funding

The Government has announced an extra £25m in funding for children and adult hospices, supporting palliative and end-of-life care across the UK. I'm pleased that Dove House Hospice is one of 158 adult and children's hospices set to benefit from this additional funding. I know how important the work, care and support Dove House provides is in our local community.

Hull's class acts

I'm delighted that twelve schools in Hull North and Cottingham have been highlighted by Education Secretary, Rt Hon Bridget Phillipson MP, for their excellent outcomes for disadvantaged pupils - ranking them in the top quartile nationally. Congratulations to the staff, pupils and parents at:

•Lift Green Way

•Lift Hall Road

•Bude Park Primary School

•Sutton Park Primary School

•Collingwood Primary School

•The Parks Primary Academy

•Kingswood Parks Primary School

•St Nicholas Primary School

•St Mary's College

•Newland School for Girls

•Parkstone Primary School

•Clifton Primary School

Free Breakfast Clubs expanded

In February, a further four primary schools in Hull North and Cottingham were announced in the next wave of Best Start free breakfast clubs. The Parks Primary Academy, Lift Green Way, Cleeve Primary and Bude Park Primary in my constituency are all eligible to join the scheme from April this year.

This wave of announcements serves as a testament to the Government’s determination to get children school-ready so they are able to improve their attendance, attainment and wellbeing. It is also another measure that eases cost-of-living pressures on the household finances of local families.

National Year of Reading

This National Year of Reading has seen the Government launch the “Go All In” campaign. This aims to tackle the worrying decline in reading for pleasure, especially among young people, which has dropped to its lowest level since 2005. Just one in three eight to 18-year-olds say they enjoy reading in their spare time. Teenage boys are affected the most. In 2025, just 25% of boys aged eight to 18 said they enjoy reading - compared to 39% of girls.  

I fully support this campaign and hope everyone can make time to read, even if it’s just one page a day. I will be keeping constituents updated on the books I am reading on my Facebook page and do all I can to promote local initiatives in Hull North and Cottingham. To find out more about the campaign, please visit this link: https://goallin.org.uk/.

Lifting children out of poverty

While the Labour Government has invested in taking 450,000 children out of poverty nationally – including 3,710 children across Hull North and Cottingham - by scrapping the two-child limit from April, Reform UK have said they would rather use the money to cut the price of a pint of beer by 5p. My recent article on child poverty for The Hull Story can be read here: https://www.thehullstory.com/allarticles/diana-johnson-opinion-child-poverty.

Knife crime investment in young people

The Government is committed to halving knife crime within a decade and I am pleased with the announcement that every child caught carrying a knife will now be given a tailored, mandatory action plan to tackle the root causes of their offending. They will be referred straight to a Youth Justice Services team and given the support needed to change, backed by a three-year funding package for youth justice services worth over £320m.

Other recent Government announcements

The Government announced a number of other significant actions during February.

A change to the leasehold system with millions of leaseholders across England and Wales set to benefit from ground rents being capped at £250 a year, changing to a peppercorn cap after 40 years.

Backing our great British pubs with a major package of support on business rates and licensing reform. Pubs will get a 15% cut to new business rates bills from April followed by a two-year real-terms freeze, as well as a review into the method used to value them for business rates. This comes on top of support announced at the Autumn Budget.

Employment Rights Act 2025 consultations launched, focusing on delivering changes in a fair and considered way in areas such as Fire and Rehire, Trade Union Recognition, Flexible Working and much else.

Making the online world safer for children, by tabling amendments to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill that could support the swift delivery of the outcomes of the recent consultation on whether to ban social media for under-16s and other measures.

Special Educational Needs (SEND) reforms were announced in February, following long and intensive consultation. The Government is changing the school system so that young people with SEND get the right support earlier and when they need it, closer to home, without parents having to fight to get the better education – and results – that their children deserve.