The Health and Care Board held its first meeting of the 2026/27 session in September. As the new chair, I am delighted to be taking on this role, having previously served as deputy chair. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our outgoing chair Scott Reid for his significant contribution to the board over many years.

One of our agenda items focused on the ongoing practice board governance review. We heard about the discussions across practice boards, Council and IFoA staff, and discussed the recommendations due to be considered by Council. As a board, we hope this review will result in clearer responsibilities for the boards, and stronger communication and collaboration across the IFoA. We also talked about the role of the Research and Thought Leadership Committee and the value of effective coordination between boards when it comes to research.

We reviewed our draft workplan for 2026/27 and agreed the key themes that will guide our activities over the coming year. These include:

• influencing health and care policy

• promoting research and thought leadership

• supporting lifelong learning

• contributing to curriculum developments

• exploring the opportunities and challenges arising from AI.

Given the pace of change in this area, we felt AI deserved particular prominence within our plans.

We also received an update on policy and public affairs activity. Discussions covered a wide range of topics, including social care, workforce participation, health inequalities, obesity, cardiovascular disease and the use of AI.

Research remains a key priority. We heard from the research committee about emerging areas of interest, including weight-loss medications, fertility trends, demographic change, ageing populations and women's health. The committee is also looking at ways to strengthen horizon scanning, increase collaboration across practice areas and improve visibility of research outputs.

Finally, we received updates on lifelong learning activities and developments in the future qualification framework. It was encouraging to hear about the strong engagement with IFoA members and to learn more about plans for changing the qualification pathway, including a greater emphasis on data and AI capabilities, and ensuring that student actuaries develop skills that will be relevant throughout their careers.