Written questions by McMurdock.

Pursuant to his Department’s press release entitled Ministers rip up consultation culture, published on 26 March 2026, whether Ministers will publish a list of consultation and reporting requirements that are removed or amended under the reforms.

No decision has currently been taken on which requirements have been removed or amended under the reforms.Any removal of statutory consultation duties will require legislation, and so parliament will be able to scrutinise these changes in the ordinary way.

Pursuant to his Department’s press release entitled Ministers rip up consultation culture, published on 26 March 2026, whether any primary legislation will be required to implement the changes announced on 26 March 2026.

The government is committed to identifying existing disproportionate reporting and consultation duties that are slowing down delivery. The policy analysis is in the early stages and all options are being considered.

How many students are currently affected by the withdrawal of student finance linked to weekend or flexible learning courses.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

What steps her Department is taking to help ensure that students are not disadvantaged by errors made in the initial approval of student finance.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Pursuant to his Department’s press release entitled Ministers rip up consultation culture, published on 26 March 2026, what mechanisms will be in place to allow Parliament to scrutinise decisions to reduce consultation requirements.

The government is committed to protecting the necessary checks and balances to ministerial and Parliamentary decision making. In line with standard processes, Parliament will have the opportunity to scrutinise and challenge any changes to consultation requirements where they are legislative.

With reference to her Department’s press release entitled Interest rate cap introduced to protect Plan 2 borrowers, published on 7 April 2026, what analysis her Department has undertaken of the effect of the cap on long-term student loan repayment burdens for graduates.

The government is capping the maximum interest rates on Plan 2 and Plan 3 student loans at 6%, instead of the Retail Prices Index (RPI) plus 3%, for the 2026/27 academic year. This short term measure will protect students and graduates from the potential of inflationary pressures due to the situation in the Middle East.Student loan interest rates are ordinarily set for each academic year by reference to the RPI value for the year to the preceding March. On that basis, interest rates for the 2026/27 academic year would normally be determined using the RPI figure for March 2026, which is due to be published on 22 April 2026.The impact of the interest rate cap on long term repayments for graduates, and on forecast cost impacts for the public purse, will depend on the March RPI value. Costs will be set out at Budget in the usual way.

Pursuant to his Department’s press release entitled Ministers rip up consultation culture, published on 26 March 2026, whether the new accountability framework for Permanent Secretaries, designed to focus on delivering the Prime Minister’s priorities, will result in a reduction in responsibilities for other cabinet ministers.

It has not proved possible to respond to the Hon Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Pursuant to his Department’s press release entitled Ministers rip up consultation culture, published on 26 March 2026, what criteria will be used by AI systems to determine whether consultation requirements should be removed.

AI tools are being used to identify statutory requirements to consult. Decisions remain the purview of Ministers.

Pursuant to his Department’s press release entitled Ministers rip up consultation culture, published on 26 March 2026, what estimate his Department have made of the (a) number of, and (b) cost of Equalities Impact Assessments since July 2024 which would not have taken place under the new policy.

Equalities Impact Assessments are carried out for a variety of reasons, for both internal policies and processes within the Cabinet Office under Public Sector Equality Duty to assess the impact of external policies and processes. Although there is a small central team who provide advice and guidance, it is the responsibility of individual business units to assess whether a formal assessment is required, and if so, these are typically conducted locally by the teams themselves. There is currently no requirement for teams to report activity, and we do not hold a central record across the department. It is therefore not possible to provide an accurate estimate of the number of assessments conducted. Given Equalities Impact Assessments are conducted internally, there are no direct costs associated, however the amount of official time taken to carry out the activity would be relevant. It is similarly not possible to provide an accurate estimate of time taken, as this varies significantly based on the scale and complexity of the policy or process being developed. The new policy referenced will ensure it is far clearer when an assessment is required, and what parameters need to be followed, with the intention of reducing the amount of official time spent on this activity, whilst still providing robust challenge.

With reference to his Department’s press release entitled NHS patients and British businesses to benefit from historic changes to medicines access following pharmaceutical partnership with USA, published on 2 April 2026, what modelling his Department has undertaken of the long-term cost implications for the NHS of the changes to medicines access and pricing.

The Department has already been clear that the estimated costs of the United Kingdom’s medicines pricing commitments are approximately £1 billion in England over the remaining three-years of the Spending Review. The final and longer-term costs of these changes will depend on future growth in spending on medicines.This is not something that we can pre-empt at this time as it depends on which drugs come to market and which are assessed as approved for use on the National Health Service accordingly.

Pursuant to his Department’s press release entitled Ministers rip up consultation culture, published on 26 March 2026, if he will publish a list of the regularly identified excessive processes and checks which are clogging up the system referenced in his press release.

There are currently no plans to publish a list of excessive processes and checks that are clogging up the system. However, we continue to develop policy options for the sludgebusting agenda, and all options are currently open for how we communicate any changes to the public.

What steps her Department is taking to support students at risk of dropping out due to changes in funding eligibility.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Pursuant to his Department’s press release entitled Ministers rip up consultation culture, published on 26 March 2026, what human oversight will be applied to decisions informed by artificial intelligence in reviewing consultation requirements.

AI tools are being used to identify statutory requirements to consult. Decisions remain the purview of ministers.

Pursuant to his Department’s press release entitled Ministers rip up consultation culture, published on 26 March 2026, how many of the 131 consultation requirements referenced in the press release were from government-sponsored bills or secondary legislation.

All 131 consultation requirements were from existing primary legislation, not bills currently before Parliament or Secondary legislation. The government is committed to identifying existing disproportionate reporting and consultation duties that are slowing down delivery.

Pursuant to his Department’s press release entitled Ministers rip up consultation culture, published on 26 March 2026, how many of the 131 consultation requirements referenced in the article were identified as being unnecessary.

We have developed an AI tool to help identify uncover consultation requirements hidden within legislation. It is up to ministerial and Parliamentary discretion to decide their value to specific legislation and the policies underlying that legislation. This initiative will ensure that government policies can be implemented as efficiently as possible, streamlining the process while retaining necessary checks and balances where appropriate. We are introducing a higher bar inclusion of consultation requirements in legislation, and prioritising finding more effective and efficient ways to engage stakeholders. The end goal is ending the introduction of further unnecessary reporting and consultation requirements.

Pursuant to his Department’s press release entitled Ministers rip up consultation culture, published on 26 March 2026, which government department was consulting on a change to how it produces its annual report, as referenced in the press release; and how many of these consultations had it undertaken previously.

It has not proved possible to respond to the Hon Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Pursuant to his Department’s press release entitled Ministers rip up consultation culture, published on 26 March 2026, what the new process will be for collective Cabinet agreement of government policy.

The Cabinet Office has launched a programme of work to simplify the state, removing unnecessary bureaucracy and speeding up the timeline from ministerial decision to delivery for citizens, including through the process for collective agreement of government policy.

Pursuant to her Department’s press release entitled Government to Improve Support for Affordable Debt Repayments, published on 20 March 2026, what measures will be used to identify individuals at risk of falling into debt at an earlier stage.

The press release entitled ‘Government to Improve Support for Affordable Debt Repayments’, published on 20 March 2026, publicised the Government Debt Management Strategy 2026–2030. The strategy sets out the Government Debt Management Function’s (GDMF) vision and principles for good debt management across central government. It does not introduce a single new, cross-government “affordable repayment plan” policy with uniform terms; repayment arrangements continue to be set by individual departments and arm’s-length bodies (ALBs) in line with their specific legislation, policies and the circumstances of the individual. This includes consideration of interest rates, repayment incentives / disincentives, repayment period length, specific performance metrics and associated costs. Affordability is assessed with an income and expenditure statement, discussion and regular reviews. All repayment plans should be affordable, so requested data on the proportion of repayment plans that are affordable, as well as metrics to assess this in the future, does not exist. The ability for an individual to challenge or seek a review of an affordability assessment depends on the type of debt, the individual’s circumstances and the department or ALB to which the debt is owed. Individuals can contact the relevant organisation to discuss their circumstances and any review or appeal routes available for that debt type. Information about the government’s plan to identify individuals at risk of falling into debt at an earlier stage and how the government has taken consideration of differences in repayment practices is available at Prevent Resolve Improve 26-30 Government Debt Management Strategy - GOV.UK.

Pursuant to her Department’s press release entitled Government to Improve Support for Affordable Debt Repayments, published on 20 March 2026, whether individuals will have the right to challenge affordability assessments made using automated or data-driven systems.

The press release entitled ‘Government to Improve Support for Affordable Debt Repayments’, published on 20 March 2026, publicised the Government Debt Management Strategy 2026–2030. The strategy sets out the Government Debt Management Function’s (GDMF) vision and principles for good debt management across central government. It does not introduce a single new, cross-government “affordable repayment plan” policy with uniform terms; repayment arrangements continue to be set by individual departments and arm’s-length bodies (ALBs) in line with their specific legislation, policies and the circumstances of the individual. This includes consideration of interest rates, repayment incentives / disincentives, repayment period length, specific performance metrics and associated costs. Affordability is assessed with an income and expenditure statement, discussion and regular reviews. All repayment plans should be affordable, so requested data on the proportion of repayment plans that are affordable, as well as metrics to assess this in the future, does not exist. The ability for an individual to challenge or seek a review of an affordability assessment depends on the type of debt, the individual’s circumstances and the department or ALB to which the debt is owed. Individuals can contact the relevant organisation to discuss their circumstances and any review or appeal routes available for that debt type. Information about the government’s plan to identify individuals at risk of falling into debt at an earlier stage and how the government has taken consideration of differences in repayment practices is available at Prevent Resolve Improve 26-30 Government Debt Management Strategy - GOV.UK.

Pursuant to her Department’s press release entitled Government to Improve Support for Affordable Debt Repayments, published on 20 March 2026, what assessment she has made of variations in repayment practices between departments prior to the introduction of the new strategy.

The press release entitled ‘Government to Improve Support for Affordable Debt Repayments’, published on 20 March 2026, publicised the Government Debt Management Strategy 2026–2030. The strategy sets out the Government Debt Management Function’s (GDMF) vision and principles for good debt management across central government. It does not introduce a single new, cross-government “affordable repayment plan” policy with uniform terms; repayment arrangements continue to be set by individual departments and arm’s-length bodies (ALBs) in line with their specific legislation, policies and the circumstances of the individual. This includes consideration of interest rates, repayment incentives / disincentives, repayment period length, specific performance metrics and associated costs. Affordability is assessed with an income and expenditure statement, discussion and regular reviews. All repayment plans should be affordable, so requested data on the proportion of repayment plans that are affordable, as well as metrics to assess this in the future, does not exist. The ability for an individual to challenge or seek a review of an affordability assessment depends on the type of debt, the individual’s circumstances and the department or ALB to which the debt is owed. Individuals can contact the relevant organisation to discuss their circumstances and any review or appeal routes available for that debt type. Information about the government’s plan to identify individuals at risk of falling into debt at an earlier stage and how the government has taken consideration of differences in repayment practices is available at Prevent Resolve Improve 26-30 Government Debt Management Strategy - GOV.UK.