Three things will affect UK ATC for the foreseeable (sp?) future..
1) Serious lack of validated Controllers and Assistants at Swanwick
2) NAS (at West Drayton) could easily FLOP again, or the link to it could be lost (not usually too serious at LATCC, but even startovers can ruin Swanwick's whole day)
3) Unknown (and known) faults wthin the highly complex Swanwick software
NONE of the above are likely to be fixed in the short term, and the staffing situation is a LONG TERM issue. It takes YEARS to train and validate ATCOs, meanwhile more are retiring / leaving/ on long/short term sick, than are being replaced.
Once again, I am very sorry to be the bearer bad news, but I'd rather be "open and honest" with you than the claptrap that comes out of One Kemble Street. This ain't spin, it's the truth.
Sadly, yours
BEX