Service Transformation Award

The Service Transformation Award recognises exceptional achievement from a government service transformation project team.

Service transformation refers to the fundamental rethinking and redesign of services. Ultimately, service transformation aims to provide higher- quality services while optimising resources and ensuring greater accessibility for all users. It involves a holistic approach to improving processes, technology, and organisational structures to ensure that services are more efficient, effective, and user -centred. This can include the integration of new technologies, the adoption of innovative practices, and a focus on collaboration across departments and the system of delivery. Ultimately, service transformation aims to provide higher quality services while optimising resources and ensuring greater accessibility for all users.

Future Border and Immigration System (FBIS) – E-visa ETA

FBIS delivered one of the UK’s most ambitious digital transformations, creating a more secure, accessible and cost-effective immigration system supporting the government’s Plan for Change. The programme replaced physical documents with secure digital status, enabling millions to prove their rights to work, rent and travel online.

Successfully transitioning over 4 million holders of biometric residence permits (BRPs) or biometric residence cards (BRCs) to eVisas by December 2024, FBIS generated £1.6 billion in value through fee income, cost savings and efficiency gains. The Electronic Travel Authorisation scheme processed over 15 million applications with a 99% grant rate, most within minutes.

A nationwide engagement campaign reached millions, with 5.5 million individuals directly informed and 427 events conducted. FBIS prioritised inclusivity through £4 million funding to 72 community organisations, assisted digital services, and ‘helper’ permissions for vulnerable users.

Immigration permissions are now securely shared via applications programming interface (APIs) to connect with key public services including DVLA, Department for Work and Pensions and the NHS, improving joined-up service delivery.

Early Years Childcare Reform

The Early Years Childcare Reform programme delivers England’s largest ever childcare expansion. By 2026-27, government will be investing a record £9.5 billion to deliver the places families need, supporting the government’s growth and opportunity missions by removing barriers to work and ensuring access to high-quality early education.

Launched following the March 2023 Budget, the programme achieved unprecedented delivery. By September 2025, the programme had a target of creating approximately 70,000 new places, supported by up to 35,000 additional staff.

Within just 13 months, it introduced 15 funded hours for two-year-olds (in April 2024), expanded to nine-month-olds (in September 2024), and extended provision to 30 hours (in September 2025).

Real-time data dashboards enabled agile decision-making whilst a national recruitment campaign, the sector’s first, expanded workforce capacity. The programme’s co-delivery approach with local authorities and providers, strengthened market sustainability whilst supporting thousands of parents, to return to work

Over half a million children are accessing a place this September, with the expansion set to save eligible families using their full entitlement up to £7,500 per eligible child, transforming the costs of having children for families.

Frontline Digitisation

NHS England’s Frontline Digitisation programme represents a once-in-a-generation transformation, investing £2 billion to equip 170 organisations with modern Electronic Patient Record (EPR) systems. By August 2025, the programme achieved 93% EPR coverage, directly supporting the NHS Long-Term Plan and the Fit for the Future: 10 Year Health Plan.

The programme delivers exceptional value with a benefits cost ratio of 4.45, projected benefits of £13.2 billion, and 514,359 bed days saved annually. Digitally mature trusts report 13% lower costs per admitted patient, 4.5% reduction in length of stay, and 17.5% reduction in sepsis mortality.

Beyond technology deployment, Frontline Digitisation established a community of practice of over 950 practitioners, enacted over 340 small and medium sized enterprise (SME) support requests, and deployed ‘tiger teams’ for direct implementation support. The programme saves NHS staff an estimated 140,000 hours annually, enabling the transition from analogue to digital healthcare delivery.