The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has published its final Assimilated Law Parliamentary Report, covering the period from December 2025 to June 2026. The report provides an update on the Retained EU Law (REUL) and Assimilated Law Dashboard, which tracks the volume and status of assimilated law (formerly known as REUL) across government departments. DBT has also updated the REUL dashboard. As of 23 June 2026, the dashboard records 6,921 assimilated law instruments across approximately 400 policy areas. Since the previous reporting period, 133 instruments have been revoked or reformed, bringing the cumulative total to 2,700 instruments amended or reformed to date. Since the publication of the last Assimilated Law Parliamentary Report, the government laid 20 statutory instruments (SIs) using powers under the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 (REUL Act 2023) to amend assimilated law, alongside 5 SIs made using both REUL Act 2023 powers and other legislative powers. A further 21 SIs were laid under other domestic legislation to revoke or reform assimilated law.

The Department for Business and Trade has published the final version of its revised Code of Practice on picketing. The final version is identical in content to the draft revised Code which was published on 16 January 2024. However, the final revised Code contains differences in the page numbers. The revised Code is due to come into force on 11 March 2024.

The Department for Business & Trade (DBT) has published the first National Licensing Policy Framework for hospitality and leisure sectors in England and Wales, providing non-statutory guidance aimed at creating a more consistent and pro-growth licensing system. The framework applies to on-trade premises under the Licensing Act 2003 and encourages licensing authorities to consider economic growth alongside the four statutory licensing objectives when making decisions. It promotes risk-based regulation, proportionate conditions, and the Agent of Change principle to protect existing venues. The government will review the framework's impact after six months and is considering making hospitality sector growth a statutory licensing objective.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has published the governments response to its 'Smarter regulation: UK product safety review' consultation. Summarising the 126 responses, the DBT clarified the outcome of the consultation as well as the action that will be taken going forward.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate have published guidance for agents of professional sports persons to comply with the Employment Agencies Act 1973 and Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003. The guidance was published on 14 January 2026 and addresses compliance requirements for sports agents operating within the private recruitment sector. The Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate serves as the state regulator for the private recruitment sector and is responsible for seeking compliance with employment agency legislation through complaint investigations and recruitment agency inspections.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has published guidance for UK exporters which summarises the European Commission's guidance on the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) of the European Union (EU). The EU's CBAM entered into application in its transitional phase on 1 October 2023. The guidance was published to support UK exporters in identifying relevant information and guidance throughout the transitional phase.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has published guidance on how the Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation (OTSI) assesses applications for trade sanctions licences covering sanctioned activities relating to both services and goods. The guidance outlines a four-stage assessment process examining whether UK sanctions apply to prospective licensees and recipients, whether the described activities are sanctioned and whether the purposes of those activities align with sanctions objectives under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018. OTSI will assess each ‘activity’ separately, defining one activity as one prospective licensee providing a potentially prohibited activity under one regulation to one prospective recipient. The guidance also outlines application requirements, including details such as the names and addresses of prospective licensees and recipients, commodity codes, technical specifications and ownership structures. Corresponding statutory guidance has been updated to reflect OTSI assuming additional trade sanctions licensing responsibilities from the Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU) from 27 April 2026.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has published guidance on conformity assessment testing, outlining when you can use a designated UK-based conformity assessment body (CAB) to test your goods against the importing market’s regulations. The guidance sets out where the UK has mutual recognition agreements or conformity assessment agreements through standalone or free trade agreements, along with how to find an approved CAB to test your product for compliance.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has published guidance on the development of UK Sustainability Reporting Standards (UK SRS), outlining the government's framework for creating two UK SRS by assessing and endorsing the global corporate reporting baseline of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Sustainability Disclosure Standards, specifically IFRS S1: General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information and IFRS S2: Climate-related Disclosures. The government seeks to make endorsement decisions on the standards by the first quarter of 2025.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has published three guidance documents addressing product marking and the recognition of EU requirements for the Great British (GB) market. The first document details the government’s approach to product marking, including the continued recognition of certain EU requirements, such as CE marking, for specific sectors. The second document explains that if the harmonised standard used for a CE-marked product does not have an identical GB designated standard, manufacturers or importers must undertake additional actions or follow different conformity assessment procedures to legally sell their products in GB. The third document outlines various scenarios and clarifies whether each scenario permits a product to be placed on the GB market with the relevant marking.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has published guidelines setting out the process and criteria for the submission, acceptance and consideration of public submissions regarding the implementation of environment and labour chapters of Free Trade Agreements (FTA) (the UK-Australia FTA and UK-New Zealand FTA). The UK will consider issues raised in submissions that meet the criteria outlined in the guidance.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has published an independent review of Great Britain's whistleblowing framework, conducted by Grant Thornton UK LLP, which assessed how effectively the framework meets the objectives of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998. Drawing on 67 literature sources, 35 interviews, six focus groups, and secondary data, the research noted an increasing reliance on internal reporting systems and designated person channels. However, it also flagged significant challenges, including subjective legal definitions, obstacles to accessing Employment Tribunal (ET) redress, and a persistent cultural stigma. While some organisations have demonstrated effective response mechanisms, there is an overall inconsistency in how concerns are managed and whistleblowers protected. The report is structured around the key themes of definitions, disclosure routes, responses to concerns, the availability and adequacy of protections, redress through ETs, awareness and guidance, and the cultural impact of whistleblowing.