I have spent my career supporting vulnerable children. First as a teacher in some very tough schools, then as the founder and leader of a national charity bringing new people into frontline children’s social work to give every child the champion they need, and then as the Chair of the landmark national Independent Review of Children’s Social Care for the previous government, which included meeting with and hearing evidence from many victims of sexual abuse. 

You can read my review here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-review-of-childrens-social-care-final-report

This should assure you that this issue is important to me and I know it intimately.

I have therefore been deeply troubled to see a gravely serious issue like this exploited by an ill-informed American billionaire and political opportunists here in the UK to score cheap points at the expense of delivering justice for victims and ensuring a scandal like this never happens again.

MPs are elected to be problem solvers, not problem exploiters. But what Conservative and Reform MPs did this week was attempt to vote down a Bill – the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill – which contains significant measures to keep children safe and protect them from this sort of abuse. I know this because I recommended many of the measures it includes in my Independent Review back in 2022. Measures which were ignored by the previous Conservative government but which will now be delivered in this Bill by a Labour government, who I have been working with on the content of this Bill for several months. 

Here are some of the key child protection elements:

• Introducing a register of children not in school and new powers to protect children who are at risk of significant harm who are not in school to make sure no child falls through the cracks. If this had been in place two years ago when first recommended, the horrific murder of Sara Sharif by her parents might have been prevented.
• Implementing multi-agency child protection teams and strengthening existing multi-agency safeguarding arrangements; bringing social workers, schools, police, health providers and others together to quickly and accurately identify and respond to harm to children who are at risk.
• Introducing a single child identifier so that information can be shared live between agencies, removing the fog of confused or partial information sharing. 

The Bill also saves parents money by rolling out free breakfast clubs in every primary school and limiting the number of branded uniform items schools can require children to wear. If you’ve got a child in primary school these measures could save you approximately £500 per year.

I was proud to vote for the Bill and not for the Conservative wrecking amendment which would have seen all of these measures fail and put more children at risk of abuse.

I expect this sort of thing from Nigel Farage, who is never happier than when he is exploiting tensions for political gain (that is when he bothers to turn up to Parliament when he isn’t selling gold bullion or appearing on GB News (second jobs which earned him half a million pounds in the last six months)). But I expected better from the Conservatives, some of whom I have worked with in my previous roles and who I know take this issue seriously. Unfortunately their new leader clearly does not. Kemi Badenoch has been an MP for eight years. She served as Children’s Minister and as Women & Equalities Minister in the last government. Until this week she hadn’t once raised child sexual abuse in Parliament. 

The politician who has raised this consistently and repeatedly throughout their career in and out of politics is the Prime Minister, Keir Starmer. He knows this issue inside and out, cares passionately about tackling child sexual abuse and delivering justice for victims, and has an undeniable track record of taking action. As Director of Public Prosecutions from 2008 to 2013 he prosecuted dozens of grooming gang members in Rochdale and other towns – including overturning some decisions not to prosecute made before his appointment – and completely overhauled the way the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) deals with child sex abuse and grooming cases to make it easier to prosecute perpetrators. And he regularly meets with victims of child sexual abuse, unlike Kemi Badenoch, who was forced to admit this week that she has never met any victims of grooming gangs and has no plans to do so.

I’ll highlight this 2013 report from the cross-party Home Affairs Select Committee which said that, under Keir Starmer’s leadership, “unlike many other official agencies implicated in this issue”, the CPS had “readily admitted that victims had been let down by them and have attempted both to discover the cause of this systematic failure and to improve the way things are done so as to avoid a repetition of such events”.

The truth is we do not need another lengthy national inquiry into this issue which will delay justice even further. We had one under the last government, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA). It took seven years, is 468 pages long and produced 20 serious recommendations. You can read it here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/iicsa-report-of-the-independent-inquiry-into-child-sexual-abuse

As part of this seven year inquiry, there was a dedicated two year investigation into child sexual exploitation specifically by gangs which took extensive evidence from across the country: https://www.iicsa.org.uk/investigations-research/investigations/child-sexual-exploitation-by-groups-and-gangs.html 

It is simply not true, as the Conservatives are claiming, that IICSA did not consider grooming gangs. The problem is that the recommendations were not implemented under the Conservatives. Labour has committed to delivering on 19 of them and we have already started that work. The leader of that inquiry, Baroness Jay, agrees that there is no need for a further inquiry. Many victims who engaged with that inquiry agree that we do not need another inquiry. We should listen to the victims and the experts, not Elon Musk, and get on with delivering justice and preventing further abuse. 

You can read the Home Secretary’s update to Parliament on the action the government is taking to tackle child sexual abuse and grooming gangs here: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/tackling-child-sexual-abuse 

I want to see recommendations from reviews delivered, including those from my own which now form part of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. I will be following the development of this Bill closely as it makes its way through Parliament to ensure it contains robust provisions to protect children from harm and gives professionals who work with children the tools they need to identify issues at the earliest opportunity and take all necessary action.

You can watch my speech in the debate on the Bill this week here: https://youtu.be/CQ5JWw94_D0 

Finally, I think it is important to note that, according to the National Police Chief’s Council, only 5% of child sexual abuse and exploitation crimes are group-based. It is very important that we tackle grooming gangs, and that we are candid when there is a racial component to this, but we must not overlook the 95% of child sexual abuse not carried out by grooming gangs. Victims of these crimes also deserve our attention. 

I hope you will be assured from this response that I understand this issue, I have been actively engaged in this issue for many years, and I am committed to taking serious action to address this issue, as is the government I support.

Thanks again for getting in touch and if you have any other questions or concerns to raise with me or if I can help you with anything, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

If you’d like to keep up to date with my work with and on behalf of local people, please subscribe to my monthly e-newsletter at joshmacalister.uk/enews

Best wishes,

Josh MacAlister OBE MP

Labour Member of Parliament for Whitehaven & Workington

It was a delight to see a dozen Cumbrians recognised in the King’s New Year Honours List for their service to communities in Cumbria and beyond.

The List recognises the achievements and service of extraordinary people across the UK. Unsung heroes in every community. The List ensures that people from underrepresented communities and a wide variety of types of work are rewarded, to celebrate the fantastic contribution of people throughout the country.

I was pleased to see several names from here in West Cumbria awarded. Dr Amanda Jean Carson, from Seascale, will receive an MBE for her outstanding work over decades protecting our Herdwicks and other rare breeds of sheep. While BEMs were awarded to four other inspirational local community leaders – Dr Christopher Jeremy Ayling, David Davidson, Stuart McCourt and Chris Young. My heartfelt congratulations go to all of them.

I’m lucky in this job to come across such unsung heroes almost every day. Too many to name here. I do, however, want to single out for praise this week those who stepped up to support those affected by the suspected gas explosion on Hugh Street last week. 

From all of the council and emergency services personnel who went above and beyond, to those local residents who went out of their way to support their neighbours in their hour of most need. Brave local veterans John Dunleavey and Darren Parsley, who ran into the fire to rescue people. And Matthew Stephenson and Sarah Buchanan, who set up fundraisers which have raised thousands of pounds for those affected.

I am available for anyone affected if there is anything I can do to help. Please don’t hesitate to contact my office.

Speaking of unsung heroes, our brilliant carers and NHS staff were given a boost this week as the Government made two major announcements – significant new funding and major reforms to transform adult social care services and a plan to end NHS waiting list backlogs through millions more appointments.

An extra £652,033 for Cumberland Council to spend on Disabled Facilities Grants will enable more older and disabled people to live independently in their own homes. And care workers across West Cumbria will be better supported to take on further duties to deliver health interventions, such as blood pressure checks, meaning people can receive more routine checks and care at home without needing to travel to healthcare settings. The national career structure for care staff will also be expanded, ensuring there are opportunities for career progression and development pathways. 

On waiting lists, the reforms announced this week will deliver up to half a million more appointments a year and help to achieve the government’s promise that 92% of patients waiting for planned treatment will receive it within 18 weeks by the end of this Parliament. Under the Tories, more than 40% of patients are waiting far longer. 

This Government promised change and that is what I am fighting every day to deliver.

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting, joined local MP Josh MacAlister on a visit to West Cumberland Hospital this week to meet staff and patients.

Wards were off limits due to flu outbreaks, but Josh and Wes met with the hospital leadership and with staff and patients in A&E and the Same Day Emergency Care Unit. It was an opportunity to thank staff for their hard work during the difficult winter period and discuss some of the challenges facing the hospital and our NHS and social care services.

The Health and Care Secretary’s visit to Cumbria included the announcement of major reforms to fix the broken social care system and extra funding to keep older people out of hospital and in their homes, alongside the launch of a new cross-party independent commission to establish a National Care Service.

On a visit to a recently adapted property in Carlisle, Wes confirmed a £652,033 funding boost to Cumberland Council as part of an extra £86 million for the Disabled Facilities Grant, on top of the additional £86 million already announced in the Budget. This brings the total investment in adaptations allowing elderly people to live independently in their own homes to £711 million.

Alongside the funding, the government’s immediate action to support adult social care also includes using technology to transform care and support older people to live at home for longer, cutting red tape to ensure funding is keeping people healthy and taking pressure off the NHS.

Care workers across West Cumbria will be better supported to take on further duties to deliver health interventions, such as blood pressure checks, meaning people can receive more routine checks and care at home without needing to travel to healthcare settings. The national career structure for care staff will also be expanded, ensuring there are opportunities for career progression and development pathways. 

The government will also develop a shared digital platform to allow up-to-date medical information to be shared between the NHS and care staff, including when someone last took their medication, to ensure people receive the best possible care.

Alongside these immediate steps, the government is also kickstarting work on the necessary long term reform to overhaul social care. As set out in the manifesto, this deep reform will include the creation of a National Care Service underpinned by national standards, delivering consistency of care across the country.

The government has launched an independent commission into adult social care, chaired by Baroness Louise Casey and reporting to the Prime Minister, to work on a cross-party basis to build a consensus for how to build an adult social care system to meet the current and future needs of the population.

Whitehaven and Workington MP Josh MacAlister said:

“I’m very thankful that the Secretary of State took the time to visit our local hospital to thank staff and hear directly from those working on the frontline of the NHS about the challenges they’re facing after the previous government almost brought our NHS to its knees.

“One of the key issues raised by staff was the number of older people stuck in hospital because the social care system isn’t functioning properly and people can’t be sent home because they don’t have support. The extra money announced for Cumberland Council will be vital in supporting more people in West Cumbria to live at home with the dignity, independence and quality of life that they deserve.

“We also had the chance for a good discussion with Wes about some of the opportunities that the government’s additional funding and reforms could unlock to improve health and care services in West Cumbria. Improving these services is a top priority for me as your MP and I will use every lever at my disposal to deliver the improvements we need and deserve.”

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said:

“I was in Cumbria to announce immediate investment and reforms to help modernise social care, get it working more closely with the NHS, and help deliver our Plan for Change. 

“But our ageing society, with costs of care set to double in the next 20 years, demands longer term action. The independent commission I also announced in Cumbria this week will work to build a national consensus around a new National Care Service able to meet the needs of older and disabled people into the 21st century.”

We are passionate advocates for devolving as much power and money as possible out of central government down to our county. Local problems can and should be solved locally and residents and locally accountable decision makers who know our areas best should be in the driving seat coming up with solutions to the challenges we face. 

The English Devolution Bill released last week is the Labour Government’s plan to give those of us with skin in the game the funding and the tools we need to make a real and lasting difference. This isn’t the weak tea offered by the Tories in years past on devolution. The Bill lays out nothing less than a devolution revolution, which will deliver the greatest transfer of power and money from Whitehall to our communities in a generation, empowering those communities to realise their potential. 

The plans set out a strong preference to see Mayors in place across the whole of England – making it the default status. And it is those areas which embrace the mayoral model and the local accountability that comes with it which stand to benefit most from the rich rewards that devolution has to offer.

Taking buses back into public control; a new statutory role in governing, managing, planning, and developing the rail network; control over adult skills funding and a role in employment support programmes; and new powers over strategic planning to build the homes we need. These are just some of the opportunities available to us in Cumbria if we seize the opportunity being presented.

Making this work for Cumbria would mean retaining Cumberland and Westmorland & Furness as two councils and introducing a combined authority led by a directly elected mayor for the county. It should mean merging the role of our Cumbria-wide Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner into the mayor’s office. This would mean no extra politicians in Cumbria, but access to a lot more funding than we currently have.

We as Cumbria’s Labour representatives are up for this and we know from speaking to many residents and businesses that there is an appetite for it among the public too. Indeed at the recent Cumbria Economic Summit there was strong support from the business community. There is widespread and cross-party support for Cumbria to benefit from these opportunities, and we cannot let one party block the greatest transfer of power to Cumbrians in a generation.

We urge all parties to clearly back an ambitious Mayoral combined authority. Whether it’s Greater Manchester, Tees Valley or the North East, we are seeing our near neighbours move ahead with the powers and resources that come with a directly elected Mayor. The rest of England is moving towards this model of devolution and we in Cumbria deserve the same opportunities. 

A Mayoral Combined Authority with the right powers and resources is our best route to improving local bus and train services, upgrading roads like the A66, A595 and A590, driving forward major regeneration projects, improving the health and wealth of our population and expanding access to opportunity in every corner of Cumbria.

We’ll continue making the case alongside businesses and civic leaders in the months ahead and we hope that we can work together to put Cumbria in the driving seat of our own future.

Josh MacAlister OBE, MP for Whitehaven & Workington

Cllr Mark Fryer, Leader, Cumberland Council

Julie Minns, MP for Carlisle

David Allen, Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner for Cumbria

Markus Campbell-Savours, MP for Penrith & Solway

Michelle Scrogham, MP for Barrow & Furness

Cllr Derek Brook, Leader, Westmorland & Furness Labour Group

• Government consults with British Medical Association on measures including largest boost to GP funding in years and reducing outdated targets to free up time
• Reforms are part of Government’s Plan for Change to get more patients through the NHS front door and bring back the family doctor  

GPs in West Cumbria will be able to spend more time treating patients under Labour’s proposed reforms to general practice which will bring back the family doctor and slash red tape.

Josh MacAlister MP has today welcomed Labour’s plans to bring back the family doctor and end the 8am scramble for appointments – key manifesto commitments with action being taken to deliver on those promises and get the NHS back on its feet. Under the proposals, patients in West Cumbria, including those with complex needs, long-term conditions, or the elderly would experience greater continuity of care.

The proposals fall under the new GP contract for 2025/26, which is now out for consultation with the British Medical Association’s General Practice Committee to provide its feedback.  

The proposals are backed by the biggest boost to GP funding in years – an extra £889m on top of the existing budget for general practice.

The proposed measures would also reduce the number of outdated performance targets that GPs must meet, in a further step to reduce bureaucracy and ensure doctors can spend more time with their patients.

Whitehaven and Workington MP Josh MacAlister said:

“When I knock on doors in Whitehaven, Workington and across West Cumbria I hear time and time again the difficulty that residents have in making a GP appointment and how important the front door to our NHS is to them and their families.

“I promised residents in West Cumbria that we would help bring back the family doctor and I’m delighted to see proposals that would deliver on that promise.”

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said:   

“General practice is buckling under the burden of bureaucracy, with GPs filling out forms instead of treating patients. It is clear the system is broken, which is why we are slashing red tape, binning outdated performance targets, and instead freeing doctors up to do their jobs.

“We promised to bring back the family doctor, but we want to be judged by results – not promises. That’s why we will incentivise GPs to ensure more and more patients see the same doctor at each appointment.

“Through our Plan for Change, we are acting to fix the front door to the NHS and we have already started hiring an extra 1,000 GPs into the NHS.

“We are proposing substantial additional investment and greater flexibility to employ doctors so patients get better care. I call on GPs to now work with us to get the NHS back on its feet and end their collective action.”

For my final column of the year I want to first thank everyone I’ve had the opportunity to meet over the last six months since I was elected as your MP.

I’ve crammed in as many meetings and visits to local businesses, schools, charities and community groups as possible. I’ve knocked on hundreds of doors at my street surgeries and met hundreds of people at my advice surgeries and public meetings. Thanks to all of you for taking the time to meet with me, sharing your stories, your concerns and your ideas about how we can build a better future for our community.

It has been the greatest honour of my life to wake up every day and go to work for you to try to deliver that better future we deserve. The government has faced some tough challenges – challenges that were ducked by the previous government – and I know not everyone is happy with some of the choices that have been made. But these choices were made with the aim of restoring economic stability and investing in working people, our crumbling infrastructure and our broken public services – making people better off and rebuilding our country.

Our Plan for Change, which I wrote about last week, is your way of holding me and the government to account for delivering on these priorities over the next few years and I’m determined to repay your faith in me by getting results for West Cumbria.

I want to highlight a few specific things I was very proud to see the government deliver in the final days before Christmas. Record investment in our hospices to improve end of life care; giving veterans priority for social housing so no one who served our country ends up on the streets; £1 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping; more money for councils and neighbourhood policing; and tough new laws to hold water company bosses to account for spewing filth into our waterways. Change promised and change delivered by this government.

My office has now dealt with more than 3,000 cases since the election and we’ve been able to help many people with a range of issues, from successfully securing welfare and pension credit to chasing up hospital test results and getting streetlights fixed and potholes filled. My office is now closed for the holidays but my team and I will be checking e-mails and ensuring any urgent issues are picked up. We’ll be back full time from 6th January ready to keep working for you and you can get in touch and see my programme of public events up to April next year on my website at joshmacalister.uk/meetjosh

I’m looking forward to some time off over the next couple of weeks with my family and my dogs and I hope you are able to enjoy some down time too with your loved ones. I wish each and every one of you a very merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous new year.

• £100 million boost for adult and children’s hospices to ensure they have the best physical environment for care, and £26 million revenue to support children and young people’s hospices.

• Funding will help support hospices and deliver much needed funding for improvements including refurbishments, overhauling IT systems and improving facilities for patients and visitors

After lobbying hard on behalf of Cumbria’s hospices, local MP Josh MacAlister welcomed the biggest investment in a generation for hospices, announced by the government this week, ensuring that hospices can continue to deliver the highest quality end of life care possible for their patients, families, and loved ones.

The £100 million funding will help hospices this year and next to provide the best end of life care to patients and their families in a supportive and dignified physical environment.  

Hospices for children and young people will also receive a further £26 million revenue funding for 2025/26 through what until recently was known as the Children’s Hospice Grant.

The government is committed to ensuring every person has access to high-quality end of life care and, as part of its Plan for Change, is taking immediate action to rebuild the health service and deliver improved standards of care, making sure it is fit for the future. 

Whitehaven and Workington MP Josh MacAlister said:

“This is a great early Christmas present for hospices and I’m really proud that bending the ear of government ministers has paid off. Hospice at Home West Cumbria and Eden Valley and Jigsaw hospices in Carlisle do a wonderful job at providing support for people with life-limiting conditions in West Cumbria. This funding from our Labour Government will make a real difference and I was very pleased to visit Hospice at Home West Cumbria this week to talk about it.”

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: 

“I’m really proud we’re able to deliver the biggest funding package for hospices in a generation.

“Josh has done a brilliant job making the case for investment in hospices and I know how invaluable hospice services like Hospice at Home West Cumbria are for so many families. 

“This package will ensure they will be able to continue to deliver the compassionate care everyone deserves as they come to the end of their life in the best possible environment.” 

This investment will go towards helping hospices to improve their buildings, equipment, and accommodation to ensure that patients continue to receive the best care possible.

This government was elected to deliver change.

After 14 years of broken promises, people doubt – understandably – that politics can make a difference to their lives. I hear it time and time again when I’m out doing my street surgeries and public meetings. That’s why we’re doing things differently. 

Before the General Election we set out a series of long-term missions. These are economic growth, an NHS fit for the future, safer streets, becoming a clean energy superpower, and making sure every child has the opportunities they deserve.

By setting out these long term goals, the government stands a better chance of delivering the priorities of people here in West Cumbria and across Britain.

With the terrible inheritance of crumbling public services and crippled public finances, the government has had to make some early difficult decisions. Things in the UK have been in such a mess for so long that it will take some time to fix the foundations in order to achieve these missions. Beware politicians telling you that there’s an easy fix to a complex problem! 

So we’ve set some ambitious but achievable targets for this parliament that you can hold the government accountable for through me as your MP. 

Most important is to increase living standards. After the cost-of-living crisis, people need more money in their pocket. Hard work needs to be rewarded – people should earn enough money to live, save and enjoy life too. 

We’re going to build thousands more homes across Cumbria to end the housing crisis that has left thousands stuck on waiting lists for social housing, too few homes available for private rent and locked too many out of home ownership. And we’ll build the infrastructure we need. Here that means clean energy developments and upgrades to our railway and roads.

We’ll end hospital backlogs and ensure 92% of patients in England wait no longer than 18 weeks for elective treatment. And we’ll put police back on the beat, with 13,000 additional officers. We’ll lay out what these numbers mean for our area in the new year.

We’ll also give children the best start in life, with a record proportion of five-year-olds in England ready to learn when they start school. I know from my former career as a teacher how important investment in those early years is to a child’s development and I don’t want any child in West Cumbria left behind.

Finally, we’ll secure home-grown energy. We’ll keep bills down, improve energy independence and create good jobs, with at least 95% Clean Power by 2030. I want to make Britain’s Energy Coast a reality, with new nuclear, wind and solar projects.

These are the government’s priorities between now and the next election. Delivering them will make a meaningful change for people across our area. 

Children’s social care services are an often hidden but critical service. When they work, they provide help to families in crisis, protect children from harm and provide fostering, residential homes and adoption for children who can no longer live with their families.  

I was delighted to see that these services in Cumberland were recently praised in an Ofsted inspection. Congratulations to all of the staff and leaders who’ve made this happen. 

Turning around children’s social care in Cumberland has been hard because services suffered from years of drift and neglect. Spending has ballooned, bankrupting councils, letting down families and, crucially, failing vulnerable children.

Despite consistent warnings under the previous government, the Conservatives did not act. I know this better than most, because the previous government commissioned me to chair the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care!

I know from my previous work and from speaking with constituents since being elected as your MP that young people in care are too often left feeling forgotten, powerless and invisible despite the best efforts of frontline workers..

That’s why I was so pleased to see Labour’s Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, setting a new direction for children’s social care in our country and committing the government to delivering many of the recommendations I laid out in my Independent Review in 2022.

These wide-ranging, ambitious plans will break the cycle of crisis and reform the system to put families first, at last. Labour has set out a fourfold plan to tackle this crisis which has for too long been neglected:

We will nip problems in the bud early, providing intensive help for families and diverting children from entering care. We’ll support families to keep children safe, bringing partners and agencies together to share expertise, experience and time. A new ‘Prevention Grant’ with £250m has been created so councils have funding for these services. 

When children can’t remain with immediate family, we’ll take further steps to promote kinship care and fostering to reduce the number of children who are in placements away from their families. As announced in the Budget, we’re putting £44m aside for that.

We’ll reform the market by introducing new financial oversight provisions and taking action on the levels of profits being made out of children’s lives. This will reduce the risk of another Southern Cross type-collapse in residential care. .

We’ll invest in the future workforce, in data and information systems, including delivering a single identifier for children – like an NHS number – which will help services work together more efficiently.

Where the Tories sat on their hands, Labour have wasted no time. These are ambitious reforms, but this is only the start of the journey – we know there is more to do. And here in Cumberland we’re now building on solid foundations. 

Please see below a consultation notice I received from the Lake District National Park Authority about the creation of a new public footpath and variation of the alignment of the Coast-to-Coast National Trail near Ennerdale Bridge. Copy me in to your response if you’d like me to be aware of your views: hello@joshmacalister.uk.

Consultation

As I’m sure you’re aware, the 197 mile Coast to Coast is considered one of Britain’s greatest walks, originally described by Alfred Wainwright in his 1973 book ‘A Coast to Coast Walk’, 39, the path runs from St Bees on the west coast, Robin Hood’s Bay on the east coast.

In recognition of its 50 year existence, in the Summer of 2022 the Government asked Natural England (NE) to work with the relevant highways authority partners along the route (Cumberland Council, ourselves, Westmorland and Furness Council, Yorkshire Dales NPA, North York Moors NPA and North Yorkshire CC) to assist in the process of upgrading the route to National Trail status.

There are number of Public Path Orders (PPO) needed to ensure that is the trail follows a legal Right of Way for the entire length of the route through our geographic area. Undertaking these will ensure public access for the future, and enable grants to be awarded toward its ongoing maintenance Aside from the PPO work there will be some focused physical works, and installation of new waymarking. The path is expected to be formally designated and recognised as a National Trail in Oct 2025.

Before we make any decision, we would be grateful to receive any comments or input you would like us to take into account. If you would like to comment, please reply to me (charlotte.kimber@lakedistrict.gov.uk) by 18 January 2025.

We would encourage you to visit the proposed location if at all possible and would very much appreciate if you could let us know whether you have done so when submitting any comments. Parking is available at Scarny Brow or in the small parking area at Nannycatch Road.

Attached are two Maps showing the proposed diversion, annotated with letters, and a Photosheet with the points referred to as P1, P2 etc.

Map 1

The Footpath to be created runs generally north eastwards and northwards from Point A (NY 0552 1298, P1) along Nannycatch.  There are two narrow points on this section – the first (P2) being 1.1m near Raven Crag where there is a steep slope on one side and a drainage channel on the other; and the second (P3) 1.2m wide where the path has been supported by gabion baskets. 

It then crosses Nannycatch Beck through a step through ford (with a footbridge to one side) at Point B (NY 0572 1328 – P5).  The route continues northwards along the narrow path adjacent to the beck and across a series of step through fords (P6).  The route then joins FP 407020 at Point C (NY 0580 1392). 

Map 2

The route leaves FP 407020 at Point D (NY 0585 1395) and runs generally northwards past Point E (NY 0591 1401) shown in P7, along the benched track, crossing the Unclassified Road at Point F (NY 0601 1430) continuing northwards and north eastwards to cross the beck via a step through ford (P8) with a footbridge to the side at Point G (NY 0609 1436) before joining Footpath 407055 through a 1.5m wide kissing gate at Point H (NY 0617 1439) on Scarny Brow (P9,10).

I hope the above information and attached documents provide a helpful overview of the proposed creation.

Please note that this communication is also a consultation on varying the alignment of the Coast-to-Coast National Trail (original approved route here https://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/5224470032941056).   The proposed route of the National Trail created a short length of footpath running east of Point C, and then took the National Trail along the road to Scarny Brow.  Following an approach from the local community, we feel that it will be better for the National Trail to be realigned onto the proposed created route above allowing walkers to stay off road as far as Scarny Brow, and then joining the roadside path towards Ennerdale Bridge.  Two further maps showing this proposed Variation Order are included.

Natural England is minded to propose that the National Trail is realigned onto the created route by way of a Variation Report submitted to the Secretary of State, and I would be grateful to receive any comments you may have as part of your response.