One year on, Starmer's plan for change shows mixed progress across housing, health and energy

One year after Prime Minister Keir Starmer unveiled his government’s plan for change, BBC Verify assesses progress across the six pledges tied to housing, health, living standards, crime, education and clean power. The annual check-in comes as a U.K. parliamentary period moves toward the 2029 end date of the plan, with lawmakers and the public promised “measurable milestones” that would allow people to hold the government to account. For readers in the United States and others tracking global policy, the assessment offers a snapshot of how a parliamentary government weighs competing social priorities and the pace of delivery on long-range targets.

The housing pledge aims for 1.5 million “safe and decent homes” in England by the end of the current Parliament, in 2029. Progress is measured by net additional dwellings—the difference between homes added or converted and those demolished. There is no annual target published, but achieving 1.5 million over the five-year horizon would average about 300,000 new homes per year. BBC Verify notes that the current delivery rate is just over 200,000 per year. Ministers say the trajectory was always intended to ramp up later in the Parliament, although the early pace is lower than the final years of the preceding Conservative government. The full-year figure for housing completions, for the year ending March 2025, will be published in November, but Verify and other datasets rely on an interim indicator: the number of new homes receiving their first Energy Performance Certificate, which comes out roughly a month after each quarter ends.

On hospitals, the pledge asks that 92% of patients in England are seen within 18 weeks by the end of the Parliament. The latest NHS data show some improvement but progress remains uneven. In October 2025, 61.7% of patients due for procedures were seen within 18 weeks, up from 58.8% when Labour took power in July 2024. The 92% target has not been reached since 2015, underscoring the challenge of a long-standing wait-time issue. Waiting list statistics are published roughly six weeks after each month’s end, meaning the government’s progress will be assessed repeatedly as new data arrive.

The living standards pledge ties the plan to growth in real household disposable income per person (RHDI) and GDP per head. The government says RHDI per person is expected to grow over the Parliament, with forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) projecting an average annual increase of about 0.5%. GDP per head is forecast to rise by roughly 1% in 2025. By these measures, the trajectory would mark only modest gains in living standards across the United Kingdom if realized. RHDI data are released about three months after the end of each quarter, while GDP per head figures typically follow about six weeks after the quarter’s end.

Crime pledges center on “putting police back on the beat” by adding 13,000 officers, police community support officers (PCSOs) and volunteer constables in neighborhood policing roles across England and Wales by the end of the Parliament. The Home Office has said it will tailor the mix of roles by force. The latest official figures show 17,175 full-time equivalent officers and PCSOs in neighborhood policing as of 31 March 2025, a rise of 214 from 31 March 2024. Detailed neighborhood policing data are due in January 2026 and updated every six months thereafter.

Education targets aim to have 75% of five-year-olds in England ready to learn when they start school, as measured by the Early Years Foundation Stage’s “good level of development.” Department for Education data for the 2024-25 school year show 68.3% of children achieving that level, up from 67.7% the prior year. Officials caution that the 75% target is not expected to be reached for several years, with figures for 2027-28 due to be published in November 2028.

Clean power targets set a goal of at least 95% clean power by 2030, a slightly revised stance from the campaign promise of zero-carbon electricity by 2030. In November 2024, the National Energy System Operator (NESO) concluded that it is possible to build, connect and operate a clean power system by 2030 while maintaining security of supply, but cautioned the path is near the limit of feasibility. In 2024, clean sources accounted for 73.8% of electricity generation in Great Britain. Figures on the share of low-carbon electricity in the UK are published in the Energy Trends publication on the last Thursday of each quarter.

The Verify package notes that the targets were designed to be trackable over time, with data fed into public trackers and official statistics. In practice, some indicators—like housing completion and living standards—show progress but fall short of the pace seen in some earlier periods or require longer horizons to show meaningful shifts. Analysts and government officials say the plan was designed to push for gradual change rather than to produce quick, uniform suppressions of long-term pressures. The government’s team has stressed that data will become clearer as more quarterly figures are released and as new data signals—such as EPC-based housing indicators and energy mix updates—roll in.

The overarching message from BBC Verify’s review is that while certain milestones are moving in the right direction, others remain well short of the targets or depend on forecasts and data that aggregate across multiple years. Critics of the plan argue that systemic reforms—especially in health and housing—require sustained funding, policy consistency, and cross-department cooperation, factors that extend beyond 12-month horizons. Supporters contend that the plan established a framework for accountability and a staged path toward longer-term improvements, even if the initial year shows uneven velocity.

In the coming months, updates to housing completions, hospital wait times, and neighborhood policing will help illuminate which pathways are delivering results and where adjustments may be needed. The government has indicated that it will publish more granular figures—such as the EPC-based housing tracker and quarterly energy statistics—alongside the standard quarterly data releases, providing ongoing anchors for public scrutiny. For international readers watching domestic policy, the Starmer administration’s approach reflects a prioritization of housing supply, health system resilience, living standards, safe communities, education readiness, and energy transition as a unified agenda rather than as a string of isolated pledges.

With the data still maturing, BBC Verify will continue to monitor the trajectory of each pledge, noting where the government’s plan yields timely progress and where the pace remains insufficient to meet the 2029 milestones. The housebuilding tracker, the NHS waiting-time data, and the quarterly energy and GDP figures are among the key bars by which the public and analysts will measure whether the plan’s promises translate into tangible change over the course of the Parliament.