The government is committed to improving standards across the foster care sector and is taking steps to improve the recruitment and retention of foster carers, which is critical to improving outcomes for children.

The department’s action plan to renew fostering, backed by £88 million over the next two years, sets out the urgent steps we are taking to reverse the decline in foster carers and reform the system. 14 regional hubs are moving towards end-to-end recruitment from September, backed by £12 million in transformation funding. Our Room Makers programme will provide up to £25 million to add additional capacity to existing loving foster homes. We have launched a £12.4 million innovation programme, and enhanced digital tools and a communications campaign will launch in the autumn.

The government is currently consulting on revised national fostering standards to ensure children and foster families receive consistently high-quality support. Alongside this, the department continues to support and invest in the rollout of the Mockingbird model, while drawing on programme data and feedback from fostering services and carers to assess its impact on children, placement stability and carer support.

We recognise the benefits Mockingbird can offer in building peer support, stability and resilience for fostering families and will continue to promote effective practice across the sector.

On 29 July, as set out in the link below, the Prime Minister set out his objectives to reform the social care system, and brought forward the timetable for Baroness Casey’s commission to inform that reform programme:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-sets-out-new-path-to-fix-social-care-together-29-july-2026

All aspects of the current system will be reviewed as part of that process, including proposals for a register of social carers, and we will continue to update Parliament on a regular basis.

Details of the steps being taken to strengthen financial support and employment rights for unpaid carers can be found in the Unpaid Carers Action Plan, published on 14 July 2026.

We will work with carers and families on the Modern Service Framework for Severe Mental Illness. The Department has been working closely with charities representing people with lived experience and directly with individuals with lived experience throughout the development of the Modern Service Framework. This has been guided and supported by Jo Lomani, who is a co-chair on the Modern Service Framework and is a national mental health co-production lead and expert by lived and living experience.

The Mental Health Act 2025, which received Royal Assent in December 2025, strengthens the rights of patients subject to the act as well as their representatives. In particular it provides clarity around responsibilities for section 117 aftercare, introduces the new role of Nominated Person in place of the Nearest Relative in order to improve patient choice, and introduces an opt out system for Independent Mental Health Advocacy services so that every patient will be made aware of their right to an advocate.

The change from Nearest Relative to Nominated Person allows the patient to choose who will support them when they are detained, rather than this being an automatic assignment from a hierarchical list. Patients can choose family and carers or anyone else whom they trust. If they choose a person who is not their carer, the carer will still be involved in the patient's care, for example, the responsible clinician must consult with the carer on the patient's care and treatment plan.

The provisions of the new act will commence under a phased approach to ensure system readiness. To support such readiness, the revised Mental Health Act Code of Practice will provide statutory guidance to National Health Service mental health providers on all policies covered in the new act, including on how to ensure that families and carers are involved in the patient's care and treatment.

On 29 July, as set out in the link below, the Prime Minister set out his objectives to reform the social care system, and brought forward the timetable for Baroness Casey’s commission to inform that reform programme:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-sets-out-new-path-to-fix-social-care-together-29-july-2026

This will combine the work originally set out as two separate phases, so that a single set of recommendations will cover both the immediate improvements the system needs now, and the longer-term transformation required to meet demographic change. The commission’s Terms of Reference are deliberately broad to enable Baroness Casey to independently consider how to build a social care system fit for the future, including how to improve national oversight if she sees fit. We will continue to update Parliament on a regular basis.

By supporting people to live more independently, home adaptations can reduce the extent of informal care that people require. This can have a positive impact on unpaid carers through improving their health and wellbeing, and reducing the amount of time they spend caring.

The Mental Health Act Code of Practice is already clear that practitioners should be familiar with the provisions of the Mental Capacity Act. We will look at how we can improve guidance on capacity and assessment of capacity to professionals in the revised Mental Health Act Code of Practice.

We intend to publish the review’s final report in early 2027.

Officials are working at pace to review the significant number of consultation responses whilst finalising the evidence that the review has gathered overall. Following the review’s conclusion, we will publish a government response to the consultation, findings from the review and the next steps needed to ensure that unpaid carers can balance work and care.

The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

The independent appraisal committee of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has examined whether EQ-5D is an appropriate way to assess quality of life for people with dementia and their carers, in the context of its ongoing appraisals of modifying treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. NICE has also asked independent experts to review how the benefits for carers of people with Alzheimer’s disease are measured. The committee discussed these issues at its most recent meeting, on 8 July 2026, but the outcome of that meeting will remain confidential while the appraisal is ongoing.

In July 2025, the government published HMRC’s Transformation Roadmap. The roadmap sets our vision for tax administration to happen with minimal effort thanks to simplified tax processes, the application of new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and more digital self-serve options for customers. This will mean compliance is easy for the majority who want to get their tax and customs duties right, minimising opportunities for inadvertent errors.

HMRC assesses the impact on customers as a standard part of changes to policy and process, and routinely publishes the results as part of tax information and impact notes for tax policy changes. These also set out where impacts have been identified on customers by virtue of characteristics protected under the Equality Act 2010, including age.

Most customers are able to deal with their tax affairs on their own or with the support of their agent, though some customers have a temporary or enduring need for extra help. HMRC is committed to identifying and supporting all customers who need extra help and has published a set of commitments to support these customers in the HMRC Charter and the Principles of Support for Customers Who Need Extra Help.

Following the announcement by my Rt. Hon. Friend, the new Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on 5 August, the Department is working at pace with local authorities, the National Health Service, voluntary organisations, the Motor Neurone Disease Association, and people with lived experience to develop a prototype fast-track pathway for people with motor neurone disease (MND). Over the coming months, we will engage with local authorities, integrated care boards, and other partners to test the deliverability of the proposed pathway, assess system readiness, and refine the model. The announcement is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/patients-with-motor-neurone-disease-set-for-fast-tracked-care

Unpaid carers will be closely involved in this work. By reducing delays in accessing support, improving coordination between health, social care, and housing services, and easing the burden of navigating those services, we expect the new pathway to benefit both people with MND and those who care for them.

To support carers more broadly, under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are required to undertake carer’s assessments to support people caring for their family and friends who appear to have a need for support and to meet their eligible needs on request from them. To help local authorities fulfil their duties, including to unpaid carers, the Government is making over £4.6 billion of additional funding available for adult social care in 2028/29 compared to 2025/26. The Department also published The Unpaid Carers Action Plan in July, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/unpaid-carers-action-plan-recognise-refer-reach

Following the announcement by my Rt. Hon. Friend, the new Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on 5 August, the Department is working at pace with local authorities, the National Health Service, voluntary organisations, the Motor Neurone Disease Association, and people with lived experience to develop a prototype fast-track pathway for people with motor neurone disease (MND). Over the coming months, we will engage with local authorities, integrated care boards, and other partners to test the deliverability of the proposed pathway, assess system readiness, and refine the model. The announcement is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/patients-with-motor-neurone-disease-set-for-fast-tracked-care

Unpaid carers will be closely involved in this work. By reducing delays in accessing support, improving coordination between health, social care, and housing services, and easing the burden of navigating those services, we expect the new pathway to benefit both people with MND and those who care for them.

To support carers more broadly, under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are required to undertake carer’s assessments to support people caring for their family and friends who appear to have a need for support and to meet their eligible needs on request from them. To help local authorities fulfil their duties, including to unpaid carers, the Government is making over £4.6 billion of additional funding available for adult social care in 2028/29 compared to 2025/26. The Department also published The Unpaid Carers Action Plan in July, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/unpaid-carers-action-plan-recognise-refer-reach

The National Adult Safeguarding Board plans to set up a lived experience reference group which will have a diverse membership, including people with a range of care and support needs and unpaid carers. This group will report into the National Adult Safeguarding Board. Details of the actions agreed at the first board meeting are available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/national-adult-safeguarding-board

The workplan and priorities for the board will develop and may in future include issues relating to safeguarding and mental capacity in the context of severe mental illness.

In addition, the development of the 'MyCarer' section of the NHS App will help families access and manage the care of family members where appropriate.