Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson

The Department for Health and Social Care answered the question for written answer (HL12852) on 26th January 2026.

The AI tool was developed to identify reporting and consultation duties in the statute book. The tool does not indicate whether the duties are useful, or unnecessary. It was tested on a small data set across the statute book. The dataset included legislation from multiple departments and performed with very high accuracy, rather than being piloted on a single department. The tool has since been applied to the wider statute book.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Government has started the first two pilots of these taskforces. One that will improve data sharing across the criminal justice system with work taking place between the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office and a second to address violence against women and girls by working to accelerate delivery of support services in communities across the country. Delivery is led by departmental ministers with sponsorship from myself and my ministerial team.

The Senior Civil Service (SCS) performance management framework for the 2026/27 performance year will be published imminently.

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.

I refer the Noble Lady to my answer to HL13762.:

Question:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 19 January (HL13276), when the arm's length bodies (ALB) review will be completed; and whether its findings will be published.

Answer:

The review is ongoing. Outcomes will be communicated in due course.

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.

The Government has established a baseline for the administrative burden of regulation on businesses of £22.4bn a year, and a resulting £5.6bn target. As set out in the technical annex to policy paper ‘A new approach to ensure regulators and regulation support growth’ (21^st October 2025), these estimates apply from the start of April 2025 and reflect all UK government regulation at the time, including since July 2024.

Where gross administrative burdens are added after April 2025, savings will be found in other areas, so the net administrative burden is reduced by £5.6bn by the end of this Parliament.

Government is making progress to reduce the administrative burden of regulation on businesses by 25% by the end of this Parliament.

As set out in the October Regulation Action Plan progress update, we have identified £1.5bn in gross administrative savings through measures like the Planning and Infrastructure Bill which is accelerating the delivery of 1.5m new homes and critical infrastructure, making annual savings of £272m; modernising corporate reporting requirements, making annual savings of £230m, and; providing access to data and speeding up work to operate and repair pipes and cables by establishing the National Underground Asset Register, saving £185m annually.

The Government has published a comprehensive Regulation Action Plan that sets out our plans to reform the regulatory system to unlock growth, boost innovation and reduce burdens on businesses across key sectors.

One of the key commitments in the Action Plan is the target to cut the administrative burden of regulation on business by 25%, or £5.6bn, by the end of the Parliament. This pledge will save businesses time and money and help create a regulatory environment that is targeted, proportionate, transparent and agile enough to support economic growth.

The UK digital verification services trust framework describes rules for providers to follow to show they provide trustworthy digital verification services. The trust framework requires that all services follow accepted standards on accessible service design.

For digital verification services providing identity verification, we know that certain identity checking methods won’t suit some users, such as people whose circumstances make facial recognition difficult to use, which is why the trust framework enables services to employ a wide range of methods for identity proofing, including some which don’t require use of facial biometrics.

Businesses choosing to check users’ identities using digital verification services may set requirements on what identity checking methods they will accept, and where these require facial biometrics that are difficult for a user, they can choose to follow other identity checking routes instead.

These businesses, which may include banks and other financial services, must consider their obligations under wider legislation such as the Equality Act 2010, when considering how they deliver their services.

The Government is delivering a network of 50 Young Futures Hubs by March 2029. This is a cross-government priority, coordinated with the Department for Education and the Department of Health and Social Care.

While local authorities will decide on precise locations based on community needs, we expect co-location to be a key consideration where it improves accessibility and strengthens local support for young people.

Eight early adopters have been announced. The early adopter phase will look at how Young Futures Hubs interact with existing services, including Family Hubs.

Through the department’s Childcare and Early Education Review, we will look at how to improve access to early education and care, making the system simpler for families and delivering a coherent local offer. The Review will focus on improving outcomes for all children, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, and on helping parents participate in the labour market.

Alongside this, the Early Years Funding Consultation is considering how funding is distributed nationally and locally to ensure it remains fair, reflects delivery costs, and supports areas with higher levels of need. We also work closely with local authorities to monitor sufficiency and understand the barriers to delivering funded places.

On workforce, we are expanding funded Early Years Initial Teacher Training places, introducing financial incentives in disadvantaged areas, and will be consulting on routes and professional status to support a strong, sustainable profession.

Through the department’s Childcare and Early Education Review, we will look at how to improve access to early education and care, making the system simpler for families and delivering a coherent local offer. The Review will focus on improving outcomes for all children, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, and on helping parents participate in the labour market.

Alongside this, the Early Years Funding Consultation is considering how funding is distributed nationally and locally to ensure it remains fair, reflects delivery costs, and supports areas with higher levels of need. We also work closely with local authorities to monitor sufficiency and understand the barriers to delivering funded places.

On workforce, we are expanding funded Early Years Initial Teacher Training places, introducing financial incentives in disadvantaged areas, and will be consulting on routes and professional status to support a strong, sustainable profession.

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.

Experts at Hand will be delivered through a blend of existing specialist capacity and new staff brought in over time, ensuring the expertise available grows sustainably as the offer develops.

We recently announced £26 million investment to train at least 200 educational psychologists per year, starting their training in 2026 and 2027, followed by further investment from 2028 to train even larger cohorts, subject to a future spending review. This builds on £31 million already being invested since 2023 to train around 200 educational psychologists per year.

The educational psychology doctorate is a three-year course and those who began their training in 2023 will graduate and enter the workforce in 2026/27. Together, these investments will result in approximately 200 trained educational psychologists graduating each year, in 2026/27, 2027/28, 2028/29, and 2029/30 respectively.

We also announced an investment of over £15 million in speech and language therapists (SaLTs). This is to upskill more SaLT support workers and to establish new SaLT advanced practitioners to ensure more therapists and support workers are working with education settings to support additional children and young people. We will also promote the Level 6 SaLT degree apprenticeship to boost the pipeline.

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’.

On 20th May 2026, the Government announced that it would test reform of the fit note, beginning with pilots across four integrated care boards in England. These pilots are funded by £3m in the first year and will take place within a small number of GP surgeries across the following areas: Birmingham and Solihull, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly, Coventry and Warwickshire, and Lancashire and South Cumbria.

The pilots will explore replacing the traditional GP-led fit note process with newly designed plans that provide better support to people who fall ill at work. They aim to move from a process of administrative sickness certification to a new service focussed on getting people the support they need to stay in work and sustainably return.

Whilst specific elements of pilot design are to be shaped locally, broadly, the pilots will test:

• New stay in work and return to work plans that provide patients with timely, proportionate, and actionable advice and support to manage their health condition
• New work and health teams who develop the plans and facilitate joined-up conversations between patients and their employers around support or adjustments needed in the workplace

The pilots have been designed through close engagement with GP leaders and the health system. We are also working with employer and patient groups to shape design as pilots progress. Within all four pilots, teams will be able to sign people off work who need time to recover from their illness. The pilots are focussed on the in-work population (either those who are at risk of falling out of work due to illness or those who are already signed off sick). Participation will be voluntary, and the pilots will not determine eligibility for any benefit entitlement or replace the Work Capability Assessment. Any future rollout or legislative reform will be informed by learnings from the pilots.

The fit note pilots are a key element of the Government's response to the recommendations made in the Keep Britain Working Review, published in November 2025. The Review was clear that the fit note is 'not working as intended', and called for the Government to test alternatives and replacements to the fit note. Any long-term system reform is expected to combine employer and state funded provision, balancing the engagement benefits of employer-led support with the necessity for non-workplace provision (for example, for those who leave work due to illness). We are working closely with the Keep Britain Working Vanguards as they test the 'best case' for an employer-led intervention, with the NHS-based pilots running in parallel, and learnings from each model being used to inform future reform.

Work is progressing at pace on the Keep Britain Working Vanguard Phase following publication of the review’s final report in November. Led by Sir Charlie Mayfield, Co-Chair of the Vanguard Phase, we have been working closely with Vanguard employers, regions and stakeholders to mobilise the Vanguard Phase.

As part of this, a Vanguard Taskforce/ Advisory Group has now been established and is chaired by Sir Charlie Mayfield, in partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Business and Trade. The Taskforce brings together external experts from across business, trade unions, health, and disability and inclusion fields; full membership has been published as part of the Keep Britain Working March update, on Gov.uk (Annex B).

The Taskforce is an external advisory body. It provides independent advice, insight and constructive challenge to support delivery of the Vanguard Phase, including testing and refining emerging proposals and advising on the feasibility and impact of workplace health interventions. It has no decision-making powers, with policy decisions remaining with Ministers. The full terms of reference will be published on Gov.uk in due course.

We are making progress on setting up the Workplace Health Intelligence Unit (WHIU). During the Vanguard Phase we are working with employers, experts and partners to design the Unit’s functions and operating model, including how it can best act as a central hub for evidence, insight and employer-facing support. This includes considering its governance arrangements and how it will work across Government to maximise impact. Further detail on the Unit will be set out in due course as this design work progresses.

There have been steady increases over the last two decades in the number of children in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLAc), from 230,000 in May 2002 to 840,000 in May 2025, excluding Scotland claims. These increases are driven primarily by increases in the number of claimants with learning difficulties (including Autism Spectrum Disorder), hyperkinetic syndrome (including Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and behavioural disorders which have increased from 48% of the caseload in May 2002 to 83% in May 2025.

Work has commenced on the Keep Britain Working Vanguard Phase following publication of the review’s final report in November. We are working with Sir Charlie Mayfield, Vanguard employers and regions to mobilise and design this next phase of work and establish effective ways of working. The vanguards will play a pivotal role in shaping how health issues and disabilities are managed in the workplace, building an evidence base and understanding of what works through effective partnership with employers.

As part of the Vanguard Phase, Sir Charlie Mayfield has agreed to establish and lead a Vanguard Taskforce/advisory board in partnership with Department for Work and Pensions, Department for Business and Trade, and Department of Health and Social Care. The Vanguard Taskforce will bring together a group of external experts from various sectors and organisations to provide external advice, and guidance to steer the Keep Britain Working Vanguard Phase. We are currently considering the Terms of Reference and potential membership of the taskforce.

The Workplace Health Intelligence Unit (WHIU) will serve as the central hub for delivery of the whole Vanguard Phase and to drive on-going work. We are currently working to establish the Intelligence Unit within Government and considering options for its design and details of its function. A comprehensive governance framework, incorporating the taskforce, will be established to ensure strategic oversight and accountability of the Unit as it is set up and developed.

Further information on the shape and remit of the Vanguard Taskforce and Workplace Health Intelligence Unit is expected in Spring 2026.

Work has commenced on the Keep Britain Working Vanguard Phase following publication of the review’s final report in November. We are working with Sir Charlie Mayfield, Vanguard employers and regions to mobilise and design this next phase of work and establish effective ways of working. The vanguards will play a pivotal role in shaping how health issues and disabilities are managed in the workplace, building an evidence base and understanding of what works through effective partnership with employers.

As part of the Vanguard Phase, Sir Charlie Mayfield has agreed to establish and lead a Vanguard Taskforce/advisory board in partnership with Department for Work and Pensions, Department for Business and Trade, and Department of Health and Social Care. The Vanguard Taskforce will bring together a group of external experts from various sectors and organisations to provide external advice, and guidance to steer the Keep Britain Working Vanguard Phase. We are currently considering the Terms of Reference and potential membership of the taskforce.

The Workplace Health Intelligence Unit (WHIU) will serve as the central hub for delivery of the whole Vanguard Phase and to drive on-going work. We are currently working to establish the Intelligence Unit within Government and considering options for its design and details of its function. A comprehensive governance framework, incorporating the taskforce, will be established to ensure strategic oversight and accountability of the Unit as it is set up and developed.

Further information on the shape and remit of the Vanguard Taskforce and Workplace Health Intelligence Unit is expected in Spring 2026.