Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson

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

The delivery objectives of all Senior Civil Servants should be linked to the objectives of the department and minister they serve. The framework is regularly reviewed and updated in alignment with Government priorities.

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.

The Civil Service is committed to publishing a Civil Service Strategic Workforce Plan in the first part of this year once departments have finalised their workforce plans as per the financial settlements that were agreed with HMT in the Spending Review and the priorities set by Ministers, including those set out in the Autumn Budget.

The Civil Service Strategic Workforce Plan will set out how the Civil Service workforce will meet the Government’s policies of reducing back office costs by 16% by 2030, halving consultancy spend and targeting spending on front line services.

The Spending Review 2025 set each department’s yearly administration budget and committed to reduce them by 16% in total and in real terms by 2029-30. The Spending Review details the planned administration Budgets for each department for each year between 2025-26 and 2029-30.

The reductions will be delivered through savings and efficiencies, supported by the £150 million announced at Spring Statement 2025 to help deliver employee exit schemes, and with greater embedding of a cost-conscious culture across Whitehall, including reducing travel costs.

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

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 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.

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 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.

As announced in the Autumn Budget 2025, the department will lead a review of childcare provision. This review aims to simplify the system for providers and families, improving access and strengthening the impact of government support. The review is expected to take place in 2026, and we will share more information in due course.

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.

This Government values the input of disabled people and people with health conditions, their representative organisations and people that support them. The Pathways to Work Green Paper launched a consultation which has now concluded. We are considering responses to the consultation.

We also have recently concluded the Access to Work Collaboration Committees, in which we engaged with a range of stakeholders, including disabled people’s organisation representatives and lived experience users, to provide discussion, experience, and challenge to the design of the future Access to Work Scheme.

Whilst the committees have now ended, we will seek opportunity to engage with stakeholders as we move forward with policy development, recognising the value of their input and expertise.

The findings from the consultation and Collaboration Committees will inform the chosen future direction of Access to Work. Once this is established we will set out our plans working closely with stakeholders to ensure an appropriate transition.

On 11th July 2025, we announced a WorkWell Primary Care Innovation Fund, which offered a portion of £1.5 million of single year funding to each of the fifteen WorkWell pilot sites to test innovative approaches to the fit note within primary care.

The funding is supporting local areas to boost capacity in primary care to provide better work and health support via the fit note process, with the longer term aims of reducing pressure on GPs and improving patients’ work and health outcomes.

Each of the 15 WorkWell Integrated Care Boards has received up to £100,000, with interventions running from October 2025 to March 2026. The locations of the sites are:

Birmingham and Solihull,

Black Country,

Bristol North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG),

Cambridgeshire,

Cornwall and Isles of Scilly,

Coventry,

Frimley,

Greater Manchester,

Herefordshire,

Lancashire and South Cumbria,

Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (LLR),

North Central London,

North West London,

South Yorkshire, and

Surrey Heartlands.

One of the key aims of the funding is to build the evidence base for how the fit note process within primary care can be improved, and findings will inform future policy development. Most sites are using the funding to test new or additional roles within Primary Care Networks, including social prescribers, work and health coaches, or physiotherapists, to either issue the fit note instead of the GP or provide wraparound work and health support to the fit note recipient.

However, we know that we need to go further. The Keep Britain Working Review was clear that the fit note is ‘not working as intended’ and recommended that we test alternative approaches to the fit note, working with GPs and health services to explore improvements and replacements. We are currently considering how to respond to the Review’s recommendations on the fit note, and we will bring forward more information in due course.

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.

No decision has yet been taken on 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.

The Independent Review for Mental Health Conditions, ADHD, and Autism, and the Young People and Work Report led by Alan Milburn are complementary. The chairs and the secretariats are in regular discussion to ensure cooperation.

The review will appoint an Advisory Working Group which involves a multidisciplinary group of leading academics, clinicians, epidemiological experts, charities, and people with lived experience to directly shape the recommendations and scrutinise the evidence.

As the review is independent of the Government, it is for the chairs to determine what information regarding the review is made public.

The Department publishes this information online, on the GOV.UK website.

The table below shows the headcount and full-time equivalent (FTE) headcount of staff employed by the Department and each of its arm’s length bodies, as of July 2024 and November 2025, the most recent figures available.

The Government’s intention is that the increased cost-effectiveness threshold will apply to any technology, including medicines and medical technologies, evaluated through the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) technology appraisals programme.

We are monitoring the Marburg virus outbreak in southern Ethiopia very closely. Close engagement is underway with the Ethiopian Ministry of Health, the Ethiopian Public Health Institute, and international partners to assess the situation and identify where partnership with Ethiopian authorities would be most effective.

The Ministry of Health in Ethiopia confirmed an outbreak of Marburg virus in Jinka, southwestern Ethiopia on 14 November. On 19 November, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) updated its travel advice to advise against all but essential travel to Jinka and an area within 5km of the town. Those travelling to Ethiopia should monitor FCDO travel advice and follow guidance from local authorities. The UK Health Security Agency has carried out a rapid assessment of the risk to the UK public, assessing the overall risk as "very low". We continue to monitor the situation closely.

At the Budget last year, the Chancellor announced that the Chief Secretary to the Treasury will lead a review of value for money across government spending. The recommendations from this review will then be considered at the next Spending Review.

A further announcement was made on the 19th January, outlining the four key areas of focus and how a review into each will work. This includes drawing on expertise from across the public and private sector.

The Budget confirmed that the Chief Secretary to the Treasury will lead a review of value for money across government spending. This work will build evidence and outline potential solutions for consideration at the next spending review.

The government is currently considering what further information it would be appropriate to publish and will provide an update in due course.

A Strategic Asset Review led by the Treasury, working closely with government departments, will be conducted ahead of the next spending review. As set out at Budget, it will cover opportunities to monetise assets and address barriers to disposal and commercialisation.