Asked by: Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Ministerial Statement by Lord Hermer on 26 March (HLWS1472), which departments will be required to use artificial intelligence to "identify existing disproportionate reporting and consultation duties" in existing legislation; what timeline has been set for completing that work; and what steps will be taken once disproportionate duties are identified.
Answered by Lord Hermer - Attorney General
The AI tool has been developed centrally by Cabinet Office and No.10 to identify consultation and reporting duties. We expect all departments to use the tool to identify existing disproportionate reporting and consultation duties, unless there is a justifiable reason not to. Timelines and next steps will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Ministerial Statement by Lord Hermer on 26 March (HLWS1472), when the new departmental accountability framework will be introduced; who will assess departmental performance against those new frameworks; and what consequences will follow if the targets and expectations in those frameworks are not met.
Answered by Lord Hermer - Attorney General
The new departmental accountability framework has been launched to permanent secretaries for the year 2026-27 and they have started to set objectives against it. The Cabinet Office, led by the Cabinet Secretary, will be responsible for assessing departmental performance against the new framework.
Asked by: Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Ministerial Statement by Lord Hermer on 26 March (HLWS1472), how they will define and set the higher bar for including reporting and consultation requirements in new legislation; and who will apply that test.
Answered by Lord Hermer - Attorney General
Consultation should only be used when it is the most effective tool for good policymaking, including where fairness requires it, and not used for other reasons. Reporting requirements should not disproportionately slow down delivery. Decisions remain the purview of ministers.
Asked by: Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Ministerial Statement by Lord Hermer on 26 March (HLWS1472), which of the Prime Minster's priorities will be given measurable targets in the new accountability framework.
Answered by Lord Hermer - Attorney General
The new departmental accountability framework has been launched to permanent secretaries for the year 2026-27 and they have started to set objectives against it, taking into account the Prime Minister’s Priorities. The Cabinet Office, led by the Cabinet Secretary, will be responsible for assessing departmental performance against the new framework.
Asked by: Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 24 March (HL14079), whether it is still their intention to set up teams modelled on the Vaccine Taskforce to deliver Prime Ministerial priorities; and, if so, whether these teams will be subject to the new departmental accountability framework.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government is reforming the spending control and accountability framework in order to drive better value for money and enable the public sector to deliver the government’s priorities efficiently. This ultimately means better and faster outcomes for citizens. The reforms will reinforce accountability, enable the central government functions to focus more of their efforts on building capability, and be supported by open and collaborative ways of working. From 1 April, ‘delegated authority limits’ have increased across most of government and duplication in the approvals process has been removed.
Taskforces will be given the authority to exercise unique freedoms, including the freedom to get on with the job with prioritised business case approvals and increased delegated authority limits from the Treasury as appropriate.
Asked by: Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 3 February (HL14030), whether they have made a decision on whether the increased cost-effectiveness threshold will apply to medical technologies that are evaluated by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellent through its HealthTech programme.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Pursuant to the to the answer of 3 February, the Government is actively considering whether the increased cost-effectiveness threshold will apply to medical technologies that are evaluated by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence through its HealthTech programme and will set out its position in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 24 February (HL14387), whether the central performance management framework for the Senior Civil Service has been, or will be, changed in order to deliver the plans set out by the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister in his speech on 20 January.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We are in the process of updating the Senior Civil Service (SCS) Performance Management Framework aimed at ensuring performance across the SCS is focused on the Prime Minister’s priorities and that underperformance is held to tougher standards and addressed as soon as it arises.
Asked by: Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 6 March (HL15294), whether they plan for ministers to be responsible for approving the NHS Payment Scheme after NHS England is abolished; and if so, whether ministers will be consulted about approval of that scheme in the transition period before new legislation is passed by Parliament to transfer that responsibility to ministers.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Primary legislation is required to enable the transfer of NHS England’s functions, powers and responsibilities formally to the Department or out to the wider system. Primary legislation is subject to the will of Parliament, and the Government welcomes parliamentary scrutiny of these provisions. The bill will be introduced in Parliament when parliamentary time allows.
Currently, NHS England is responsible for publishing the NHS Payment Scheme, with the relevant legislation set out in schedule 10 of the 2022 Health and Care Act. Under NHS England’s Scheme of Delegation, responsibility for approving the NHS Payment Scheme rests with the Chief Executive Officer of NHS England, delegated to the Chief Financial Officer of NHS England.
During development of the NHS Payment Scheme, NHS England engages with a wide range of stakeholders, including the Department. The 2026/27 NHS Payment Scheme was published on 26 March 2026 and incorporates a number of changes following consultation.
Asked by: Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what additional funding schools and colleges will receive as a result of the announced special educational needs and disabilities reforms in (1) 2026–27, (2) 2027–28, (3) 2028–29, and (4) 2029–30.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In every year of this Parliament, core funding for schools and special educational needs and disabilities is expected to increase, subject to future spending reviews. The government is committed to prioritising early intervention and is making a major increase in investment, with £4 billion over the three years of the Spending Review. This will reverse the trend of late intervention and escalation in needs.
Within this total, the Inclusive Mainstream Fund will provide over £500 million per financial year, over three years, to schools, colleges and early years settings to develop and embed improved inclusion practice. On Wednesday 25 March, the department published methodology documents explaining how funding will be allocated for the Inclusive Mainstream Fund. Details on the funding for schools and mainstream 16-19 provision are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inclusive-mainstream-fund-2026-to-2027. Details on the Inclusive Early Years Fund are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inclusive-early-years-fund-2026-to-2027. Funding from 2029 to 2030 onwards is subject to future spending reviews.
Also on 25 March, we announced further details on the allocation of £860 million of high needs capital funding as part of the landmark £3.7 billion announced to deliver 60,000 more specialist places. This funding will drive a transformative expansion of inclusion bases across the country, as well as adaptations to improve the inclusivity and accessibility of mainstream settings as well as supporting special school place creation where needed.
Asked by: Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the £3.5 billion of funding allocated to the Department for Education for 2028–29, additional to the previously planned funding at Autumn Budget 2025, will be spent on.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The £4 billion in funding over the spending review period (2026/27, 2027/28 and 2028/29) is newly allocated funding from existing departmental budgets. This investment is additional to the core funding allocations for 2026/27 for early years, schools and post-16 funding that have already been announced.
The department confirmed an additional £3.5 billion of new funding for the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system in 2028/29, to support reforms to improve outcomes and experiences for children, young people and their families, as outlined in ‘SEND reform: putting children and young people first’.