First elected: 4th July 2024
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
These initiatives were driven by Lisa Smart, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Lisa Smart has not been granted any Adjournment Debates
A Bill to require the Secretary of State to report to Parliament on the merits of extending eligibility for statutory adoption pay to persons who are self-employed or contractors; and for connected purposes.
Lisa Smart has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
The previous Government formally responded to the report and its recommendations on 10 May 2024 (HC 774, published on 23 May 2024).
This Government continues to promote the PHSO complaint standards and support NHS England and NHS Resolution to further encourage the use of dispute resolution methods, including mediation, by the NHS.
The Government will consider the case for ombudsman reform alongside other policy and legislative priorities.
While the government continues to monitor the impact of flexible working, it has made no assessment of the four-day week specifically. Additionally, the government has no plans to mandate a four-day week, however, through the Employment Rights Bill we are giving employees better access to flexible working arrangements, where reasonably feasible. Not all businesses will be able to offer all forms of flexible working, and not all arrangements will suit all employees equally. We want to create a framework that encourages employers and employees to explore options for flexible working arrangements that suit both parties.
The government has committed to review the parental leave system to ensure it best supports working families. Planning work is underway across government. Details of the timeline of the review will be shared in due course.
The government has committed to review the parental leave system to ensure it best supports working families. Planning work is underway across government. Details of the timeline of the review will be shared in due course.
The government has committed to review the parental leave system to ensure it best supports working families. Planning work is underway across government. Details of the timeline of the review will be shared in due course.
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 introduced new measures to help combat ‘phoenixing’ - when a director dissolves a company to avoid debts or other responsibilities, to then set up another similar company. The accompanying impact assessment provides the government’s assessment of the evidence relating to this practice. Alongside this, the Employment Rights Bill is delivering the biggest upgrade to workers rights and protections in a generation, including strengthening collective redundancy rights and ending unscrupulous practices of fire and rehire.
Company and insolvency law already provides relevant authorities with the ability to investigate the conduct of directors of liquidated companies and to act upon misconduct. Imposing prescriptive prohibitions risks penalising the innocent and we have no plans to introduce such measures. However, following the passage of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 we are taking additional steps to strengthen investigation and enforcement capabilities in this area and Companies House has been using new powers under the Act to assess company incorporations more stringently. Later this year we will introduce compulsory identity verification for directors, further improving transparency.
The consultation on ‘Building the North Sea’s energy future’ sets out the Government’s plans for accelerating investment in net zero, creating high-quality jobs for oil and gas workers. It seeks views on how to best support workers and communities through the transition and closes 30 April.
The Government has worked with industry and unions to launch the 'Energy Skills Passport’ for oil and gas workers transitioning to offshore wind roles and announced that Great British Energy will be headquartered in Aberdeen, to reflect the commitment that communities which powered our country’s energy past will power its clean energy future.
Details of Ministers' and Permanent Secretaries' meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.
Details of Ministers' and Permanent Secretaries' meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.
The Government takes the issue of accurate billing very seriously. All suppliers must take the required steps to reflect accurate meter readings in bills or statements sent to customers. This is laid out in Ofgem licence conditions.
All energy suppliers must follow Ofgem’s enforceable overarching principles of the Standard Licence Conditions 0 and 0A. These are a set of broad and enforceable ‘standards of conduct’ principles that set fundamental expectations on how suppliers must ensure fair treatment of each customer. These principles guide supplier behaviour, information provision, and customer service processes. For domestic consumers, the Standards also dictate how suppliers identify and respond to consumers in vulnerable situations.
While this is a commercial matter between suppliers and credit reference agencies, the Government takes the issue of accurate billing very seriously.
All suppliers must take the required steps to reflect accurate meter readings in bills or statements sent to customers where these have been provided by a customer or obtained by the supplier. This is also laid out in the Ofgem’s licence conditions.
All energy suppliers must follow Ofgem’s enforceable overarching principles of the Standard Licence Conditions 0 and 0A. These are a set of broad and enforceable ‘standards of conduct’ principles that set fundamental expectations on how suppliers must ensure fair treatment of each customer. These principles guide supplier behaviour, information provision, and customer service processes.
Digital inclusion is a priority for the Government and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is committed to extending the life of its equipment and devices, to reduce our environmental impact and provide more people with access to devices. Device donation is one of the issues we shall be looking at as we develop our approach on digital inclusion.
DCMS Ministers received advice on changes to the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme including careful consideration of the impacts of the changes.
The Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme gives grants covering VAT costs only on repairs of over £1,000 to listed buildings used as places of worship.
Guidance has now been published on changes to the Scheme from 1 April 2025.
Listed places of worship with ongoing projects should ensure that all claims for work already carried out are submitted before or at 23:59 on 31 March 2025. They can submit invoices after this, but the £25,000 cap applies to all claims submitted from 00:00 on 1 April 2025 regardless of when the work was carried out.
DCMS Ministers received advice on changes to the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, including consideration of the potential impacts of various options to scale the scheme.
We believe that the changes announced will continue the widest distribution of the scheme’s benefits within the available means. Based on previous scheme data, we expect 94% of claims to be unaffected by this change.
The Department monitors the implementation and impact of the grant scheme through the regular reporting of the grant administrator. Since 2010, the grant scheme has returned over £350 million to listed places of worship. We are aware of the importance of the scheme to local projects and listed places of worship across the UK.
Departmental settlements have been set following the Budget announcement on October 30. We will announce the outcomes of the Business Planning process, including for the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme soon.
High and rising school standards, with excellent foundations in reading, writing and mathematics, are at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity.
The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, covering ages 5 to 18, chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE. This is reviewing the existing national curriculum and qualification pathways, including GCSEs, to ensure they are fit for purpose and prepare young people for life and work.
The review group has now published a well-evidenced, clear interim report, which sets out its interim findings and confirms the key areas for further work. This highlights the successes of the current system, making clear that the most trusted and valued aspects of our system will remain, whilst setting a positive vision for the future. This report can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/curriculum-and-assessment-review-interim-report.
The Review is committed to ensuring a high quality, knowledge-rich curriculum that drives excellence in education across a broad range of subjects and pathways. The next phase of work will consider whether there is sufficient coverage of knowledge and skills in the current curriculum and associated qualifications that are essential to sufficiently prepare children and young people for future life and to thrive in a fast-changing world.
The government will consider any changes it wishes to make to the curriculum, assessment and qualifications whilst the Review is conducted, and will respond to the final recommendations in autumn.
It is vital that students with special educational needs and disabilities can access exams and assessments without disadvantage. The Equality Act 2010 requires exam boards to make reasonable adjustments where a student with disabilities would be at a substantial disadvantage in undertaking an exam or an assessment.
Ofqual, who are the independent regulator of qualifications, exams and assessments in England, require exam boards to publish their arrangements for making adjustments, including how a student qualifies for an adjustment, and what adjustments might be made.
The Joint Council for Qualifications sets out the guidance on access arrangements and reasonable adjustments on behalf of the exam boards. This guidance is updated for each academic year.
Supporting care leavers to make a successful transition from care to independence is a priority for this government.
Housing and concerns about accommodation rank as one of the highest worries for care leavers, and for professionals trying to support them.
The department is introducing, through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, a new duty for local authorities to consider whether former relevant children, up to age 25, require support to find and keep suitable accommodation, and support to access services relating to health and wellbeing, relationships, education and training, employment and participating in society. If support is required, the local authority should then provide this in the form of a ‘staying close’ arrangement.
The Bill also introduces an additional requirement on local authorities to publish the arrangements they have in place for the purpose of supporting and assisting care leavers in their transition to adulthood. This information in the local authority’s local offer will aid care leavers to look at all the options open to them and help them make informed decisions when deciding upon accommodation and other support they might wish to access.
The Bill also includes a measure to ensure that where a council is their corporate parent, no care leaver can be found to have become homeless intentionally.
All care leavers are entitled to support from a Personal Adviser (PA) until they are 25. PAs help care leavers to access services like housing, health and benefits, as well as providing practical and emotional support for independent living. PAs also work with care leavers to create a mandatory pathway plan outlining the support provided by the local authority.
The ‘Fostering Services: National Minimum Standards’ set out the expectations that are placed on foster carers and their agencies at standard 28. The department is clear that no one should be financially disadvantaged because of their fostering role, and we expect all foster carers to receive at least the national minimum allowance (NMA) plus any agreed expenses to cover the cost of caring for each child placed with them. The standards are available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/192705/NMS_Fostering_Services.pdf.
The NMA was introduced by the Labour government in 2007 and has kept pace with inflation over time. The current levels of the NMA are available at: https://www.gov.uk/support-for-foster-parents/help-with-the-cost-of-fostering. The NMA is being uplifted by 3.55% in the 2025/26 financial year. Combined with increases to qualifying care relief, which provides tax relief and is uplifted with inflation every year, this provides additional support for foster carers and the children in their care. There are currently no plans to review the way the NMA is calculated.
The NMA was developed by calculating the cost of caring for a birth child and accounting for the additional cost of caring for a foster child. The criteria for calculating fees and allowances should be applied equally to all foster carers, whether the foster carer is related or unrelated to the child, or the placement is short or long term.
The department knows that many fostering service providers offer incentive schemes as rewards for their foster carers and we encourage the use of these. Discount schemes, free or discounted leisure centre passes, IT grant schemes and council tax exemptions are common examples.
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education is keen to ensure that the department meets with stakeholders from across the fostering sector, so that a variety of voices are heard. Departmental officials meet with foster carers and young people who have experienced the fostering system, as well as fostering charities, unions and those who represent and oversee fostering services.
The department also runs a fostering advisory board, which brings together strategic leaders and people with lived experience of fostering to advise on government policy. This is just one of the ways that the department interacts with fostering stakeholders when considering policy. Departmental officials also meet bilaterally with several fostering organisations and have recently hosted a roundtable meeting which had representation from a wide range of stakeholders.
Finally, the department also ensures that the voices of children and young people are heard when formalising policy. This includes our Children and Young People Advisory Board, which aims to give children and young people a say in the services that directly affect them. This provides an opportunity for them to feed into policy development and create a feedback loop to show them where their views are being incorporated. The Board is run by the National Children’s Bureau on behalf of the department, with membership for those aged 11 to 25.
The department will shortly be finalising business planning decisions on how we will allocate our budget for the next financial year. All decisions regarding the future of the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) are being considered as part of these discussions. An announcement will be made as soon as possible. The department will, of course, always consider the impact of decisions on vulnerable children.
ASGSF applications are generally permitted to extend up to 12 months, allowing children and families to receive continuing therapy across financial years. Where applications are agreed, therapy which starts before March 2025 may therefore continue into the next financial year, under previously agreed transitional funding arrangements.
The department will shortly be finalising business planning decisions on how we will allocate our budget for the next financial year. All decisions regarding the future of the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) are being considered as part of these discussions. An announcement will be made as soon as possible. The department will, of course, always consider the impact of decisions on vulnerable children.
ASGSF applications are generally permitted to extend up to 12 months, allowing children and families to receive continuing therapy across financial years. Where applications are agreed, therapy which starts before March 2025 may therefore continue into the next financial year, under previously agreed transitional funding arrangements.
The department will shortly be finalising business planning decisions on how we will allocate our budget for the next financial year. All decisions regarding the future of the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) are being considered as part of these discussions. An announcement will be made as soon as possible. The department will, of course, always consider the impact of decisions on vulnerable children.
ASGSF applications are generally permitted to extend up to 12 months, allowing children and families to receive continuing therapy across financial years. Where applications are agreed, therapy which starts before March 2025 may therefore continue into the next financial year, under previously agreed transitional funding arrangements.
Local authorities and early years providers, including early years childminders, have duties via the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) code of practice, the Equality Act 2010, and the early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework to promote equality and inclusion for children with SEND, removing the barriers that prevent children from accessing early education.
In addition, local authorities are required by legislation to provide sufficient childcare places for children in their area for children aged 0 to 14 or up to 18 for children with SEND. The local authority statutory guidance on early education and childcare sets out a clear requirement that local authorities must report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare, including for children with SEND, and make this report available and accessible to parents.
The National Wraparound Childcare Programme is helping local authorities discharge this duty with regard to after school clubs, by distributing funding on the basis of anticipated need. Local authorities across England can decide how best to use the funding to set up or expand wraparound childcare in their area to meet the needs of their local community, including children with SEND. Local authorities have been working in partnership with primary schools and private, voluntary and independent providers, including childminders. Since the programme began, the government has set clear expectations that all wraparound childcare delivered through the programme should be inclusive and accessible.
The holiday activities and food (HAF) programme funding is primarily for school aged children from reception to year 11 (inclusive) who receive benefits-related free school meals (FSM). Local authorities have discretion to use up to 15% of their funding to provide free or subsidised holiday club places for children, who are not in receipt of benefits-related FSM, but who the local authority believe could benefit from HAF provision. The department encourages local authorities to engage with local and national organisations, including special schools with expertise in working with children with SEND or additional needs. Local authorities are obligated to include the numbers of children with SEND or additional needs who have participated in their programme in their post provision reporting to us.
Financial education is currently taught through the national curriculum for mathematics at key stages 1 to 4 and citizenship at key stages 3 and 4, which together cover personal budgeting, saving for the future, managing credit and debt and calculating interest.
High and rising school standards are at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every child the best start in life. That is why the government announced a Curriculum and Assessment Review on 19 July 2024, which is being chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE.
Following the independent review, the government will, through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, legislate to require all state schools to teach the reformed national curriculum. This will give parents certainty over the core of their children’s education.
The review group will publish an interim report early in 2025, setting out their interim findings and confirming the key areas for further work. The final report, with recommendations, will be published in autumn 2025.
The Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) has a statutory role to coordinate the UK Strategy for Financial Wellbeing, which is underpinned by their robust data collection, including the impact of financial education on young people. The department works closely with MaPS to monitor the evidence for financial education. MaPS’s published research can be found here: https://maps.org.uk/en/publications/research.
Financial education is currently taught through the national curriculum for mathematics at key stages 1 to 4 and citizenship at key stages 3 and 4, which together cover personal budgeting, saving for the future, managing credit and debt and calculating interest.
High and rising school standards are at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every child the best start in life. That is why the government announced a Curriculum and Assessment Review on 19 July 2024, which is being chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE.
Following the independent review, the government will, through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, legislate to require all state schools to teach the reformed national curriculum. This will give parents certainty over the core of their children’s education.
The review group will publish an interim report early in 2025, setting out their interim findings and confirming the key areas for further work. The final report, with recommendations, will be published in autumn 2025.
The Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) has a statutory role to coordinate the UK Strategy for Financial Wellbeing, which is underpinned by their robust data collection, including the impact of financial education on young people. The department works closely with MaPS to monitor the evidence for financial education. MaPS’s published research can be found here: https://maps.org.uk/en/publications/research.
Financial literacy is not an option offered by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation (OECD) in the current (2025) cycle of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) as it has been replaced for this cycle with a foreign-language assessment, so a decision on participation is not imminent.
Departmental officials engage with the devolved governments on a range of areas, including on PISA. We have had initial discussions about the timeline for a decision on participation in future PISA financial literacy assessments and will continue to actively engage with them on this topic as more information is provided by the OECD.
Financial literacy is not an option offered by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation (OECD) in the current (2025) cycle of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) as it has been replaced for this cycle with a foreign-language assessment, so a decision on participation is not imminent.
Departmental officials engage with the devolved governments on a range of areas, including on PISA. We have had initial discussions about the timeline for a decision on participation in future PISA financial literacy assessments and will continue to actively engage with them on this topic as more information is provided by the OECD.
In general, decisions relating to teachers’ professional development rightly rests with schools, headteachers, and teachers themselves, as they are in the best position to judge their own requirements. The government has committed to introducing a Teacher Training Entitlement which would support teachers to access more high quality continuing professional development across a range of topics.
The Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) has a statutory duty to coordinate the UK Strategy for Financial Wellbeing 2020. In 2022, MaPS launched a grant-funded programme totalling £1.1 million to test approaches to supporting teachers and practitioners working with children and young people in vulnerable circumstances and to deliver financial education. The evaluation of this programme can be found here: https://maps.org.uk/en/publications/research/2024/evaluating-grants-improving-financial-education-for-vulnerable-young-people.
The department will work with MaPS to use the findings to promote consistent and evidence-informed practice. MaPS has also published financial education guidance for schools, which can be found here: https://maps.org.uk/en/work-with-us/financial-education-in-schools.
Oak National Academy (Oak) is a non-departmental public body which provides free, optional, and adaptable high quality digital curriculum and lesson resources. Oak has completed its initial curriculum resources in mathematics and will produce additional lessons on financial education and applying mathematics in real life contexts across key stages 1 to 4, which is expected from spring 2025. Lessons on finance and the economy also feature in Oak’s new citizenship curriculum, which was launched earlier this academic year, with lessons to be released by autumn 2025. Oak’s resources are available here: https://www.thenational.academy/.
The department continues to work closely with MaPS, and in partnership with others, to monitor the evidence for financial education and assess school support needs.
The new National Flood Risk Assessment data published on 28 January 2025 uses the best currently available data to provide a single picture of current and future flood risk from rivers, the sea and surface water for England. The Environment Agency has not undertaken an assessment of the impact of land lost through adverse possession on flood resilience – this would need to be undertaken at a local level by the asset owners or interested parties.
HM Land Registry has operational responsibility for considering land registration applications based on adverse possession and publishes guidance about this at GOV.UK here and here.
The Government takes invasive species seriously and has legislated to tackle the spread of invasive plants.
The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 does not impose an explicit obligation for landowners to manage plant species listed under Schedule 9 not introduced onto their land by their own actions. However, they should prevent them from spreading off their land.
It is also an offence to intentionally cultivate, or release plants listed under the Invasive Alien Species (Enforcement and Permitting) Order 2019. This means landowners cannot intentionally plant listed species or intentionally cause existing listed plants to spread. Landowners should treat or dispose of listed plants where possible.
The Government is not currently considering adding additional requirements for landowners, but funding is available for invasive plant species control and management through Defra’s Environmental Land Management (ELM) Countryside Stewardship scheme.
We operate one of the most rigorous and robust pet travel checking regimes in Europe. All dogs, cats and ferrets entering Great Britain non-commercially on approved routes undergo 100% documentary and identity check. We keep resource allocation for these checks under review in close liaison with enforcement agencies.
By its very nature, we cannot know the true extent of puppy smuggling operations. However, the Animal and Plant Health Agency does hold data on the numbers of interceptions and detentions. In 2023, there were over 500 landings of cats and dogs intercepted at the Port of Dover and found to be non-compliant with the import requirements. Of these, 116 puppies and kittens were quarantined for being below the legally required minimum age for import.
The Government is committed to introducing the most ambitious boost in animal welfare in a generation. As outlined in the manifesto, this includes ending puppy smuggling.
As outlined in our manifesto, the Government is committed to ending puppy smuggling. We will clamp down on unscrupulous traders who prioritise profit over welfare. We are considering the most effective ways to deliver this and will be setting out next steps in due course
It is a legal requirement for the keeper of a vehicle to notify the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) of any changes to details on the vehicle record including a change of address or when someone has bought or sold a vehicle. This can be done by sending a notification by post or the online channel at GOV.UK. The DVLA aims to issue a revised registration certificate within four weeks.
The DVLA is not responsible for the issue of a penalty charge notice. These are generally issued by local authorities or Transport for London in relation to parking offences or congestion charging, for example. The DVLA is responsible for issuing Late Licensing Penalty or Out of Court Settlements to the keeper of untaxed vehicles or Fixed Penalty Notices to the keeper of an uninsured vehicle. Any penalty issued by the DVLA will be sent to the keeper held on record at the time of the offence.
The Government continues to review how works are planned, managed and communicated and how this can be improved. The Government announced in December that we will be clamping down on disruptive works by doubling fixed penalty notices for utility companies who fail to comply with rules and extending charges for works that overrun into weekends.
The Government has no plans to consider amending the Road Traffic Act 1988 in the way suggested.
THINK!, the Government’s flagship road safety campaign, aims to reduce those killed and seriously injured on the roads in England and Wales by driving awareness of key road safety issues and encouraging attitude and behaviour change among high-risk road users.
We encourage the use of bright or reflective clothing for pedestrians and cyclists through our THINK! social channels, including at key moments such as around school term times, when the clocks change and darker mornings and evenings in the winter.
This advice is also shared via THINK! education resources, which are used widely by schools and other teaching intermediaries to support road safety education for children, and the THINK! campaign works closely with road safety charities and partners to share road safety advice and resources.
The primary audience for THINK! paid campaign activity is young men aged 17-24, who are four times more likely to be killed or seriously injured on the road than drivers aged 25 and over. To maximise the impact of our paid campaigns, these focus on the road safety issues which contribute to the highest numbers of deaths and serious injuries on our roads, such as speeding and drink driving.
It is not possible to block book car practical driving tests. A driving licence number can only be assigned to one car practical driving test at a time. A survey by The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) suggests that only 10% of learner drivers use third parties to book their tests. Most either book appointments themselves or through their approved driving instructor (ADI).
To ensure fairness for everyone wanting to book a practical driving test, DVSA continues to work to combat the unscrupulous practice of reselling tests. Such apps or bots are not approved by DVSA. They make it harder for candidates to get a test and can also result in people paying more for a test. DVSA will continue to take steps to block cancellation services from accessing the booking system, which are having a positive impact.
DVSA operates an online booking service (OBS) for instructors and trainers so that they can book and manage driving and riding tests for their pupils. DVSA has made changes to the OBS by stopping automatic online registrations to use the service, ensuring each company that registers employs an ADI and removing access for any companies not linked to driving instructors.
In January 2023, DVSA changed the terms and conditions for using the booking service to help prevent anyone from selling tests at profit. Since then, DVSA has issued 283 warnings, 746 suspensions, and closed 689 businesses for misuse of its booking service.
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. The DWP & DHSC are committed to supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, including visually impaired people, with their employment journey.
Disabled people and people with health conditions 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 and WorkWell.
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. As announced in the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, we are investing £1 billion a year by the end of the decade in new employment, health and skills support – one of the biggest packages of new employment support for people with health conditions and disabled people ever - including new tailored support conversations for people on health and disability benefits, and more intensive programmes of support with health and work to break down barriers and unlock work. In addition, consulting on the future of the Access to Work scheme so that it better helps people to start and stay in work through reasonable adjustments, such as aids, appliances and making use of assistive technology
It is also recognised that employers play an important role in addressing health and disability. To build on this, the Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions and Business and Trade have launched the Keep Britain Working Review. This review will consider how to support and enable employers to recruit and retain more people with health conditions and disabilities; promote healthy workplaces and support more people to stay in or return to work from periods of sickness absence. After conducting an initial discovery into the underlying issues, Sir Charlie Mayfield has published his early findings on 20 March which sets out the key areas that he would like to explore in the next phase of the review. This publication is a call to all stakeholders to engage with the early review findings and input views, including via a survey also launched on GOV.UK. The review is expected to produce a report to Government in autumn 2025.
Additionally, the Joint Work and Health Directorate has developed a digital information service for employers, continues to oversee the Disability Confident Scheme, and continues to increase access to Occupational Health.
Before 6 April 2016, people were able to contract-out of the Additional State Pension. For the years they were contracted-out, they would be entitled to the basic State Pension only. When assessing State Pension eligibility under both the pre-2016 and new State Pension systems, the Department takes into account the impact of past contracting-out.
There are no such plans to review this approach which is in accordance with legislation.
Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course. An important consideration in the case for abolishing the Work Capability Assessment is the inappropriateness of its binary distinction between “capable of work” and “not capable of work” for people with fluctuating health conditions.
A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
We are investing almost £26 billion of extra funding for the Health and Social Care System so people can get the treatment they need to get back to work instead of being stuck on waiting lists, delivering over 2 million extra appointments 7 months ahead of schedule.
Baroness Louise Casey, a cross-bench peer, has been commissioned to develop options for immediate action to improve adult social care in England before charting a course for longer term reform as announced in January. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will support this review – and work closely with the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) – as we take forward the proposals in this Green Paper.
In the short term, up to £3.7 billion of additional funding will be made available for social care authorities in 2025/2026, including an £880 million increase in the Social Care Grant. To support unpaid carers to combine caring responsibilities with some paid work, from April 2025 the Carers’ Allowance earnings limit will be pegged to 16 hours work at National Living Wage (NLW) levels (rounded to the highest pound), and in future it will increase when the NLW increases. This is an increase from £151 to £196 a week. DHSC are also commissioning research on the link between the adult social care system and PIP.
The Government is committed to a sustainable long-term approach to tackling poverty and supporting people on lower incomes, and in support of this the Chancellor announced at the Autumn Budget, the Fair Repayment Rate (FRR), this measure is a permanent change and will reduce the Universal Credit (UC) overall deductions cap from 25% to 15% of a customer’s UC standard allowance from April 2025. This measure will help approximately 1.2 million UC households with deductions retain more of their UC award, on average £420 a year or £35 per month. In addition to the FRR measure a second measure was to move child maintenance deduction higher up the regulated priority order from April 2025.