It might be early days for the new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak but just one week into his tenure in Downing Street we are beginning to get a picture of the government's ambitions. Political editor Paul Francis on what we learned about five key issues affecting Kent.

Fracking: The PM signalled a U-turn on a U-turn when he confirmed that he was reversing a decision by his predecessor Liz Truss to lift a moratorium on exploring for shale gas.

Mr Sunak said he would stand by the Conservative 2019 manifesto on fracking. This said the party would not support fracking unless the science “shows categorically that it can be done safely”.

Why the about-turn? The prospect of a Tory revolt in the shires was not something the government wanted to see - especially in constituencies that might prove vulnerable at an election.

Protecting the Green Belt: Government plans to give developers the right to fast-track their plans without going through the usual planning processes had triggered disquiet.

Mr Sunak has quashed that idea and says planning policy will be based on ‘brownfield’ development first. But he has not disowned a pledge made in his leadership campaign that he wanted “faster development of homes with planning permission.”

It looks like plans for "investment zones" the brainchild of his predecessor Liz Truss will be scrapped. The new PM will, however, need to tread warily: party activists are among the most voluble when it comes to any notion of concreting over the Garden of England.

Wind farms: The PM signalled he wanted to see more off-shore wind farms as part of a wider policy of developing renewable energy sources.

He told MPs that he is focused on “more renewables, more offshore wind and more nuclear” but indicated too that he intended to stick by the Conservative Party manifesto which currently rules out construction of new onshore wind turbines in England.

There remain divisions on the benefits with critics making the obvious point that they can’t be used to generate energy simply by flicking a switch.

Levelling Up: The new PM was unapologetic at his first PMQs when Kier Starmer challenged him about a leaked video filmed at a hustings meeting in Tunbridge Wells.

It showed Mr Sunak boasting about changing the funding formula so that more money was allocated to Kent rather than being "shovelled up north".

Asked why Mr Sunak did not now “do the right thing and undo the changes he made to those funding formulas” he responded: “There are deprived areas in our rural communities, in our coastal communities and across the south and this government will relentlessly support them.”

Asylum seekers and Channel crossings: With headlines about the soaring costs and thousands of would-be asylum seekers, this remains a touchstone issue that successive party leaders have tried and failed to resolve. The controversial policy of sending arrivals to Rwanda to have their applications processed remain in limbo because of court challenges.

However, reports suggest a new approach will be based on targets for Home Office officials to process 80% of asylum claims within six months, with the average case currently taking 480 days.

There may also be requirements on the French authorities when it comes to the number of patrols on beaches as part of a crackdown on gangs of people smugglers.