Jo Platt

We are committed to delivering better life chances for all - breaking the link between background and success. At the Budget, the Chancellor announced increases to both the National Minimum Wage (16.3% for those aged 18-20) and the National Living Wage (6.7% for those 21 and over), as well as a £240 million Get Britain Working package to improve support for people who are economically inactive, unemployed or want to develop their careers. Through our Mission-driven Government, we will build the skills people need for opportunity and growth.

This Government will also, at last, commence the socio-economic duty in section 1 of the Equality Act 2010. The duty will require public bodies, when making strategic decisions, to actively consider how their decisions might help to reduce the inequalities associated with socio-economic disadvantage. We will be updating Parliament on this in due course.

We are committed to delivering better life chances for all - breaking the link between background and success. At the Budget, the Chancellor announced increases to both the National Minimum Wage (16.3% for those aged 18-20) and the National Living Wage (6.7% for those 21 and over), as well as a £240 million Get Britain Working package to improve support for people who are economically inactive, unemployed or want to develop their careers. Through our Mission-driven Government, we will build the skills people need for opportunity and growth.

This Government will also, at last, commence the socio-economic duty in section 1 of the Equality Act 2010. The duty will require public bodies, when making strategic decisions, to actively consider how their decisions might help to reduce the inequalities associated with socio-economic disadvantage. We will be updating Parliament on this in due course.

The Spending Review will set resource or day-to-day departmental budgets until 2028-29 and capital departmental budgets until 2029-30. I and my Cabinet Office officials engage regularly with HM Treasury to support the Spending Review, the outcomes of which will inform the delivery of the Resilience Review. The resilience review is considering established practices and policies to support UK resilience against the full spectrum of risks we face. It is evidence based and is identifying what should be kept, changed or improved to ensure we are best prepared now and into the future.

The Cabinet Office recognises the valuable role that the voluntary and community sector can play in all aspects of resilience. The Cabinet Office has ensured that contributions from a range of Voluntary, Community, and Faith sector representatives have been able to inform the resilience review, specifically to inform the understanding of disproportionate impacts to at-risk groups in emergencies. The Cabinet Office has ongoing engagement with the sector. The Head of Resilience in the Cabinet Office chairs the Voluntary and Community Sector Strategic Discussion Forum every six months. The Forum brings together senior leaders from national voluntary sector organisations and central government. We will continue to explore opportunities to further strengthen voluntary, community and faith sector engagement to build national resilience as part of the resilience review.

Disproportionate impacts and vulnerability is a key focus of the Cabinet Office-led review of our approach to resilience. We are engaging with charitable, faith and other representative organisations to understand how the reduction and prevention of disproportionate impacts to at-risk groups and persons can be better considered in resilience planning and policy.

The Consultation on the implementation of the new subscriptions contract regime closed on 10 February 2025. We are analysing the responses, including submissions from the film and television sectors. Officials have also met with relevant trade associations and individual businesses in those sectors to hear their views.

The impact assessment for subscriptions chapter in the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Act can be found here: Subscription traps: annex 2 impact assessment. Together the subscription measures are anticipated to provide £400m of consumer benefits per year and the estimated net cost to businesses is £171m per year.

The Consultation on the implementation of the new subscriptions contract regime closed on 10 February 2025. We are analysing the responses, including submissions from the film and television sectors. Officials have also met with relevant trade associations and individual businesses in those sectors to hear their views.

The impact assessment for subscriptions chapter in the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Act can be found here: Subscription traps: annex 2 impact assessment. Together the subscription measures are anticipated to provide £400m of consumer benefits per year and the estimated net cost to businesses is £171m per year.

We are committed to delivering better life chances for all - breaking the link between background and success.

The National Minimum Wage has been one of the most successful economic policy interventions over the last quarter of a century. In 2024, the percentage of employees in low-hourly paid jobs was 3.4% - a record low, and compared to 21.9% in 1999, when the National Minimum Wage was introduced.

In April 2025, over 3 million workers are expected to receive a pay rise due to the increase to the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage.

On 1 January the pro-competition regime for digital markets entered into force. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will operate the regime, as the UK’s principal independent competition regulator.

The Government has designed and implemented the regime, which provides the CMA with powers to make effective interventions. These include powers to investigate and to impose remedies that are specifically designed for the markets and firms involved, as well as requirements to carry out in-depth investigations and consult relevant stakeholders before intervening. This tailored, participative and evidence-based approach will ensure that interventions are proportionate and effective.

The Government published a consultation on Copyright and AI in December 2024.

This consultation sought views on creating an effective rights reservation system. This would provide rights holders across the UK, including those in Leigh and Atherton, with the ability to prevent AI developers from using their copyright works in AI training, and/or negotiate licences for their use.

The consultation closed on 25 February. The Government’s priority now is to review all responses to the consultation, gathering the evidence to inform its next steps. The Government will continue to engage extensively before setting out proposals in due course.

The Government’s consultation on Copyright and AI closed on 25th February.

It sought views from both AI developers and rights holders on creating an effective rights reservation system. We will not move forward with any option until we are confident that it will be effective, proportionate, and accessible to both individual creators and larger rights holders.

The Government’s priority now is to review all responses to the consultation, gathering the evidence to inform its next steps. The Government will continue to engage extensively before setting out proposals in due course.

The Government is committed to supporting the use of alternative methods to the use of animals in science and the Labour Manifesto includes a commitment to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”, which is a long-term goal. The government will publish a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods later this year. The government has been and will continue to consult civil society as this process unfolds.

The Labour Manifesto includes a commitment to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”, which is a long-term goal. The government has been consulting civil society as this process unfolds. This includes attending meetings with animal protection organisations and considering documentation sent by such organisations to the Government.

The Government published a consultation on Copyright and AI in December 2024.

This consultation is seeking views on how to promote growth and investment in both the creative industries and AI sector - both of which are essential parts of the Government’s Industrial Strategy.

This will help the Government develop an approach which will accelerate growth in the UK for both sectors.

The consultation closes on 25 February.

The government recognises the importance of cinemas as part of the UK’s film industry and as community assets, and we continue to work closely with the British Film Institute (BFI) and the cinema sector. The Government’s tax incentives, including the new Independent Film Tax Credit, are bolstering the slate of films available to be shown in British cinemas.

The BFI’s Film Audience Network (BFI FAN) is a collaboration of 8 film hubs, managed by leading film organisations and venues around the UK which provides support to cinemas on a local level. Film hubs are centres of expertise and support that connect cinemas, festivals and creative practitioners. Further information on BFI FAN can be found at: https://www.bfi.org.uk/get-funding-support/bring-film-wider-uk-audience.

The Government is dedicated to making sport in this country accessible and inclusive for everyone, including d/Deaf people.

Our arm's length body, Sport England, has committed £1.2 million between 2022 and 2027 to support deaf sport at the grassroots level, build wider participation, and develop strong governance within UK Deaf Sport. Sport England are also exploring a series of small-scale talent pilots for d/Deaf athletes. These pilots will see Sport England, National Governing Bodies, and UK Deaf Sport working together to explore these issues and suggest potential solutions.

We also recognise the importance of ensuring access to leisure and swimming facilities. Sport England provides support for community facilities, including £250 million National Lottery and Exchequer funding each year. Sport England provides long term investment to Swim England, the National Governing Body for swimming in England, which receives up to £10.5 million for five years to invest in community swimming initiatives that will benefit everyone.

We have been working across Government as the Local Media Strategy develops and are also engaging with key external stakeholders, from industry, academia, civil society and local government. Officials have already met with the Public Interest News Foundation, founders of the Local News Commission, as part of that engagement. Our work is also being informed by the range of studies conducted into the state of local journalism in the UK in recent years. With this in mind, we look forward to publication of the Local News Commission’s report and any new insights or recommendations that the Commission is able to offer.

The department is committed to improving support for all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including those with dyslexia and other neurodiverse conditions. The government is focusing on improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools and is working with families and education and care experts to deliver this in the best interests of all children and to restore parents’ trust

The teachers’ standards set clear expectations that teachers must understand the needs of all pupils, including those with dyslexia and other neurodiverse conditions. All initial teacher training (ITT) providers must ensure that their courses enable trainee teachers to meet the teachers’ standards, to be recommended for the award of qualified teacher status

The ITT core content framework (CCF) and early career framework (ECF), set out the core body of knowledge, skills and behaviours that define great teaching and cover the first three years or more at the start of a teacher’s career. They will be superseded by the combined initial teacher training and early career framework (ITTECF) from September 2025.

The department’s review of content for the ITTECF paid particular attention to the needs of trainees and early career teachers (ECTs) when supporting pupils with SEND. There is now significantly more content related to adaptive teaching and supporting pupils with SEND, some of which has been adapted from the new National Professional Qualification for special educational needs co-ordinators to be relevant for trainees and ECTs.

The ITTECF deliberately does not detail approaches specific to particular additional needs but sets out what makes the most effective teaching for all pupils, including those with SEND. When reviewing the CCF and the ECF in 2023, the department tested this approach with SEND educational experts from the ITT sector and beyond, with consensus that the needs of most children can be met through high-quality teaching.

The department recognises that continuous improvement is essential and have recently committed to a full review of the Early Career Teacher Entitlement in 2027 to ensure it continues to provide the best possible support for ECTs. This review will focus on the support we provide new teachers in teaching pupils with SEND.

Beyond the ITTECF, decisions relating to teachers’ professional development rest with schools, headteachers and teachers themselves, as they are in the best position to judge their own requirements. The ‘School teacher pay and conditions’ document, which applies to maintained schools, confirms that all teachers should have access to advice, training and developmental opportunities appropriate to their needs.

The focus of Ofsted inspections is on schools and how all the individuals within them work together to make sure that children receive the highest possible quality of education. The focus is not on inspecting the specific individuals that work in schools. Ofsted therefore does not require schools to provide any evidence of teachers’ professional development. However, as part of their leadership and management judgement, inspectors will consider whether continuing professional development for teachers and staff is aligned with the curriculum.

High quality teaching is the most important in-school factor for improving outcomes for all children, particularly those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or from disadvantaged backgrounds, and we are committed to ensuring that all pupils receive excellent support from their teachers. The teachers’ standards set clear expectations that teachers must understand the needs of all pupils, including those with SEND. All initial teacher training (ITT) providers must ensure that their courses enable trainee teachers to meet the teachers’ standards, to be recommended for the award of qualified teacher status. Early career teachers (ECTs) are also assessed against the teachers’ standards in order to pass their statutory teacher induction.

The ITT core content framework and early career framework, for trainee and ECTs respectively, cover the first three years or more at the start of a teacher’s career. They set out the core body of knowledge, skills and behaviours that define great teaching. From September 2025, they will be superseded by the combined initial teacher training and early career framework (ITTECF), which sets out a minimum entitlement to training and must be used by providers of ITT and those delivering provider-led early career training to create their curricula.

The department’s review of content for the ITTECF paid particular attention to the needs of trainees and ECTs when supporting pupils with SEND. There is now significantly more content related to adaptive teaching and supporting pupils with SEND, some of which has been adapted from the new National Professional Qualification for special educational needs co-ordinators to be relevant for trainees and ECTs. We have edited existing statements to improve inclusivity for SEND throughout the framework including, for example, developing an understanding of different pupil needs, and learning how to provide opportunities for success for all pupils. From September 2025, the department has also enhanced the requirement on providers of ECT training to develop SEND training materials. The department tested this approach with SEND educational experts with consensus that the approach of ‘quality-first teaching’ would be the best way to improve outcomes for all children, particularly those with SEND.

The department recognises that continuous improvement is essential and have recently committed to a full review of the ITTECF and Early Career Teacher Entitlement in 2027 to ensure it continues to provide the best possible support for trainees and ECTs. This review will focus on the support we provide new teachers in teaching pupils with SEND.

The department is committed to delivering free breakfast clubs across England. Schools can work with private, voluntary and independent providers such as existing out-of-school club providers to deliver this commitment.

The department conducted a call for evidence from 18 May to 20 July 2023 on ‘Improving support for children missing education’, to understand the sector’s current approach to identifying and supporting children missing education (CME). The department’s response was published in December 2024 and noted inconsistency in the application of the existing definition. We are cautious about adding further complication or making changes that would confuse clear obligations towards CME and children with SEND. The department therefore has no current plans to expand the definition of CME to include children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) not receiving adequate education.

The department recognises that barriers to attendance are wide and complex, and this is particularly true for pupils with SEND. Addressing these barriers requires a support-first approach and strong relationships between families, schools, local authorities and other relevant local services.

This is why the department has published the ’Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance, which became statutory in August 2024. The guidance promotes a 'support-first' approach and provides detail on additional support for pupils with SEND. Where a pupil is not attending due to unmet or additional needs, this guidance sets out clear expectations on how schools, local authorities and wider services work together to access and provide the right support to improve attendance.

The department is working closely with schools and local authorities to ensure that education settings are able to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND including announcing £1 billion investment in high needs at the Autumn Budget 2024, to help ensure all children can access the high quality education that should be their right.

Information on the primary and secondary need of pupils in school with both an education, health and care (EHC) plan and who have special educational needs (SEN) support is collected via the school census.

The school census is a statutory return and collects information on school characteristics and pupil records three times a year. This includes information on the pupil’s SEN provision, whether they have an EHC plan or SEN support without an EHC plan and also what their primary and secondary need is.

This information is published each year as part of the statistical release ‘Special education needs in England’, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england/2023-24.

Information is also collected from local authorities for all EHC plans maintained by the local authority, including those educated other than at school. SEN2 is also a statutory return and includes information on: requests for assessment for an EHC plan made to each local authority and the outcome of that request, the assessments for an EHC plan made by each local authority, and the outcome of that assessment as well as information on the EHC plans maintained by the authority.

This includes information on the primary and secondary SEN need for each child and young person with an EHC plan. This individual level SEN2 collection was introduced in 2022 and the department is currently developing the publication to include primary needs in 2025.

Delivery of a Chemicals Strategy was a commitment set by the previous Government and is being considered as part of our rapid review of the Environmental Improvement Plan.

The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 prohibits the setting of snares in England where they are likely to catch non-target species such as companion animals. Anyone using snares also has a responsibility under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to ensure that their activities do not cause any unnecessary suffering. Defra is aware however that snares can capture a wide range of non-target species including companion animals such as pet cats and pet dogs. Many instances have been reported by the RSPCA for example.

The Government is to introduce the most ambitious programme for animal welfare in a generation and as outlined in our manifesto, we will bring an end to the use of snare traps. We are considering the most effective way to deliver this commitment and will be setting out next steps in due course.

Transport doesn’t stop at local authority boundaries. It is therefore important that transport is also considered at a regional level to provide context for transport schemes and help improve connectivity between areas.

In England, regional transport strategies have been developed by the seven Sub-national Transport Bodies (STBs) which represent the entirety of England except London, which is covered by separate arrangements. The strategies produced by STBs reflect the collective priorities of their constituent authorities who are represented by local leaders and Mayors.

The devolved governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each publish their own National Transport Strategies.

Partnership working is also further facilitated by the Council of the Nations and Regions and Mayoral Council. These forums provide unparalleled opportunities for Mayors, working hand in glove with other local leaders, to engage government at the highest levels on a systematic basis.

This government is committed to resetting the relationship with local and regional government, empowering local leaders and Mayors to make the right decisions for their communities, and working together to grow an inclusive economy, reform public services and secure better outcomes.

The Government believes there is a strong case to change the system of health and disability benefits across Great Britain so that it better enables people to enter and remain in work and to respond to the complex and fluctuating nature of the health conditions many people live with today. The system must also work to support disabled people and those with health to live independently.

We are therefore working to develop proposals for health and disability reform and will set them out in a Green Paper ahead of the Spring Statement. This will launch a consultation on the proposals, with a conclusion to be set out in a white paper later this year.

This Government is committed to putting the views and voices of disabled people at the heart of all that we do, so we will consult on these proposals, where appropriate, with disabled people and representative organisations.

Ahead of the formal consultation for the Green Paper, we have already started to explore ways of engaging with disabled people and their representatives, including through stakeholder roundtables and public visits. We look forward to progressing these initiatives over the coming months.

Backed by £240m investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched on 26 November will drive forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity and work toward the long-term ambition of an 80% employment rate.

We are committed to reforming the system of health and disability benefits so that it promotes and enables employment among as many people as possible. The system must also support disabled people to live independently. It is also vital to ensure that the system is financially sustainable in the long term. We are working to develop proposals for reform in the months ahead and will set them out in a Green Paper ahead of the Spring Statement later this year.

Appropriate work is generally good for health and wellbeing, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, whoever they are and wherever they live.

Disabled people and people with health conditions, including those with Long Covid and/or ME, 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.

Measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers 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 and Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care.

Employers play a key role in increasing employment opportunities and supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, to thrive as part of the workforce. Our support to employers includes increasing access to Occupational Health, a digital information service for employers and the Disability Confident scheme.

We recognise that neurodivergent people face particular barriers to employment, which is reflected in a poor overall employment rate. In our plan to Make Work Pay, we committed to raising awareness of neurodiversity in the workplace and across wider society.

Our specialist initiatives to support neurodivergent people and other disabled people into work include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants. £12.3 million has also been invested into 23 lead Local Authority areas to provide support to autistic people and people with learning disabilities, under the Local Supported Employment Programme.

Under the Government’s new Get Britain Working Strategy, the forthcoming voluntary, locally led Supported Employment programme ‘Connect to Work’ will support disabled people, those with health conditions and other complex barriers including neurodivergent people, to get into and on in work.

Employers have a key role to play in inclusion for neurodiverse people. Our support to employers includes the online Support with Employee Health and Disability service, to support employers managing health and disability in the workplace. This includes questions of disclosure and equipping employers to feel confident having conversations about health and disability. The Disability Confident scheme also signposts employers to expert resources which support the employment of disabled people.

We have recently launched an independent panel of academics with expertise in neurodiversity to advise ministers and employers on neurodiversity and inclusion at work.

Local Authorities have the discretion to design their own local schemes within the parameters of the guidance and grant determination that the Department for Work and Pensions have set out for the fund. This is because they have the ties and the knowledge to best determine how support should be provided in their local communities. We encourage Local Authorities to consider how they may support a wide range of low-income households in need, including unpaid carers and other financially vulnerable households.

Management information, including details of how the fund has been spent on households with children, pensioners, disabled people, and other vulnerable households, including but not limited to only financially vulnerable households, is available here: Household Support Fund management information - GOV.UK.

The Department for Work and Pensions is currently conducting an evaluation of the Household Support Fund that ran from April 2023 to March 2024, to understand the benefits of the awards made across England during this period. This will be published in due course.

Unpaid carers play a vital role in supporting elderly or disabled relatives or friends. Sometimes unpaid carers will need to turn to the benefit system for financial support, so it is right that we keep Carer’s Allowance under review, to see if it is meeting its objectives, and giving unpaid carers the help and support they need and deserve.

Unpaid carers may be able to receive financial and/or employment support from the department depending on their circumstances. Carer’s Allowance provides a measure of financial support and recognition for people who are not able to work full time due to their caring responsibilities. The rate of Carer’s Allowance is £81.90 a week in 2024/25, and from April 2025 this will increase by 1.7% to £83.30 a week.

In addition to Carer’s Allowance, carers on low incomes can claim income-related benefits, such as Universal Credit and Pension Credit. These benefits can be paid to carers at a higher rate than those without caring responsibilities through the carer element and the additional amount for carers respectively. Currently, the Universal Credit carer element is £198.31 per monthly assessment period. The additional amount for a carer in Pension Credit is £45.60 a week. These additional amounts are worth around £2400 a year.