diff --git a/.github/CODEOWNERS b/.github/CODEOWNERS
deleted file mode 100644
index 0492a665..00000000
--- a/.github/CODEOWNERS
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-# restrict access to approving workflow changes
-.github/workflows/ @NHSDigital/eps-admins
diff --git a/.github/workflows/auto_approve_dependabot.yml b/.github/workflows/auto_approve_dependabot.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4567aef8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/auto_approve_dependabot.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+name: Auto-approve dependency updates
+
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+  schedule:
+    - cron: '*/30 * * * *'
+
+permissions: {}
+jobs:
+  auto-approve-dependabot:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    environment: create_pull_request
+    permissions:
+      contents: write
+      pull-requests: write
+    steps:
+      - name: Auto approve and enable auto-merge
+        uses: NHSDigital/eps-dependabot-approve@da0503449b218ccd99bc547e242007d5514e4d2f
+        with:
+          AUTOMERGE_APP_ID: ${{ secrets.AUTOMERGE_APP_ID }}
+          AUTOMERGE_PEM: ${{ secrets.AUTOMERGE_PEM }}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pull_request.yml b/.github/workflows/pull_request.yml
index 37b5621f..2296985b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pull_request.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pull_request.yml
@@ -1,21 +1,9 @@
 name: Pull request test and deploy
-
 on:
   pull_request:
     branches: [main]
-
 permissions: {}
-
 jobs:
-  dependabot-auto-approve-and-merge:
-    needs: quality_checks
-    uses: NHSDigital/eps-common-workflows/.github/workflows/dependabot-auto-approve-and-merge.yml@e798d5aee897de6f7dc387dd5623fcd9ba4c8929
-    permissions:
-      contents: write
-      pull-requests: write
-    secrets:
-      AUTOMERGE_APP_ID: ${{ secrets.AUTOMERGE_APP_ID }}
-      AUTOMERGE_PEM: ${{ secrets.AUTOMERGE_PEM }}
   get_config_values:
     uses: NHSDigital/eps-common-workflows/.github/workflows/get-repo-config.yml@e798d5aee897de6f7dc387dd5623fcd9ba4c8929
     permissions:
@@ -35,18 +23,15 @@ jobs:
       pinned_image: ${{ needs.get_config_values.outputs.pinned_image }}
     secrets:
       SONAR_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SONAR_TOKEN }}
-
   pr_title_format_check:
     uses: NHSDigital/eps-common-workflows/.github/workflows/pr_title_check.yml@e798d5aee897de6f7dc387dd5623fcd9ba4c8929
     permissions:
       pull-requests: write
-
   get_issue_number:
     runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
     needs: quality_checks
     outputs:
       issue_number: ${{steps.get_issue_number.outputs.result}}
-
     steps:
       - uses: actions/github-script@3a2844b7e9c422d3c10d287c895573f7108da1b3
         name: get issue number
@@ -67,7 +52,6 @@ jobs:
               ).data[0].number;
             }
           result-encoding: string
-
   tag_release:
     needs: [get_config_values]
     uses: NHSDigital/eps-common-workflows/.github/workflows/tag-release-devcontainer.yml@e798d5aee897de6f7dc387dd5623fcd9ba4c8929
@@ -80,7 +64,6 @@ jobs:
       pinned_image: ${{ needs.get_config_values.outputs.pinned_image }}
       branch_name: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.ref }}
       tag_format: ${{ needs.get_config_values.outputs.tag_format }}
-
   get_commit_id:
     runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
     outputs:
@@ -90,7 +73,6 @@ jobs:
         id: commit_id
         run: |
           echo "commit_id=${{ github.sha }}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-
   package_code:
     needs: [get_issue_number, get_config_values]
     uses: ./.github/workflows/sam_package_code.yml
@@ -100,7 +82,6 @@ jobs:
       packages: read
     with:
       pinned_image: ${{ needs.get_config_values.outputs.pinned_image }}
-
   release_code:
     needs: [get_issue_number, package_code, get_commit_id, get_config_values]
     uses: ./.github/workflows/sam_release_code.yml