Written Statements

Monday 2nd March 2026 Written Statements

Monday 2 March 2026

Unpaid Internships

Monday 2nd March 2026 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Kate Dearden)]

The Government’s plan to make work pay is a core part of our mission to grow the economy, raise living standards across the country, and create opportunities for all. This will help tackle low pay, poor working conditions, and poor job security, all of which have been holding our economy back.

In our plan we committed to banning unpaid internships, unless they are part of a formal educational or training course. This Government believe that a fair day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay and employers should pay workers what they are entitled.

Today, we are publishing the Government’s response to the call for evidence on unpaid internships.

The call for evidence related to internships which are unpaid or paid below the national minimum wage, work trials, voluntary workers, volunteers, and work shadowing.

While voluntary workers, volunteers, and individuals who are work shadowing are not entitled to the national minimum wage, there are a small number of employers who are engaging individuals, particularly young people, under these terms incorrectly to avoid paying them.

This Government are committed to striking a balance between ensuring individuals have a choice in the type of work they do, and how they do it, while ensuring employers are not able to take advantage of individuals, especially young people, by making them work for free.

The call for evidence attracted responses from employers, individuals, and interested stakeholders on unpaid internships and internships paid below the national minimum wage, and other similar categories of people who may be conflated with interns.

It is important that employers can continue to offer genuine opportunities, such as work shadowing or work experience placements which are permitted under the national minimum wage law that can offer young people valuable insights into the world of work. We do not want to close the door on these opportunities which can be an enriching experience for young people, and we are clear we will not allow this opportunity to lead to exploitation.

The evidence highlighted that while the majority of employers are doing the right thing, there is a small minority who flout the law. This is fair on neither workers nor responsible employers. To tackle this problem, the Government will:

Update and expand the national minimum wage guidance so employers better comply with the law and workers are better aware of their rights.

Continue to crack down on employers breaking the law through existing enforcement channels and via the forthcoming Fair Work Agency.

Raise awareness of workers’ rights through communications campaigns to help young people understand their rights and what action they can take if they are not being paid what they are legally entitled to.

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Kinship Zones

Monday 2nd March 2026 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Josh MacAlister)]

Kinship care ensures that children who cannot live with their birth parents are able to grow up in homes filled with love, stability, and a sense of belonging, often at times of crisis and without preparation. The Government recognise the vital role that kinship carers play in keeping children safe within their families and communities and are committed to improving the support available to them.

Today I am announcing the launch of new kinship zones, designed to test how co-ordinated, locally led support can improve outcomes for kinship families and the children in their care.

Kinship zones will bring together local authorities, the national kinship care ambassador and central Government to provide joined-up support to kinship families. The ambassador will be working with the participating local authorities to develop their delivery plans for the pilot, including how they could repurpose any existing expenditure on allowances towards support for family networks and to develop their kinship local offer.

The kinship zones pilot will operate in seven local areas across England from 1 April 2026 for three and a half years, the final two years subject to approval at the next spending review, with an investment of over £126 million of Government funding. In addition to providing a financial allowance to kinship carers, each kinship zone will respond to local need, while contributing to a shared evidence base on what works best for kinship families. Eligible financial allowances made under the pilot scheme will be income tax free, ensuring kinship carers get the full financial benefit of the support offered.

This pilot builds on the Government’s response to the independent review of children’s social care, which highlighted the importance of family-based care and the need to better recognise and support kinship carers. It also aligns with the ambitions set out in “Keeping Children Safe, Helping Families Thrive”, which reinforced the importance of strengthening family networks and providing early, joined-up support. Alongside other reforms, including the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, the kinship zones programme will help test approaches that could inform future national policy.

An independent evaluation will assess the impact of the pilot on outcomes for children and families, including placement stability and carer wellbeing. Findings will be used to inform further decisions on the future of kinship support.

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England Rare Diseases Action Plan 2026

Monday 2nd March 2026 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Ashley Dalton)]

The Government published England’s fifth rare diseases action plan on gov.uk on 27 February, ahead of international Rare Disease Day on the 28th. This Government remain committed to improving the lives of people living with rare diseases, and today’s action plan provides more detail on the steps we will be taking over the next year to meet our priorities.

The UK rare diseases framework was published in January 2021 following the national conversation on rare diseases, which received nearly 6,300 responses. This helped identify the four priorities of the framework in tackling rare diseases: helping patients get a final diagnosis faster, increasing awareness of rare diseases among healthcare professionals, better co-ordination of care, and improving access to specialist care, treatment and drugs.

The 2026 action plan updates on progress we have made across the system—in the NHS, in health education, in regulation—to improve the lives of people living with rare disease:

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has set out a position paper with commitments for major reform in regulation of rare therapies.

NHS England is developing a framework for individualised genetic therapies—designed for a specific patient—to lay the way for future commissioning decisions, and we have seen the treatment of the first patient with an individualised therapy in the NHS.

And new funding has been allocated to pilot two centres for people with undiagnosed rare conditions.

A central principle of our approach to rare disease policy is the prioritisation of lived experience. The sustained advocacy and specialist insight of patients, families, and patient organisations have significantly contributed to greater awareness and continued progress in the field. Following the extension of the UK rare diseases framework into 2027, across the coming year we will be continuing to deliver the England rare diseases action plan and engaging with the rare disease community to inform future policy options.

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Asylum Changes

Monday 2nd March 2026 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Shabana Mahmood)]

This country will always provide sanctuary to those fleeing war and persecution. But we must also ensure our asylum system is not creating pull factors that draw people on dangerous journeys across the world, fuelling and funding the human traffickers.

Genuine refugees will find safety in Britain, but we must also reduce the incentives that draw people here at such scale, including those without a legitimate need for protection. So, once a refugee’s home is safe and they are able to return, they will be expected to do so.

This is a firm but fair approach, restoring order and control of Britain’s borders, while protecting those fleeing war and repression.

Last November, as part of the most sweeping reforms to tackle illegal migration since the second world war, this Government announced that refugee protection would become temporary. At the same time, refugees who wish to stay in Britain and have skills will be able to apply for new work and study visas, helping them integrate with and contribute to society.

Britain will also open new, safe and legal routes, with community sponsorship becoming the new norm. The entire approach is designed to shift the asylum system in Britain away from dangerous, illegal crossings, and high levels of applications from those without legitimate asylum claims.

Under these changes, adults and accompanied children claiming asylum from today will receive a 30-month period of protection, if granted. At a 30-month review, refugees with a continuing need of sanctuary will have their protection renewed, while those whose countries are now deemed safe will be expected to return home.

Under the previous system, refugees were granted five years of protection and allowed to bring their families—followed by near-automatic, fee-free permanent settlement with continued access to benefits and housing. This was among the most generous offers to refugees in any country in western Europe. This has become a pull factor that has seen asylum claims in Britain rise steeply, including tens of thousands of illegitimate claims each year, as they fall across the rest of the continent.

Refugees under the reformed system will need to renew their permission to stay or apply for a legal visa route. Family reunion remains paused while new rules are designed that bring financial and integration requirements in line with those expected of British citizens.

The reset in Britain’s asylum offer, inspired by Denmark’s success, will encourage those wishing to build a life in the UK to do so via legal routes and reduce the pull factors driving illegal migration. The first step towards a new, “core protection” system will be introduced through a change to the immigration rules later this week.

While Denmark was cutting asylum claims to a 40-year low, the UK saw a 13% increase in the year to September 2025. Across the EU, applications fell by 22% over the same period.

Since 2015, Denmark has made refugee status temporary—subject to review every two years—introduced restrictions on family reunion and increased the wait for permanent settlement to eight years, subject to strict integration and employment requirements.

Under reforms announced last autumn, refugees in the UK will have to wait 20 years for settlement, unless they switch to a legal visa route, as part of the “core protection” model.

New routes will be created as an alternative to “core protection” for those who can contribute through work or study, encouraging use of the legal migration system and contributing to better social cohesion. Further details of these will be set out in future immigration rules changes.

Unaccompanied children will continue to receive five years’ leave, while the Government consider the appropriate long-term policy for this group. Further details will be set out in due course.

Robust age assessment measures are already in place to root out false claims by migrants claiming to be under 18. AI technology currently being tested will strengthen this further.

There will be transitional provisions for people who submitted an asylum claim before today, so that existing rules continue to apply.

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Flexible Voting Pilots

Monday 2nd March 2026 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Samantha Dixon)]

The way we vote in a polling station has changed little since the Ballot Act 1872. As part of our commitment to encouraging participation in our democracy, this Government will explore how we can modernise the way in which polling stations operate, to make voting in person more efficient, more convenient and better aligned with the expectations of today’s electors.

As part of this drive towards modernisation, the Government are partnering with four local authorities at the scheduled elections in May 2026 to test innovative approaches to voting. I have made the pilot orders necessary to enable this testing. Cambridge city council, North Hertfordshire district council, and Tunbridge Wells borough council will be piloting early or advance voting, with electors being given the opportunity to cast their vote in person in the days leading up to polling day on 7 May. In Milton Keynes city council, the impact of providing a centrally located voting hub on polling day, in addition to the usual polling stations, will be tested.

These flexible voting pilot schemes are designed to explore how we can modernise the voting experience by introducing greater flexibility, improving accessibility and enhancing voter satisfaction while safeguarding the integrity, security, and transparency of the democratic process. They will also allow for exploration of how flexible voting methods can better support electors who may face barriers to participation, such as disabled voters, those in remote areas, and communities that are less likely to engage.

Comprehensive evaluation will be vital to our understanding of the impact of these new approaches on voter convenience and satisfaction, accessibility and inclusive participation, and their feasibility and cost-effectiveness when delivering resilient and secure voting. Evaluations will be developed and undertaken with the participating authorities and the Electoral Commission.

By working in partnership with local authorities, the Government aim to build a stronger evidence base for future reforms and ensure any changes to the voting process are grounded in real-world experience and robust evaluation.

We remain committed to strengthening our democracy and encouraging full participation in our elections. The flexible voting pilots will help to modernise our centuries-old and storied democracy, aligning it with contemporary expectations of voters, while continuing to ensure the security of our electoral system.

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“Growing up in the Online World” Consultation

Monday 2nd March 2026 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology (Liz Kendall)]

Today, we are publishing a landmark consultation on how to give young people the childhood they deserve in an online world. We want every child to enjoy a childhood filled with love, learning and play—one that is just as safe and enriching online as it is offline. To this end the Government are seeking views on a range of measures on how to better protect children and prepare them for the future in an age of digital technologies and rapid technological change.

We know that millions of families across the country are grappling with how much screen time children should have, when children should get a smartphone, what they can see online, and the impact online use can have on sleep, concentration and mental health. Many feel they are fighting a losing battle against platforms designed to keep children scrolling. Additionally, we know many parents, carers and those that work with children have growing worries about AI, including children forming relationships with chatbots as if they were real people.

This is why many across the UK are calling for there to be a minimum age of access to social media. At the same time, we recognise that many others, including leading children’s charities, warn that a blanket ban could push children towards less regulated parts of the internet or leave teenagers unprepared for the online world they will inevitably enter when they get older. This is exactly why we want to seek views across a range of measures. These cover establishing a minimum age of access to social media, but go further to consider ways we can better protect children from AI chatbots and potential restrictions on addictive and risky functionalities across a wide range of services, including messaging and gaming.

The Online Safety Act 2023, one of the most robust systems globally, brought in strong protections to tackle illegal content and protect children from harmful and age-inappropriate content. However, there is growing agreement more needs to be done to keep children safe online.

Policymaking must consider a range of views and be rooted in the best available evidence. The consultation seeks views on further measures to improve children’s relationship with the online world. The consultation will gather insights from the public, parents, carers, young people, civil society and tech companies on how to keep children safe online, including across social media, gaming platforms and AI chatbots.

Responses will help shape decisions on:

Whether there should be a minimum age for social media, and if so, what age would be right;

whether platforms should be required to switch off addictive features that keep children hooked late into the night—like infinite scrolling and autoplay;

whether mandatory overnight curfews would help children sleep better and what age they should apply to;

whether children should be able to use AI chatbots without restriction;

how age-verification and age-assurance technologies can support effective implementation;

whether the use of mobile phones in schools guidance should be put on a statutory footing; and,

how we can further support parents, carers and those that work with children in screentime and media literacy.

The consultation will run for three months, and the Government will explain our proposed next steps by the summer. We are also tabling amendments to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to put in place powers to enable to us to act swiftly on the consultation findings, without prejudging its outcomes. They will enable us to make regulations based on the response to the consultation, including restricting or banning children of certain ages from accessing social media; limiting access to specific features that are harmful or addictive; raising the age of digital consent; and, age-restricting or limiting children’s use of VPNs. This means that we will be able to act quickly to take evidence-based measures that will protect children, rather than waiting years for new primary legislation.

The Government are clear that it is the responsibility of industry, not parents, to make online services safe for children by default. But public views are essential to getting the next steps right.

We urge views from all groups with an interest in this matter and hope to hear from parents, children’s organisations, bereaved families, industry and from children themselves. Alongside the formal consultation we are also launching today a child and parent-friendly version of the consultation to ensure these important voices in this debate are properly heard.

Alongside the formal consultation, the Government are launching one of their most wide-ranging national conversations in recent years. Over the coming months, families, young people, and communities from all over the UK will be invited to share their views through community events, MP-led local conversations, and engagement through schools and civil society organisations. We will also work closely with researchers and academics to assess the developing evidence base, as well as learning from international experiences, including in Australia.

In addition, we will work with parents to run live pilots with teenagers to test a range of different interventions aimed at 13 to 17-year-olds. These will include social media bans, overnight curfews, and daily screentime limits in practice and will help us to ensure we make decisions that are grounded in real-world evidence as well as public views.

We can, and will, act to give children the safe, online childhood they deserve.

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