There is also a risk that the current contractors will gain an advantage for the new service that reduces competition. One way to maintain competitive pressure on the contractors to perform is to keep open the question of whether the service will continue to be outsourced once the new service is rolled out in 2029. The Department told us that it still needs to decide whether to continue to contract out the health assessment aspect of applying for disability benefits or, bring it in-house. However, designing, introducing and implementing an in-house service would be time consuming and the Department would need to do a lot of preparatory work to maintain this as a realistic option.35 We heard how the recruitment and retention of healthcare professionals has been a consistent challenge, but its contractors have successfully managed this challenge. External providers to the DWP have increased the number of healthcare professionals from 2,200 in May 2015 to 4,130 in February 2023.36 This would remain a significant challenge for a potential in-house service. The Department told us that in-housing health assessments was challenging due to civil service pay and the career structure and that it lacked the “recruitment, retention and management skillset” which would help attract and motivate healthcare professionals to work in an in-housed service.37