Written Statements

Tuesday 10th February 2026 Written Statements

Tuesday 10 February 2026

Integrated Security Fund

Tuesday 10th February 2026 Written Statements

[The Minister for Security (Dan Jarvis)]

I wish to update the House on the Government’s plans for the integrated security fund and how funding will be allocated over the next three years—2026-27, 2027-28 and 2028-29—to support delivery of the UK’s national security priorities.

As the 2025 national security strategy made clear, threats to British national security and interests are proliferating. Foreign powers plot espionage, sabotage and cyber-attacks on British soil, colluding with criminal groups to achieve their aims. The threat posed by terrorism continues to persist and diversify. Hostile actors seek to undermine and destabilise the international order not only through conflict and aggression, but through hybrid tactics aimed at sowing and exploiting divisions within our societies.

In this increasingly complex and interconnected national security landscape, it is more important than ever that we take an integrated approach to protecting the UK and its people. This year, the ISF has already demonstrated its value in co-ordinating whole-of-Government responses to key threats, providing vital support for the Government of Ukraine’s efforts to oppose Russian aggression and investing in the UK’s own resilience to threats.

Over the next three years, the Government will continue to invest in the ISF as a cross-Government mechanism that can complement the work of individual Departments, while embarking on ambitious reforms to improve its efficiency and to directly align the fund’s work with the Government’s wider national security response and the national security strategy. This will support the ISF to deliver on its core purpose: protecting the UK’s national security domestically and overseas.

Reform

For 2025-26, the ISF delivered a series of structural changes, closing some ISF portfolios and consolidating others to streamline and focus the fund’s efforts. This was part of a phased transition towards a reformed ISF governance structure that will take effect from 2026-27. The second phase of ISF transformation will:

Deliver a more focused ISF strategic framework, concentrating ISF programming on tackling five key areas: Russia; Iran and its proxies; threats emanating from the Asia Pacific region; serious and organised crime, including organised immigration crime; and terrorism. The ISF will also focus on building sovereign capabilities in four areas: cyber and tech; biosecurity; counter state and hybrid threats; and economic security.

From 2026-27 onwards, funding will be allocated and programming overseen by cross-Government boards responsible for delivering the UK’s strategies related to each of the ISF’s nine strategic priorities. This will see an end to bespoke ISF governance arrangements, leading to greater accountability for spending through the ISF and reduced bureaucracy.

Set multi-year allocations to enable more efficient, longer-term programming. To preserve the ISF’s flexibility to respond to a crisis or a change in security priorities, this will be balanced by holding 20% of the allocations in 2027-28 and 2028-29 “at risk” and available for reprioritisation if necessary.

Transfer responsibility for funding the UK’s contributions to UN peacekeeping missions and other multilateral commitments to the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office and the Ministry of Defence. This is in line with the ISF’s sharper strategic focus on UK national security. The ISF will continue to fund wider programming to prevent and/or resolve conflict and instability where there is a direct link to UK national security.

Spending review 2025 allocations

These reforms will enable the ISF to maximise the national security impact of its budget over the SR25 period. This budget totals circa £820 million per year, of which circa £200 million per year is official development assistance. The ISF will transfer circa £250 million per year to the FCDO and the MOD to enable those departments to manage UN peacekeeping and multilateral commitments currently funded by the ISF. The ISF will also transfer a further £30 million, £70 million, and £100 million non-ODA to the Home Office over the three years of SR25 to support national security priorities and safeguard the UK’s homeland security. The ISF’s budget for national security programming will therefore total £545 million, £499 million and £471 million in 2026-27, 2027-28 and 2028-29 respectively.

The ISF will focus programming funding towards the most acute threats to UK national security. This includes increasing the ISF’s investment in its two largest areas of spend: countering Russian aggression, including in Ukraine; and strengthening the cyber and tech capabilities of the UK and our allies. Together, these areas make up 46% of the ISF’s budget in 2026-27. By 2028-29 the ISF will also increase funding by 33% to enable the UK to counter threats emanating from the Asia Pacific region, including engaging safely and securely with China while protecting UK interests, and supporting our partners around the world to do the same. The ISF will also invest in new cross-cutting, domestic counter-state threats programming, which will complement actor-specific international activity to counter Russia and other states.

The ISF’s counter-terrorism allocation will increase from £31 million this year to £58 million in 2026-27, before declining to £46 million by 2028-29. This front-loaded allocation will establish new domestic counter-terrorism capabilities from next year, while providing sufficient funding to maintain existing counter-terrorism activity in Africa and the middle east. In 2026-27, ISF funding on serious organised crime will also rise by circa £10 million from 2025-26 levels, to fund new activity disrupting and dismantling criminal groups facilitating illegal migration to the UK.

Prioritising funding in these areas means that greater fiscal discipline is required elsewhere in the fund. Programming in the middle east will narrow its focus to countering the highest priority threats in the region and to support work to secure a resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict through a negotiated two state solution. The ISF allocation will therefore reduce by 20% by the end of the SR25 period. Following the ISF’s successful maturation of UK sanctions capabilities, which will be funded by Departments’ core budgets from next financial year, the ISF’s allocation to economic security will also reduce from £12 million in 2026-27 to £8 million in 2028-29. The ISF will maintain funding for strengthening UK resilience and preparedness in relation to biosecurity threats at £15 million per year through the SR25 period.

These allocations closely align ISF funding with the priorities of the national security strategy. They balance investment in capabilities to bolster domestic resilience and make the UK a harder target for hostile actors, with overseas activity to promote stability and help allies and friends bolster their own resilience. Together with the reforms to the ISF’s structure and operating model, they will ensure that the ISF is not only more efficient but more impactful in protecting the UK and our partners globally.

Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund

Tuesday 10th February 2026 Written Statements

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

I am today announcing that the adoption and special guardianship support fund will be extended until March 2028—the end of the current spending review period—and that the budget will be increased by 10% to £55 million for 2026-27. I recognise the importance of setting out a holistic, evidence-based vision for long-term adoption support. That is why I am also launching a consultation on the future reform of adoption and kinship support, including the ASGSF.

This work builds on significant reform across children’s social care already under way that benefits adopted and kinship children and their families. These include the £2.4 billion Families First Partnership programme over the next three years—funding that is equally available to adoptive and kinship families—and wider reforms to children’s social care and mental health services that aim to improve early intervention and strengthen joint working across systems.

This statement outlines the context for that consultation, together with the funding we are providing while it is under way.

The current system

Many adopted and kinship children thrive thanks to the love and care they receive, and a great number do so without any additional support. However, when additional need occurs, because of those difficult childhood experiences, help is often fragmented across services and access to support varies significantly between local areas. For too long support for adoptive and kinship families has been inconsistent, difficult to navigate, and not always aligned with the evidence on what delivers the best outcomes for children.

We know that children’s needs change over time, yet current arrangements do not always provide timely, co-ordinated help at key stages. We also know when children are most likely to present additional needs—namely, when transitioning to secondary school and when entering adolescence. These challenges underline the need for a more coherent, sustainable, and evidence-based framework for adoption and kinship support—one that ensures families receive the right support, at the right time, wherever they live.

Innovation and improving our understanding of what works

Where we think there is a strong case for intervention now, we must make changes to improve support offered to children as soon as possible. That is why from summer 2026, we will introduce a new parent support offer, delivered through Adoption England, for adoptive parents and special guardians whose children are entering secondary school.

This programme will provide practical support while laying the groundwork for wider systemic reform to adoption and special guardianship support. It addresses the well-evidenced challenges children face during the transition from year 6 to year 7, and will include universal, targeted and peer-led help.

The aim is to provide early support to provide consistent support to strengthen families, and prevent escalation into absence, exclusion or placement strain. This forms the initial step in a broader, long-term model of support. Further information will be available in due course.

In 2026-27, we will invest to strengthen regional adoption agency multidisciplinary teams. Regional adoption agencies will strengthen multidisciplinary teams in 2026-27 to provide co-ordinated, holistic support for adopted children and families. Bringing social care, health, and education professionals together will streamline decisions and ensure timely, evidence-based help.

Additionally, the Department of Health and Social Care has launched a three-year pilot to enhance mental health support for children in care and their families. The Department for Education will collaborate to ensure adoptive families are included, starting with one geographic area. This pilot will test a fully integrated mental health support model to ensure children and families receive co-ordinated, accessible help when and where it is needed most.

Consultation

The “Adoption support that works for all” consultation will run for 12 weeks and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/adoption-support-that-works-for-all The consultation sets out a bold and ambitious vision for adoption and (eligible) kinship support. Rather than continuing with a predominantly reactive and centrally administered fund, we propose moving towards a more integrated, evidence-based, and locally led system. This model would place stronger emphasis on early help, consistent and holistic needs assessments, support at key stages, and closer integration between children’s social care, health services, and education.

Taken together, these initiatives deliver practical, immediate action, while laying the foundations for wider systemic reform within a new model of adoption and special guardianship support that prioritises early help and evidence-based intervention.

As we take forward this work, our ambition is clear: every adopted and eligible kinship child should receive the right support at the right time, delivered through a system that is coherent, compassionate and responsive to their needs. The voices of families and experts will be central in shaping this future. I urge all those with experience and expertise to respond to the consultation and help us build a stronger, more integrated support system—one that gives every child the stability, opportunity and security they deserve.

I will deposit a copy of the consultation document and equalities impact assessment in the Libraries of both Houses.

[HCWS1320]

Contracts for Difference: AR7 Solar and Onshore Wind Results

Tuesday 10th February 2026 Written Statements

[The Minister for Energy (Michael Shanks)]

The seventh contracts for difference auction results for onshore wind, solar and tidal stream have been published today—with a record number of projects, 189, totalling 6.2 GW.



Along with offshore wind results published in January, this makes allocation round 7 the largest round ever delivered, securing an unprecedented 14.7 GW of new clean energy capacity across Great Britain. This marks a major step forward in accelerating our clean power mission with successful onshore wind and solar AR7 capacity estimated to support up to 10,000 direct and indirect jobs at its peak.

Today’s announcement will support enough clean electricity to power the equivalent of over 3 million homes, helping to shield the UK from volatile global fossil fuel markets and deliver long-term affordability for consumers.

We have secured a record number of projects across the lowest cost energy sources to build and operate. Once built and generating, the new clean, home-grown power secured today will reduce household bills. New onshore wind cleared at £72.24 per MWh, and new solar at £65.23 per MWh, both under half the £147 per MWh cost of building and operating new gas power stations.

Today 4.9 GW of solar has been procured, which is the largest ever procurement of solar projects in the UK, at a clearing price that is lower than the previous round and a 13% discount to the auction ceiling price.

Some 1.3 GW of onshore wind contracts have been awarded, including the largest onshore project to be successful in England in over a decade and over 1 GW in Scotland. Through Government action to provide dedicated budget for onshore wind for the first time, we have achieved significant new capacity at a competitive price, with a discount of over 20% against the auction ceiling price.

The CfD scheme continues to support innovation in marine energy with four new tidal stream projects totalling 20.9 MW. This brings total CfD backed tidal stream capacity to 140 MW, maintaining the UK’s world leading position in this emerging technology. Tidal stream provides predictable, reliable power that complements intermittent generation from wind and solar. Around half of the world’s operational deployment of this cutting-edge innovation is situated in UK waters.

By supporting a diverse mix of offshore wind, onshore wind, solar and tidal stream projects, the AR7 package strengthens the UK’s ability to keep energy secure, affordable and resilient year-round—while delivering on clean power ambitions. This protects households from global energy price shocks, which have contributed to half of all recessions since the 1970s. In 2025 alone, global gas prices spiked more than 15% in a single week due to instability in the middle east, demonstrating the need to build a more secure and sovereign energy system.

The results of the solar and onshore wind auction announced today, along with the offshore wind result last month, are together a significant step forward for the clean power mission. Securing record capacity across Britain of the cheapest power sources and supporting thousands of new jobs—this Government are taking back control of our energy system and helping bring down bills for good.

[HCWS1318]

Local Power Plan

Tuesday 10th February 2026 Written Statements

[The Minister for Energy (Michael Shanks)]

Britain’s drive for clean, home-grown energy is central to our mission to build an economy that works for the many. Today, jointly with Great British Energy, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has published the local power plan, which presents a new vision for community and local power.

We are sending the clearest signal yet that local and community energy is a priority and that it is central to the clean energy transition we must deliver. The local power plan is the most significant expansion of support for community energy in our country’s history. Backed by up to £1 billion from Great British Energy, it will support at least 1,000 community and local energy projects by 2030, helping communities generate clean power and keep more of the value locally.

Community ownership is a proven tool for building local wealth, pride and participation, from community-owned pubs and leisure centres to pioneering energy schemes across the highlands, Wales and Bristol. This plan is about putting communities in the driving seat of the energy transition, ensuring clean energy is done with communities, not to them, and enabling them to share directly in the rewards. It represents a historic shift in how Government thinks about ownership in our energy system.

The plan brings together four strands of support delivered jointly by Great British Energy and Government:

Direct funding and finance: For too long, community groups with ambitious ideas have relied on small, short-term grants and have struggled to access finance. Great British Energy will provide targeted grants and loans from feasibility to construction. A blended local investment fund will help crowd in private capital and ensure viable projects can scale.

Capacity and capability: Many communities have the ambition but lack the technical or commercial support required. We are therefore creating a new advisory service and a “Community Energy in a Box’’ toolkit—offering templates, guidance and expert help for groups and local authorities to turn ideas into investable schemes.

Business model development: We will work with industry to establish repeatable, bankable models—shared ownership, joint ventures and smart local energy systems—so that projects can grow without long-term dependence on grants. These models will work in rural villages, coastal towns, city neighbourhoods and island communities.

Policy and regulatory reform: We will work with Ofgem, the National Energy System Operator and network operators to look to improve grid access, simplify routes to market and support shared ownership. Community schemes have faced barriers too high for volunteers but trivial for developers. We are working to remove those barriers in all four nations of the UK.

Since coming into power, we have already kicked off £280 million of funding, backing projects across all four nations—from schools in Oldham to community facilities in Blaenavon and Glasgow.

This additional £1 billion of funding from Great British Energy over the spending review period will help communities develop new projects, access early-stage grants and secure loans or project finance. This includes support for shared ownership so local people can buy a meaningful stake in renewable developments in their area. This funding will help power community pubs, sports clubs, miners’ welfare organisations and village halls across the country. This marks the beginning of a long-term effort to remove obstacles to growing community and local power.

The local power plan is the most comprehensive package to grow community energy our country has ever seen—building on our Pride in Place programme, the community right to buy, and our commitment to double the size of the co-operative sector. It follows the ambitious steps Great British Energy is already taking: cutting bills for schools and hospitals through new solar installations, building Britain’s clean-energy supply chains through the £1 billion “Energy, Engineered in the UK” programme, and investing in its first commercial project to put the UK at the cutting edge of floating offshore wind.

But this future will not be delivered from Whitehall alone. It will be built place by place, community by community. So today we are issuing an invitation to communities across the country: come forward with proposals for your area, and we will support you to help make them happen.

[HCWS1321]

Local Government Best Value: Bedford and Spelthorne Borough Councils

Tuesday 10th February 2026 Written Statements

[The Minister for Local Government and Homelessness (Alison McGovern)]

This Government are committed to taking the action necessary to fix the foundations of local government. Today, I am updating the House on the steps we are taking to support two councils to recover and reform: Bedford borough council and Spelthorne borough council.

Bedford borough council

Today I have exercised powers under section 10 of the Local Government Act 1999 to carry out a best value inspection of Bedford borough council’s compliance with the best value duty. Given the economic importance of Bedford, I am committed to ensuring strong oversight to safeguard investment and support regional growth.

I have appointed Paul Najsarek as the inspector and, on his request, Margaret Lee and Parveen Akhtar as assistant inspectors.

Given our concerns relate to broad decision making, and whether the standards expected for effective and convenient local government are being upheld, the inspection will consider decision making in relation to those functions, encompassing leadership, governance, organisational culture, use of resources, partnerships and community engagement, and impact on service delivery. It will also consider the authority’s capacity to address the recommendations made by the Local Government Association corporate peer challenge team and progress review, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy review and the external auditor’s (KPMG) update report to Bedford borough council’s audit committee meeting on 27 November 2025.

I look forward to receiving the inspector’s report in June and will carefully consider this before determining the next steps for Bedford borough council. If it shows that the council is in breach of its best value duty, we will then consider whether to exercise powers under section 15 of the 1999 Local Government Act.

Spelthorne borough council

Today, I am publishing the commissioners at Spelthorne borough council’s first report, received in December 2025, which sets out early progress, including the adoption of an improvement and recovery plan, restructuring of debt and the implementation of a new minimum revenue provision policy. These steps are critical to improving the council’s financial sustainability ahead of Surrey’s planned local government reorganisation in April 2027.

While I welcome the progress to date, significant challenges remain. Delivering these improvements will be essential to ensuring stability and readiness for the changes ahead, and I look forward to the council and commissioners working together to take forward the strategy they have outlined to address these issues.

To support continued progress at the council, the Secretary of State has confirmed the reappointments of Lesley Seary as lead commissioner and Deborah McLaughlin, Peter Robinson and Mervyn Greer as commissioners, until the expiry of the directions on 31 May 2030 as a backstop. In practice, their appointments will cease when Spelthorne borough council is dissolved as part of the planned local government reorganisation in Surrey.

I recognise that local government reorganisation in Surrey brings added urgency and complexity to Spelthorne’s improvement journey. I have therefore asked commissioners to include in their next report reflections on the reorganisation process, including how Government can best support new councils in meeting their best value duty from day one, and any urgent issues that fall outside their current remit. I look forward to receiving their progress report later this summer.

I am committed to working with these councils to ensure their compliance with the best value duty and the high standards of governance that local residents expect. My Department will take action to support improvement where needed.

I will deposit in the Library copies of the documents referred to, which are being published on www.gov.uk today. I will update the House in due course.

[HCWS1323]

Legal Services Board Review

Tuesday 10th February 2026 Written Statements

[The Minister for Courts and Legal Services (Sarah Sackman)]

I am pleased to announce the review of the Legal Services Board. It is best practice for Departments to regularly review their public bodies to provide assurance to both Government and the public that these bodies are operating effectively, and that their functions remain useful and necessary. In the case of legal services, this assurance is especially significant because the sector’s regulatory framework must remain demonstrably independent of Government, a key pillar of the rule of law, and of public confidence in our justice system.

The Government are committed to reducing regulatory burdens that may stifle innovation and growth across various sectors, including the legal sector. However, the legal services regulatory framework is complex, encompassing a broad range of professions and regulatory bodies, each with their own scope, governance and approach.

Within this landscape, the LSB provides oversight of the approved regulators responsible for the direct regulation of legal services providers. We must ensure that the current regulatory oversight arrangements are effective and do not duplicate frontline regulators’ work and initiatives. Robust and proportionate oversight is also crucial in ensuring that the sector continues to uphold the highest professional standards and safeguard public trust.

It has been several years since the last review of the LSB in 2017 and, since then, there have been significant developments in the legal services sector. These include the introduction of a new regulatory objective, concerns around professional ethics within the sector, as well as market developments—most notably, the rapid increase in the use of lawtech. Given these changes, it is timely and appropriate to review how the work of the LSB is delivered.

This review provides an opportunity to consider the LSB’s statutory remit, its strategic clarity, governance and accountability arrangements, and the LSB’s current capabilities. The review will assess how the LSB and the Ministry of Justice should work together to deliver value for money and ensure sufficient focus is maintained on the evolving priorities of legal services consumers and the wider sector.

This review will also ensure that current arrangements actively support the essential work undertaken by the approved regulators and legal services providers. It will support the effective delivery of the Department’s priorities for delivering accessible and timely justice, for upholding the rule of law, and in promoting our world-leading legal services.

I have appointed Richard Lloyd to lead on the review. Richard is the chair of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority. He is an experienced senior executive and non-executive director, with a strong track record of chairing high-profile regulatory bodies and committees and a reputation for integrity and commitment to public service. Richard has substantial experience of transforming the effectiveness of a wide range of organisations, improving operational delivery in public and private sector services. He is independent from the Ministry of Justice and will provide objective analysis of the LSB and the Department.

As part of this review, a call for evidence will be issued to gather feedback and views. This will take place alongside targeted engagement with stakeholders to inform the review’s findings. A link to the call for evidence can be found below.

https://consult.justice.gov.uk/digital-communications/legal-services-board-public-bodies-review/

I will make a further announcement on completion of the review in summer 2026. Following this, I will set out the Government’s response.

[HCWS1319]