Focus on Labour Exploitation (FLEX) has published research showing women workers face heightened exploitation risks under the UK's Seasonal Worker Scheme (SWS). The August 2025 briefing, based on surveys of 399 workers between 2022-2023, found 76.8% of women took loans to join the scheme compared to 69.9% of men. Women reported working fewer hours, paying higher costs, and facing increased barriers to changing employers. The research follows the government's February 2025 extension of SWS for five years, with 45,000 visas available for 2025. FLEX calls for comprehensive scheme reform, including gender-responsive monitoring and enhanced sexual harassment protections. The findings draw on both FLEX's research and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs worker surveys from 2022-2024.

Facilities management

The contractor who will be appointed under the facilities management contract with Project Co to carry out services at the completed facilities.

The contractor who will be appointed under the facilities management contract with Project Co to carry out services at the completed facilities.

The offering of FM radio signals over a cable system for a fee. A cable is connected to the subscriber’s FM stereo receiver for service.

The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) has announced a partnership with Digital Buildings, aiming to streamline access to carbon credits and quantify the social impact from retrofit projects. This partnership gives builders access to Retrogreen, a service designed by Digital Buildings to connect builders with projects eligible for carbon credits, with homeowners also gaining access to mortgages with reduced rates on green home improvements. Retrogreen also accelerates the process by generating online specifications of retrofit projects, removing the need for builders to visit sites to prepare quotes.

The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) has analysed measures in the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government 2026–31, published by First Minister, John Swinney, on 1 September 2026. The programme includes commitments relevant to builders and construction SMEs on housing delivery, energy efficiency and retrofit, procurement and public-sector work. It includes a commitment to deliver 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, with 36,000 to be delivered during the current parliamentary session, backed by up to £4.9 billion in investment. A new delivery body, More Homes Scotland, is due to become operational on 1 April 2027 to co-ordinate housing funding, expertise and delivery, and will work in strategic partnership with the Scottish National Investment Bank to attract private and pension-fund investment. The programme also includes support for energy-efficiency and clean-heating measures across approximately 100,000 properties and a target to decarbonise heat in buildings by 2045. The FMB cautions that the housing targets are aspirational and that proposed private and pension-fund investment remains at an early stage. It notes that local builders and installers are likely to deliver much of the retrofit and energy-efficiency work and that local and regional firms may benefit from procurement reforms, but warns that planned public-sector restructuring may create uncertainty over future commissioning and contract management arrangements.

The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) has launched updated builder contract templates following the Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA 2022). The contracts, available free to FMB members, are designed to be clear and easy to use, contrasting with longer, more complex alternatives. The templates are intended to protect homeowners while helping professional builders demonstrate their commitment to compliance and best practice. They include plain-language explanations of duty holder roles, competency statement templates and flexible payment options. Versions are tailored for all UK nations and align with the FMB Code of Conduct, which requires members to use written contracts for every job.

The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) has published an updated Developers' Guide covering recent regulatory changes including the National Planning Framework 4 for Scotland, the Future Homes Standard from 2026 and the Building Safety Regulator's transition to registered building control approvers. The guide addresses Biodiversity Net Gain exemptions for small sites and references the forthcoming National Housing Bank and National Housing Delivery Fund from 2026. The update aims to help small and medium-sized builders navigate planning, finance and regulatory barriers, with FMB research showing over 50% cite planning as the primary obstacle to housebuilding.

The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) has reported that, according to its State of Trade Survey for quarter one (Q1) 2024, 44% of Master Builder companies currently expect to either make a loss or fall below expected margins. The FMB has noted a variety of issues facing construction firms including market conditions, the skills gap and increasing costs. Chief Executive of the FMB, Brian Berry, has asserted that while Q1 2024 has ‘shown stabilisation’, such as through improvements in the availability of skilled workers, ‘the situation remains concerning.’ Berry has declared that it is essential for ‘the next government’ to deliver long-term sustainable change.

The Bank of England (BoE) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have published a joint statement following their annual review of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the supervision of financial market infrastructure (FMI). The MoU, updated in 2024 to reflect changes introduced by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (FSMA 2023), sets out arrangements for cooperation between the regulators, including information sharing and efforts to reduce duplication of regulatory activity. As part of the 2025 review, the BoE and FCA invited feedback from central counterparties, recognised investment exchanges and recognised central securities depositories based on their 2024 interactions. Respondents reported coordinated engagement across policy and supervisory matters and referred to joint work on operational resilience, including consultations on operational incident and third-party reporting. The statement also refers to collaboration on initiatives such as the Digital Securities Sandbox and T+1 settlement. The BoE and FCA stated that they intend to continue coordinated supervision and to consider any areas for improvement identified by firms.

Against the background of the new statutory regulatory framework for UK Financial Market Infrastructures (FMIs) set out in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (FSMA 2023), the Bank of England (BoE) is consulting on proposed Fundamental Rules for UK FMIs- high-level requirements on FMIs covering the full range of the regulatory framework. Responses are due by 19 February 2025. The BoE has also published its updated supervisory approach to FMIs, it plans to engage with stakeholders on the approach in Q1 2025.