Asked by: Juliet Campbell (Labour - Broxtowe)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to use AI and automation to (a) improve the delivery of, (b) reduce administrative burdens of and (c) improve the accuracy of assessments for welfare benefits.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are adopting AI in DWP to help colleagues deliver better outcomes for customers and to improve productivity and efficiency, so that colleagues can get more decisions right first time and can support the people who need it most.
The Department uses automated decision-making in some areas, as described in our Personal Information Charter. Customers are told when an automated decision may have been made in relation to their case, along with information on the steps they would need to take if they want to exercise their right to ask for a human to review that decision.
DWP has a legal requirement to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place when carrying out automated decision-making. The Department carries out regular checks to ensure our systems are working as intended, and any new features go through rigorous testing.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what oversight mechanisms were in place within NHS England and his Department to monitor the expenditure and governance of overseas medical training schemes operated by NHS trusts.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are a variety of international postgraduate medical training schemes in operation governed by individual National Health Service trusts, medical royal colleges, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and indirectly, NHS England and the General Medical Council. These programmes must be properly governed, deliver value for money, and treat all participants fairly. We expect all NHS organisations to operate in line with these principles.
The Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill was introduced to Parliament on 13 January 2026. The bill delivers the Government’s commitment in the 10-Year Health Plan for England, published in July 2025, to prioritise United Kingdom medical graduates for foundation training, and to prioritise UK medical graduates, and other doctors who have worked in the NHS for a significant period, for specialty training.
The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients when they need it. As part of that plan, we will outline strategies for improving retention, productivity, training, and reducing attrition, enhancing conditions for all staff while gradually reducing reliance on international recruitment, without diminishing the value of their contributions.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to introduce alternative (a) training and (b) recruitment schemes for overseas doctors, in the context of changes in funding.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are a variety of international postgraduate medical training schemes in operation governed by individual National Health Service trusts, medical royal colleges, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and indirectly, NHS England and the General Medical Council. These programmes must be properly governed, deliver value for money, and treat all participants fairly. We expect all NHS organisations to operate in line with these principles.
The Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill was introduced to Parliament on 13 January 2026. The bill delivers the Government’s commitment in the 10-Year Health Plan for England, published in July 2025, to prioritise United Kingdom medical graduates for foundation training, and to prioritise UK medical graduates, and other doctors who have worked in the NHS for a significant period, for specialty training.
The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients when they need it. As part of that plan, we will outline strategies for improving retention, productivity, training, and reducing attrition, enhancing conditions for all staff while gradually reducing reliance on international recruitment, without diminishing the value of their contributions.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - 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 5 January (HL12579), whether they will review the evaluation framework used to inform advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation to ensure that it systematically captures the wider economic and societal benefits of vaccination, including impacts on productivity, education, and health inequalities.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
When advising the Government on matters relating to vaccination and immunisation, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) considers information on cost-effectiveness alongside evidence of the burden of disease, of vaccine safety and efficacy, and of the impact of immunisation strategies. Broader socio-economic impacts of vaccination may be highlighted by the JCVI or by officials who provide advice to ministers. However, these wider impacts are not formally included with the cost-effectiveness methodology.
A key reason for this is that these wider benefits cannot be quantified consistently across all vaccination programmes, due to the lack of high-quality data on socio-economic benefits currently available. Robust data may be available for very few programmes, but basing decisions on these wider benefits, rather than health benefits, would create disparities whereby vaccination programmes with high-quality data on wider benefits are considered more valuable.
Additionally, by maintaining a formal approach focused on health benefits, we are able to assess vaccines consistently with other health interventions in receipt of health spending, which are similarly focused on health benefits under the guidance of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).
By ensuring vaccine policymaking is informed by comparable and measurable health benefits and rigorous cost-effectiveness analysis, we ensure that public funds are spent responsibly and directed to programmes that deliver health benefits and savings to the health and social care system.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential role chiropractors could play in reducing the numbers of patients on waiting lists for treatment of musculoskeletal conditions.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the Plan for Change, we have committed to return to the National Health Service constitutional standard that 92% of patients, including those waiting for musculoskeletal treatment, wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment by March 2029.
The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, set out the productivity and reform efforts we will undertake to return to the 18-week standard, and to ensure patients have the best possible experience while they wait.
NHS England does not nationally commission chiropractic care as it is a complementary and alternative medicine. Integrated care boards can make independent decisions on which health professionals they employ and may commission a limited amount of such treatment.
There are currently no plans to review the categorisation of chiropractic care as a complementary and alternative medicine. Where musculoskeletal treatment is required, referrals will be made to physiotherapists where appropriate.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to introduce a modern service framework for kidney disease; and what steps he is taking to support early diagnosis and prevention.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As announced in the 10-Year Health Plan, as well as an overall quality strategy, the National Quality Board is overseeing the development of a new series of service frameworks to accelerate progress in conditions where there is potential for rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity.
Early priorities include cardiovascular disease, severe mental illness, and the first ever service framework for frailty and dementia. The Government will consider other long-term conditions with significant health and economic impacts for future waves of modern service frameworks.
NHS England is delivering a comprehensive programme to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes of people with kidney disease. In 2023, NHS England published a renal services transformation toolkit to support earlier identification of chronic kidney disease and strengthen management across the whole patient pathway.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to HCWS1249, what productivity gains and cash-releasing savings are expected from the digital government roadmap by 2030; how those savings will be measured; and how benefits will be shared between central government and local public bodies.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Work undertaken by the Office for Value for Money at SR25 identified total annual efficiency gains of almost £14bn by 2028-29, of which the Government expects digital to contributes a substantial portion of this. The Government Digital Service (GDS) will work with HM Treasury to measure central government departments’ contributions to this by tracking the digital efficiencies they’ve identified in their delivery plans by the end of the spending review period. GDS will also draw on productivity and efficiency information from across the public sector to understand how government is driving wider efficiency.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support digital skills and technology investment to enable productivity improvements from AI.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Secretary of State vowed this week to make Britain the fastest adopting AI country in the G7 and build a workforce that excels in developing, adopting and benefiting from AI.
We have committed £27m for the Government’s TechLocal scheme to connect at least 1,000 skilled people to tech jobs in local communities, create new academic courses integrating practical AI skills, and graduate traineeships and work experience.
Alongside this, thirteen additional private and public sector partners have signed on to join the AI Skills Boost, committing to upskill 10 million workers in AI skills by 2030, with over 1 million AI upskilling courses having been delivered since last summer. We are also expanding Innovate UK’s BridgeAI programme which will provide targeted support to businesses across the Industrial Strategy sectors, including through funding for tech investment.
These initiatives ensure we are facilitating the diffusion of AI across the whole of the UK by addressing the barriers to adoption faced by businesses and workers.
Asked by: Lord Hintze (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implications for the UK economy of people employed in the (1) medical, and (2) financial, sectors migrating out of the UK.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government recognises the importance of international talent to key growth sectors and is therefore sending a clear and confident signal: that we welcome the world’s best minds to help us drive our Industrial Strategy and wider growth mission, and that they will find the environment, support and opportunities they need to thrive here.
The government will publish an NHS 10 Year Workforce Plan in the Spring. This will set out plans to ensure there is a sustainable medical workforce, as well how we will act on retention, productivity, training and attrition with the ambition to reduce international recruitment to less than 10% by 2035.
The government also set out its plans to attract the right talent and develop the right skills for the financial services sector as part of the Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy, published in July 2025 at Mansion House.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to publish national guidance on the proportion of families accessing specialist dementia support within a defined period following diagnosis.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government wants a society where every person with dementia receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life.
We will deliver the first ever Frailty and Dementia Modern Service Framework to deliver rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. This will be informed by phase one of the independent commission into adult social care, which is expected this year.
The Frailty and Dementia Modern Service Framework will seek to reduce unwarranted variation and narrow inequality for those living with dementia and will set national standards for dementia care and redirect National Health Service priorities to provide the best possible care and support.
In developing the Frailty and Dementia Modern Service Framework, we are engaging with a wide group of partners to understand what should be included, to ensure the best outcomes for people living with dementia and their families and carers. As part of this exercise, we are considering all options to help reduce variation, including reviewing metrics and targets.