Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the South West 鈥渃an look forward to a brighter future鈥 once the pandemic is over.
Speaking at the virtual South West Conservative Conference at the weekend, the Prime Minister highlighted the government鈥檚 work to ramp up vaccinations and testing in the region while protecting jobs and supporting businesses through the pandemic.
He also spoke about the government鈥檚 commitment to 鈥榣evelling up鈥 regional support.
More than 1.1 million people in the South West have now received a vaccine, protecting around one in five of the region鈥檚 population.
Mr Johnson said: 鈥淎s our vaccine programme is rolled out across the country, and we see many thousands of people vaccinated each day, I am confident we can look forward to a brighter future.鈥
The Prime Minister said the Conservatives were pushing on with their headline manifesto commitments to boost the NHS, police and schools. Eleven of the 40 new hospitals promised will be in the South West, while more than 400 extra police officers have already been recruited in the region, he said.
鈥淲e are embarking on the biggest hospital building programme in a generation,鈥 he said. 鈥淚n the next 10 years we will build 40 new hospitals and upgrade 20 more.
"This includes St Ann鈥檚 Hospital in Dorset, where we are building a new centre for child and adult mental health, a rebuild of the Dorchester and Poole community hospitals, redeveloping North Devon District Hospital and Bournemouth Community Hospital and rebuilding Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton and Torbay Hospital in Torquay.
鈥淲e are constructing a new cancer hospital in Bath and a new women and children鈥檚 hospital in Truro. We鈥檙e building a new integrated emergency care hospital at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth as well as rebuilding Christchurch Community Hospital in Dorset.
鈥淭his is alongside delivering the NHS鈥檚 biggest cash boost in history, investing almost 拢34bn in frontline NHS services every year by 2024.
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鈥淲e鈥檙e on track to recruit the 50,000 more nurses we promised 鈥 and we have already recruited more than 14,000.
鈥淲e鈥檙e fulfilling our manifesto commitment to recruit 20,000 police officers. And latest statistics show we鈥檝e already recruited over 6,600 police officers, with over 400 of those based in the South West.鈥
Mr Johnson said that funding for primary and secondary schools was being increased and a Lifetime Skills Guarantee had been launched.
鈥淥ur Levelling Up Fund, worth more than 拢6bn, will invest in local infrastructure and support economic recovery,鈥 he said.
The South West Conservative Conference was attended by more than 400 party representatives from across the region, including MPs, councillors, Police and Crime Commissioners and local election candidates, officers and members.
Among the speakers was Rebecca Pow, Environment Minister and MP for Taunton Deane.
What do you think the South West needs to do to succeed after the pandemic? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
