Asked by: Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 5 January (HL13131), when they expect to be in a position to share more information on the planned review of childcare provision.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Childcare Review is currently in the early stages of cross government discussions to consider how the early education and childcare alongside family support works for families and children. We will also be working with stakeholders throughout the year to gather insights and build our evidence base. We aim to conclude the Review later this year.
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 13 January (HL13304), what plans there are for co-operation between the Independent Review for Mental Health Conditions, ADHD and Autism and the Young People and Work Report led by Alan Milburn.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
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.
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: 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, what plans they have to make changes to Civil Services human resources processes to reform performance management.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
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.
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 19 January (HL13271), when they expect to publish the Civil Service strategic workforce plan; and whether they will detail its objectives.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
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.
Asked by: Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Lloyd of Effra on 22 January (HL13638), what assessment they have made of the cumulative impact of legislation passed since July 2024 on the administrative burden of regulation on business.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
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’ (21st 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.
Asked by: Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Lloyd of Effra on 22 January (HL13638), what assessment they have made of their progress in cutting the administrative burden of regulation on business.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
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.
Asked by: Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Livermore on 5 January (HL13130), whether the expert reviews into public service inefficiencies, announced on 19 January, represent the review of value for money across government spending announced in the Budget.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
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.
Asked by: Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reasons why the number of child recipients of the Disability Living Allowance is increasing.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
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.
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 26 January (HL12852), whether they intend to apply the increased cost-effectiveness threshold to technology evaluated through the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s HealthTech guidance evaluation programme, or only to technology evaluated through the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence technology appraisals programme.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
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.