Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to increases levels of emphasis on the development of essential life skills in schools and colleges.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
A reformed national curriculum will provide pupils with a broad range of knowledge and skills that prepares them for adult life.
The department will prepare young people for life and careers in a changing world, embedding vital applied knowledge skills in financial, media and digital literacy in the revised curriculum, improving climate and sustainability education.
We will make citizenship compulsory in key stages 1 and 2 and will explore a new level 3 qualification in data science and artificial intelligence.
We are also setting out a new enrichment framework for every pupil, which will help them play, explore, create, and develop wider life skills.
We will develop ‘V Levels’ as the pathway of vocational qualifications at level 3 for young people. These will be linked to occupational standards.
This will be complemented by sharing best practice between 16-19 providers to ensure students develop the important applied knowledge and transferable skills for adulthood.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what action her department is taking to support the use of digital twin technologies across the UK's transport system.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Since the publication in 2023 of Transport Research and Innovation Board’s Transport Digital Twin Vision and Roadmap to 2035, DfT has established a dedicated team to lead a digital twins programme, aligned with the Transport AI Action Plan (2025).
This has already enabled the development of a diverse research programme, including the £46m TransiT research hub to decarbonise transport through digital twins; and a £5m programme to improve crisis response and resilience. These are providing the new tools and skills to ensure UK leadership in this key emerging technology.
To enable business case development and improve adoption, in 2024 DfT published its Economic Benefits Analysis for Integrated Transport Digital Twins, quantifying the key benefits this technology can bring to the UK economy, estimated to £1.85bn over the next decade.
Finally, DfT has directly supported industry innovation by funding innovative digital twin projects through the Transport Research Innovation Grants and the Freight Innovation Fund, to improve rail maintenance, traffic flow, urban resilience, better EV charging infrastructure and port operations.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what career coaching, career transition, and redeployment support services are available to staff in his Department through centrally provided civil service programmes.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The table below shows the career and redeployment support options available to DWP employees.
The information is based on DWP’s use of the centrally provided Civil Service Learning Frameworks service. The data covers the period from January 2023 to December 2025.
Intervention Title |
APM Chartered Project Professional Coaching (excluding Accreditation Fees) |
Coaching Skills |
Coaching skills for managers |
Coaching skills for managers (for programmes only) |
ILM Level 5 Certificate in Effective Coaching & Mentoring - Includes assessment |
Performance Coaching Skills for Managers in the Government Analytical Service |
Performance Development in Digital, Data and Technology Multi-Disciplinary Teams Using Coaching Models |
Crossing Thresholds - Module 1 - Career goal-setting and planning |
5 must-see TED talks for career professionals |
Analytical Community Career conversations |
Career Conversations |
How to build your career in the Civil Service |
How to build your career in the UK Civil Service |
Navigating Your Career |
The 3 questions every manager struggles with making career development plans |
The 4 questions every manager struggles with making career development plans |
Why you will fail to have a great career |
Coaching and Mentoring |
Coaching ethics reflection questions |
Coaching ethics reflection questions |
Coaching Skills (Blended) |
Coaching skills for managers (Blended) |
Coaching skills for Managers (for DEFRA only) |
Diploma in Coaching Supervision - Professional Accreditation (Including assessment) |
Executive Coach coaching - Bespoke |
Executive Coach coaching - Package 2 |
Executive Coach coaching - Package 3 |
Executive Coach coaching - Package 4 |
Executive Coach coaching - Package 5 |
ILM Level 5 Certificate in Effective Coaching and Mentoring |
ILM Level 5 Certificate in Effective Coaching and Mentoring (includes assignments) |
ILM Level 5 Certificate in Effective Coaching and Mentoring (includes exam) |
Premier Executive Coach coaching - Bespoke |
Premier Executive Coach coaching - Package 2 |
Premier Executive Coach coaching - Package 3 |
Premier Executive Coach coaching - Package 4 |
Senior Executive Coach coaching - Bespoke |
Senior Executive Coach coaching - Package 2 |
Senior Executive Coach coaching - Package 3 |
Senior Executive Coach coaching - Package 4 |
Senior Executive Coach coaching - Package 5 |
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assistance is available to people who are not sufficiently technologically proficient to use the NHS app.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are working to improve access to digital services, outcomes, and experiences for the widest range of people, based on their preferences. Digital health tools should be part of a wider offering that includes face-to-face support with appropriate help for people who struggle to access digital services.
Centrally built services, such as the NHS App and National Health Service website, are designed to meet international accessibility standards. We are modernising the mobile patient experience within the NHS App, ensuring information is clearly structured and easy to find and understand.
NHS England has successfully run several programmes to support patients, carers, and health service staff with their digital skills. These include:
the Digital Health Champions programme, a proof of concept to support citizens who have no or low digital skills with understanding how to access health services online;
the Widening Digital Participation programme, aimed to ensure more people have the digital skills, motivation, and means to access health information and services online; and
the NHS App ‘Spoken Word’ Pilot project, designed to test the efficacy of promoting NHS digital health products and services in languages other than English.
We have also recruited over 2,000 NHS App ambassadors and 1,400 libraries to help people to learn how to use the NHS App.
NHS England has published a framework for NHS action on digital inclusion and is developing further resources to support practical actions. All programmes are actively considering how they can contribute to improvements in healthcare inequalities and digital inclusion.
We are also developing a national proxy service to grant authorised access for people to manage health care on behalf of other people that are unable to use the NHS App.
Asked by: Lord Mackinlay of Richborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with amputee charities regarding helping amputees into work.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Good work is good for health, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, including amputees, whoever they are and wherever they live. Backed by £240 million investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched in November 2024 is driving forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity.
Blesma, the veterans’ limbless charity, are members of the Operational Stakeholder Engagement Forum and have been members of a Universal Credit stakeholder forum and the Health Transformation Forum.
Disabled people are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key. We therefore have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems.
Existing measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers (DEAs) in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants, as well as joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies, Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care and WorkWell. We are also rolling out Connect to Work, our supported employment programme for anyone who is disabled, has a health condition or is experiencing more complex barriers to work.
We set out our plan for the “Pathways to Work Guarantee” in our Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, and are building towards our guaranteed offer of personalised work, health and skills support for disabled people and people with health conditions on out of work benefits. The guarantee is backed by £1 billion a year of new, additional funding by the end of the decade. We anticipate the guarantee, once fully rolled out, will include: a support conversation to identify next steps, one-to-one caseworker support, periodic engagement, and an offer of specialist long-term work health and skills support.
Additionally, we have developed a digital information service for employers, oversees the Disability Confident Scheme, and continues to increase access to Occupational Health.
The 10 Year Health Plan, published in July, builds on existing work to better integrate health with employment support and incentivise greater cross-system collaboration, recognising good work is good for health. The Plan also states the Government’s intention to break down barriers to opportunity by delivering the holistic support that people need to access and thrive in employment by ensuring a better health service for everyone, regardless of condition or service area. It outlines how the neighbourhood health service will join up support from across the work, health and skills systems to help address the multiple complex challenges that often stop people finding and staying in work.
Asked by: Lord Mackinlay of Richborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support is available to amputees seeking work.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Good work is good for health, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, including amputees, whoever they are and wherever they live. Backed by £240 million investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched in November 2024 is driving forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity.
Blesma, the veterans’ limbless charity, are members of the Operational Stakeholder Engagement Forum and have been members of a Universal Credit stakeholder forum and the Health Transformation Forum.
Disabled people are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key. We therefore have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems.
Existing measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers (DEAs) in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants, as well as joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies, Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care and WorkWell. We are also rolling out Connect to Work, our supported employment programme for anyone who is disabled, has a health condition or is experiencing more complex barriers to work.
We set out our plan for the “Pathways to Work Guarantee” in our Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, and are building towards our guaranteed offer of personalised work, health and skills support for disabled people and people with health conditions on out of work benefits. The guarantee is backed by £1 billion a year of new, additional funding by the end of the decade. We anticipate the guarantee, once fully rolled out, will include: a support conversation to identify next steps, one-to-one caseworker support, periodic engagement, and an offer of specialist long-term work health and skills support.
Additionally, we have developed a digital information service for employers, oversees the Disability Confident Scheme, and continues to increase access to Occupational Health.
The 10 Year Health Plan, published in July, builds on existing work to better integrate health with employment support and incentivise greater cross-system collaboration, recognising good work is good for health. The Plan also states the Government’s intention to break down barriers to opportunity by delivering the holistic support that people need to access and thrive in employment by ensuring a better health service for everyone, regardless of condition or service area. It outlines how the neighbourhood health service will join up support from across the work, health and skills systems to help address the multiple complex challenges that often stop people finding and staying in work.
Asked by: Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to the speech by the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister on 20 January, which civil servants will have access to training from the National School of Government and Public Services; how many hours of training will be provided to civil servants; who will provide that training; and whether they will publish the proposed training curriculum.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
His Majesty’s Government is establishing the National School of Government and Public Services to strengthen the professional capability of the Civil Service.
The National School will serve over half a million civil servants. It will provide hundreds of thousands of hours of training as well as on-demand online learning. Training will be provided by a combination of civil service trainers, senior civil servants, and external providers and experts, including leading academic institutions.
We currently publish details of civil service training and will continue to do so as we expand the curriculum, focusing on priority skills including digital and AI. Further details of the proposed training curriculum will be published when the National School launches later in 2026.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will consider establishing small neighbourhood hubs to provide skills and training support to residents to strengthen their foundational skills.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Foundation skills including English, maths, and digital skills are fundamental for full participation in work, education and society.
The Jobcentre Plus’s network of over 600 local centres offers tailored, flexible support for UC claimants to build foundational skills through its Work Coaches and a broad range of local skills provision. Across Great Britain, we are also testing delivery of services and support in communities through mobile vehicles and outreach.
Responsibility for adult skills has moved to the Department for Work and Pensions, enabling a clearer focus on adult skills and career outcomes. This work is supported by the Adult Skills Fund (ASF), which helps adults aged 19+ to improve their skills and progress in work. In addition, devolved ASF funding will give local leaders the flexibility to align adult skills provision with regional economic and employment priorities.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to HCWS1249, what steps are being taken to prevent digital exclusion arising from the expansion of the GOV.UK app, GOV.UK Wallet and GOV.UK One Login; how access to offline or assisted services will be protected between 2025 and 2030; and how progress on digital inclusion will be measured.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
All new GDS products are designed and tested to meet WCAG 2.2 AA standards and support users with diverse access needs, skills and devices. In addition, the Government is taking coordinated action to reduce digital exclusion. Through the Digital Innovation Fund we are supporting locally led projects that test new approaches to help people gain skills, confidence and access to digital public services. This forms part of the wider Digital Inclusion Action Plan, which brings together work across accessibility, connectivity, skills and affordability to ensure those facing the greatest barriers are supported to get online.
Departments will continue to offer offline, phone and assisted‑digital routes so people who cannot or prefer not to use online services can still get help. No essential service will become digital‑only without suitable support.
Progress on digital inclusion is measured through accessibility assessments, user research and service performance data to ensure services work for everyone.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support digital skills and technology investment to enable productivity improvements from AI.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Secretary of State vowed this week to make Britain the fastest adopting AI country in the G7 and build a workforce that excels in developing, adopting and benefiting from AI.
We have committed £27m for the Government’s TechLocal scheme to connect at least 1,000 skilled people to tech jobs in local communities, create new academic courses integrating practical AI skills, and graduate traineeships and work experience.
Alongside this, thirteen additional private and public sector partners have signed on to join the AI Skills Boost, committing to upskill 10 million workers in AI skills by 2030, with over 1 million AI upskilling courses having been delivered since last summer. We are also expanding Innovate UK’s BridgeAI programme which will provide targeted support to businesses across the Industrial Strategy sectors, including through funding for tech investment.
These initiatives ensure we are facilitating the diffusion of AI across the whole of the UK by addressing the barriers to adoption faced by businesses and workers.