The new Renewal and Retrofit Programme was launched to improve the condition of school and college buildings and increase resilience to climate change so buildings can last for decades to come and are net zero ready. The programme will initially focus in 2026/27 on replacing the worst-condition, life-expired temporary buildings alongside installation of energy generation and efficiency measures. There was no application process, and projects are currently being selected.

As the programme expands from 2027, it will support a broader range of renewal projects, such as those addressing significant issues with roofs, heating and electrical systems, while also considering measures to improve resilience to flooding and overheating. The programme will take a whole-site approach, assessing individual school needs and delivering a range of interventions that improve building condition and increase resilience to climate change.

The department will set out further details on how schools and colleges join the programme when it is expanded from 2027 in due course.

The new Renewal and Retrofit Programme was launched to improve the condition of school and college buildings and increase resilience to climate change so buildings can last for decades to come and are net zero ready. The programme will initially focus in 2026/27 on replacing the worst-condition, life-expired temporary buildings alongside installation of energy generation and efficiency measures. There was no application process, and projects are currently being selected.

As the programme expands from 2027, it will support a broader range of renewal projects, such as those addressing significant issues with roofs, heating and electrical systems, while also considering measures to improve resilience to flooding and overheating. The programme will take a whole-site approach, assessing individual school needs and delivering a range of interventions that improve building condition and increase resilience to climate change.

The department will set out further details on how schools and colleges join the programme when it is expanded from 2027 in due course.

The government recognises the importance of timely delivery of NHS letters. Royal Mail has introduced an NHS barcode to assist NHS units that continue to rely on post to communicate with patients. In addition, NHS England and NHS Providers have produced guidance for NHS organisations, including a case study, to increase awareness and uptake of the variety of Royal Mail services for the timely delivery of letters.

NHS Providers understand that they must ensure they are sending patients’ post out within the right timeframe and it is for them to determine what service they use to enable that.

The Government continues to stand firm on human rights, including China's repression of the people of Xinjiang. We continue to coordinate efforts with our international partners to hold China to account for human rights violations and we raise our concerns at the highest levels of the Chinese government.

The Government has been following the development of the EU’s customs reforms closely and is aware of the potential impact on the publishing industry. The Government continues to raise the issue of tariff and non-tariff barriers affecting UK businesses through established UK-EU governance channels, including the removal of customs duty relief for low-value imports, to support UK businesses trading in and with the EU. We continue to engage with UK businesses to understand the potential implications for UK exporters and affected sectors. We encourage businesses and representative organisations to continue raising concerns through their established engagement channels with Government and the Commission, and where appropriate, through relevant stakeholder consultations.

The Cabinet Office awarded Capita the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme in November 2023 under the previous government. The current delays facing scheme members are entirely unacceptable, and this Government has taken firm action to resolve them through a clear recovery plan with strict delivery milestones. We have deployed additional resources to expedite priority cases, ensuring that serving and former staff receive the high standard of service they deserve. Regular progress updates remain available to members via the pension portal and GOV.UK.

While Capita committed to a complete return to standard contractual service levels by the end of June 2026, they have failed to meet this critical milestone. The Government is taking robust action to hold Capita to account. This includes withholding £9.9 million in contract payments for undelivered milestones, alongside confirmation that the Government surge team costs will be recovered directly from Capita.

To enforce strict compliance, independent auditors have been deployed to conduct a technical systems review, and an on-the-ground Remedial Adviser has been appointed at Capita’s expense. Further commercial, legal, and operational options remain on the table during the consideration of long-term structural delivery options.

Capita has received 137 IDR Stage 1 complaints between December 2025 and July 2026. The data is not yet available for August 2026.

The Cabinet Office has received 114 IDR Stage 2 applications since this date.

The Department continues to work closely with Chiltern Railways and other partners to confirm a start date for the first East-West Rail services between Oxford and Milton Keynes Central via Winslow. For passenger services to commence, trains will need to have been modified and fully tested, future staffing arrangements be put in place and driver training will need to have been completed.

The Department continues to work closely with Chiltern Railways and other partners to confirm a start date for the first East-West Rail services between Oxford and Milton Keynes Central via Winslow. For passenger services to commence, trains will need to have been modified and fully tested, future staffing arrangements to be put in place, and driver training will need to have been completed. A start date for the first East West Rail services will be announced as soon as it is possible to do so and engagement with stakeholders will proceed once appropriate.

This Government values the input of disabled people and people with health conditions in addition to the representative organisations and people that support them.

That is why we brought forward a Green Paper and opened a public consultation – which received over 47,500 responses before closing on 30 June 2025. The consultation was published in a range of accessible versions including braille, audio, British Sign Language (BSL), Welsh language, Easy Read, large print and web-accessible formats. In addition to the public consultation, we ran a programme of accessible public events to further facilitate input. The series of both virtual and in-person events across the country helped us to hear from disabled people and representative organisations directly.

Our conversations with disabled people and people with health conditions, as well as experts, shaped and informed the Green Paper. We are committed to continuing this dialogue and drawing on a wide range of insights and experiences to get these reforms right. We published our summary to the Pathways to Work Green Paper consultation responses on 30 October 2025. We are considering feedback on these proposals as we develop them further.

The Timms Review is being co-produced by disabled people, the organisations that represent them and other experts. The steering group is committed to ensuring the Review is informed by a broad range of voices and experiences, and to making engagement accessible. The steering group agreed to use a mix of approaches combining lived experience, expert insight, existing research, new quantitative data and workshops across the UK to gather evidence.

The Review has run a Call for Evidence and ‘Workshop in a Box’ sessions to gather input from individuals and organisations with a full suite of accessible versions, including British Sign Language, Braille, Easy Read, Large Print, Audio, and Welsh versions. The Call for Evidence received over 38,000 responses. A summary of these findings was published alongside the Interim Report on 9 July. The Review will report to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for final decisions by autumn 2026.

The Government’s police reforms will protect and strengthen neighbourhood policing by freeing local forces, including Thames Valley Police, from national responsibilities so they can focus on issues that matter most locally, like anti-social behaviour (ASB). Every police force in England and Wales now has an ASB lead in place who will work with communities, stakeholders and the general public to implement their individual ASB Action Plans, which were published at the start of April. Further information on the Thames Valley Police ASB Action Plan can be found here: https://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/asb/asb/antisocial-behaviour/antisocial-behaviour-action-plan/

Through the Crime and Policing Act, we are making our streets and neighbourhoods safer by strengthening the powers available to the police and other agencies to tackle ASB. Our new Respect Orders will give local agencies stronger enforcement capability to tackle the most relentless adult ASB offenders.

We are also strengthening the powers available to the police and other local agencies by increasing the upper limit for fixed penalty notices for breaches of CPNs and PSPOs from £100 to £500, increasing the time a dispersal direction can be implemented for from 48 to 72 hours and giving registered social housing providers the power to issue closure notices, amongst others.

As part of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, the Government has committed to delivering 13,000 additional neighbourhood policing personnel by the end of this Parliament.

By February 2026 we delivered 3,123 additional full-time equivalent (FTE)
police officers and PCSOs in neighbourhood roles since March 2025 as part of a drive to tackle the crimes that blight town centres.

This Government continues to support forces to increase the overall number of
neighbourhood policing personnel, with total growth expected to
reach 4,750 neighbourhood officers by the end of March 2027.

The department takes periods of hot weather and heatwaves seriously and has published a climate risk assessment. We continue to support responsible bodies and schools to provide education in a safe environment.

To support them, the department has also published guidance to support education settings during hot weather, available at: https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2026/06/hot-weather-and-heatwaves-guidance-for-schools-and-other-education-settings/. This advice draws on guidance from the UK Health Security Agency. In most cases, schools are the safest place for children during hot weather, as staff can actively monitor pupils, ensure regular hydration, and make adjustments to keep them cool. Children may also not be any cooler at home than in school, as recent analysis by the National Housing Federation and the Chartered Institute of Housing shows that 1.6 million children are currently living in overheated homes.

We are improving infrastructure through the Education Estates Strategy, including a £710 million renewal and retrofit programme to 2029/30. We are also investing almost £3 billion annually by 2034/25 in capital maintenance and almost £20 billion in the School Rebuilding Programme to rebuild over 750 schools with buildings that are future proofed against the risks of climate change.

The department has not made an assessment of the number of schools that stop offering hot meals during periods of hot weather.

Beyond the School Food Standards, decisions about catering arrangements are a matter for individual schools and their catering providers. The department’s expectation is that schools remain open wherever it is safe to do so, and schools may make operational adjustments in response to local conditions and risk assessments during period of extreme heat. The department’s guidance emphasises the importance of ensuring pupils have access to food, water and appropriate facilities, while taking practical steps to keep children safe and comfortable in hot weather.

The department holds information on air-conditioning units identified through the Condition Data Collection 2 (CDC2) programme, which surveyed state-funded schools between 2021 and 2026.

The information collected reflects the position observed at the time of the survey visits. The CDC surveys are visual and non-intrusive, and air-conditioning units are recorded only where they are observed during a survey visit.

The department has published a climate change risk assessment for the education sector and is improving climate resilience across the education estate through programmes, including the £710 million renewal and retrofit programme and the school rebuilding programme, which will deliver climate-resilient buildings at more than 750 schools.

The Government’s bespoke Ukraine Schemes for those fleeing the conflict are available to eligible Ukrainian nationals and their family members. Applications under these schemes are free of charge, are exempt from paying the Immigration Health Surcharge and, if granted, provide access to work, public services, healthcare and education, reflecting the UK’s generous commitment to support provided to those displaced by the conflict.

While applications made under the Ukraine Schemes are not subject to an application fee or the Immigration Health Surcharge, a Ukrainian national who has obtained settled status in the UK and subsequently wishes to sponsor a family member under the UK's wider family immigration routes would be required to apply under the general family visa provisions and pay the relevant fees or obtain a fee waiver.

The current fee for a family visa application, which allow partners, parents and dependent children of British and settled sponsors to apply to come or to stay in the UK, is £2,064 and is set at the same level for all applicants. The Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) is set at £1,035 per person per year and is calculated based on the length of immigration permission granted.

The department takes periods of hot weather and heatwaves seriously and has published a climate risk assessment which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/impact-of-uk-climate-change-risk-on-the-delivery-of-education/summary-of-findings-in-relation-to-3-climate-risks-overheating-flooding-and-water-scarcity.

We are improving infrastructure and strengthening resilience across the education estate through our Education Estates Strategy. This includes a new £710 million renewal and retrofit programme to improve condition and climate resilience, investment of almost £3 billion per year by 2034/35 in capital maintenance to improve the condition of the school and college estate and investment of almost £20 billion through to 2034/35 in the school rebuilding programme, delivering climate‑resilient buildings at over 750 schools.

The department has recently updated the design standards, covering overheating risk assessments which account for rising temperatures associated with climate change, as well as external shading and cross ventilation. Our improve and renew guidance also outlines measures that could be implemented to mitigate overheating. This guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/improve-and-renew-developing-your-long-term-estates-plan/improve-and-renew-your-long-term-estates-plan.

The DWP delivers a range of interventions to help disabled people and people with long-term health conditions to find and stay in work. 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, Connect to Work and WorkWell. Additionally, the Joint DWP and DHSC Work and Health Directorate has developed a digital information service for employers and continues to oversee the Disability Confident Scheme.

Evaluation is a key driver in delivering DWP’s priority outcomes and ensuring alignment with the Government’s Plan for Change. As set out in the DWP Evidence and Evaluation Strategy, ongoing evaluation of policies to support disabled people into appropriate employment is crucial in assessing whether they are achieving intended results and informs future policy design.

For example, an evaluation of the WorkWell pilot is underway to assess the effectiveness of WorkWell and is conducted by an independent consortium of evaluators using surveys, interviews and econometric measures of success. The evaluation is tracking several outcome metrics, including reported health and wellbeing and earnings. Outcomes for participants are monitored across the length of the pilot, and for a further 2 years. The first pilot evaluation report has been published here: WorkWell Pilots Evaluation Early Implementation Findings - GOV.UK. A final report in Autumn 2028 will aim to give a full assessment of the impact and effectiveness of the pilot.

A similar evaluation is being commissioned for the national rollout of WorkWell and will explore the feasibility of using a randomised control trial design. The learnings from these evaluations will inform any future decisions on the Programme.

The Connect to Work Business Case, published January 2026 (29 January 2026: Connect to Work - Programme Business Case 1 Summary - GOV.UK), estimates that an additional 22,000 people will be in work over the lifetime of the programme. These, and wider, impacts are being monitored through a comprehensive national evaluation, with a final report expected in 2031.

Other recent policy evaluations include assessments of Additional Work Coach Support (Evaluation of Additional Work Coach Support - GOV.UK) and the Intensive Personalised Employment Support scheme (Intensive Personalised Employment Support (IPES) Programme Evaluation - GOV.UK).

Chiltern is continuing to work closely with its partners and the Department to conclude the remaining train, infrastructure and staff arrangements and a start date for the first East West Rail services. This includes the recruitment and training of 44 train drivers. Passenger services will commence once train testing, driver training and all necessary authorisations and agreements are in place and a start date will be announced as soon as it is possible to do so.