Rebuilding our public services will take time but we will start with supporting our teachers, nurses and frontline workers, writes Peterborough MP Andrew Pakes.

Nurses pay has fallen by 6.5 per cent since 2010, teachers’ pay by even more at nine per cent.

After 14 years of chaos and cuts we all know our public services are struggling, whether that is teachers leaving the profession, longer NHS waiting lists, fewer police on the beat or the struggle to find an NHS dentist.

The new government faces unenviable choices as we battle to get the country back on its feet. But that is also why one of our first decisions was prioritise a fair deal for public service workers, in line with the 5.5% recommended by the independent pay review bodies.

Peterborough's MP believes frontline workers such as nurses deserve better treatment and support from the government

placeholder image — Peterborough's MP believes frontline workers such as nurses deserve better treatment and support from the government

This isn’t just the right thing to do after a decade of more of the Conservatives running down our schools and hospitals and putting the blame on public services.

It is also right for everyone. Recruitment and retention are a crisis facing our hospitals, schools and other public services.

This is important in ensuring we just don’t get the extra NHS staff, teachers and police in Peterborough, but we also keep them.

One of Labour’s promises was for 6,500 extra teachers in specialised subjects like maths, engineering and science.

I’ve already met with Education Ministers to explain how important this schools boost will be to us in the city where we need to keep driving up school standards and offering young people the best start in life.

The government was also rebooting careers advice, including backing more apprenticeship opportunities, so that young people get real support to get on in life.

The economic legacy inherited from the last government makes many of these choices difficult. Peterborough and the country are testament to sluggish productivity growth and decades of poor levels of business investment.

Figures last week show we are one of the hotspots for youth unemployment. Record numbers of working-age people are on long-term sick and economically inactive.

One of my priorities is jobs and investment. We need to create better job opportunities in the city and back more businesses to locate and expand in Peterborough.

I’ve recently become Chair of the All-Party Group on Apprenticeships in Parliament to help put Peterborough on the map and to learn new ways government and businesses can work together to support young people.

This will be a government that is pro-business and pro-worker.

Overall, a busy summer so far. I am loving every moment of my involvement to give Peterborough access to the resources, we don’t simply want but desperately need. As we head into the Bank Holiday Weekend I hope everyone is having a good summer.