Health Transformation Programme

Government Transformation and Service Delivery

Record date: 31 March 2026

Whole-life cost: £735.5m
Published schedule: 28/03/2018 – 28/09/2029
NISTA delivery confidence: AMBER
Senior responsible owner: James Bolton

What the project is for

The Health Transformation Programme (HTP) is delivering major improvements to disability benefit services by ensuring consistent outcomes, more efficient operation, and improved capacity. The Programme delivers coordinated change across four linked areas: the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) service, health assessments, health and employment support, and the delivery of wider welfare reforms. HTP will transform the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) service by simplifying customer journeys, improving how evidence is gathered and used, and strengthening decision making. These changes are intended to deliver timely and consistent outcomes, while reducing unnecessary reassessments, reconsiderations and appeals. In parallel, the Programme will implement a single, DWP‑owned, Health Assessment Service (HAS) for benefits requiring functional assessments. HAS will replace multiple provider systems with one integrated service ensuring consistency, improving efficiency and Healthcare Professional capacity, and enabling more face‑to‑face assessments where appropriate. HAS is a core element of the future PIP operating model and underpins improvements in decision making and service performance. HTP will test a strengthened health and employment support offer, focused on enabling disabled people and people with health conditions to move towards greater independence and participation where appropriate, while improving continuity across DWP's services. In addition, the Programme provides the operational, digital and assessment capability required to deliver Benefit Reform safely within live services. Reforms will be introduced through a suitably phased, test‑and‑learn approach, enabling the department to respond to emerging evidence and adapt to future policy decisions, including recommendations arising from the Timms Review, without destabilising services. The Programme has refined its Programme Objectives into five Strategic Outcomes, which continue to define how HTP will deliver its Programme Vision of ‘A high quality and efficient service that enables disabled people and those with health conditions to access the help, advice and support they need’. These Strategic Outcomes are: - Increased customer trust in services and decisions. - More efficient service with reduced demand for health assessments. - Increased take up of wider support and employment. - Improved customer experience with shorter journey times. - Transformed in-house data and IT infrastructure that is secure.

Departmental delivery commentary

Compared to financial year 24/25 Q4, the NISTA/SRO Delivery Confidence Assessment (DCA) rating at 25/26 Q4 remained at Amber. The 6 critical recommendations raised following the Gate 0 NISTA review in Q4 24/25 have all now been implemented and reported back to NISTA. NISTA will conduct a further Gate 0 review this year.

Schedule

Compared to financial year 24/25-Q4, the project's end-date at 25/26-Q4 remained the same. The programme end-date reflects the end date of the five-year Functional Assessment Service contracts, which run until September 2029.

Cost

Compared to financial year 24/25-Q4, the project's departmentally agreed Whole Life costs at 25/26-Q4 decreased to £0.735bn. This is due to removing the costs of the FAS & FAS IT projects, as the projects are now closed and no longer part of the Programme.

Benefits

Compared to financial year 24/25-Q4, the project's departmentally agreed Benefits at 25/26-Q4 decreased to £13.93bn. This is due to removing the benefits of the FAS & FAS IT projects which are now closed and no longer part of the Programme.