Natural England and the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) have released a collection of tools and resources to calculate nutrient budgets in nutrient neutrality catchments. Developers are now mandated to use nutrient budget calculations to ensure that new residential development in the 27 nutrient neutrality habitats sites does not bring about a net increase in nutrient pollution. In order to fulfil these requirements, nutrient neutrality calculators have been created for proposed developments in each of the different catchment areas. Aside from developers, the nutrient neutrality calculators can also be used by local planning authorities who need to understand the mitigation requirements for future developments or to assess planning applications, as well as environmental groups who want to understand the impacts of a local development on a habitat site affected by nutrient neutrality.

The government has published updated forms for Plea and Trial Preparation Hearings (PTPHs) for one and two to five defendants for use from 1 October 2026. The principal change is a new 'Priority Information' section, supporting the National Listing Framework. At or before the PTPH, parties must provide information to enable the court to allocate a priority tier, determine whether the trial should be fixed or flexible, and consider early judicial reservation. The revised forms place greater emphasis on the likely human impact of delay, vulnerability, custody status, trial estimate and effective participation.

The Cabinet Office and Department for Work and Pensions have published updated guidance on how to appeal to the Civil Service Appeal Board. The list of Appeal Board panel members has been updated and guidance on when and how hearings are held and how to contact the board has been amended.

The government on 3 February 2026 published an updated timeline for implementing provisions in the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA 2025).

The government has updated three of its impact assessments relating to the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill 2022 (ECCT Bill). These include the ‘Scottish Solicitors Discipline Tribunal financial penalty’, ‘New regulatory objective in the Legal Services Act 2007’ and ‘New proactive information request power for the Solicitors Regulation Authority to use in relation to economic crime’ impact assessments.

The government has rejected the House of Lords International Agreements Committee’s (IAC) call for legislative reform of treaty scrutiny, including proposals to extend the 21-day scrutiny period under the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 (CRGA 2010) and to require parliamentary approval of major treaties. It argues that the CRGA 2010 continues to strike the right balance between enabling the Executive to negotiate and ratify treaties efficiently and allowing Parliament adequate scrutiny. While acknowledging the Committee’s concerns about evidence-gathering and limited time for scrutiny, the government maintains that the current statutory period is sufficient and comparable to other jurisdictions, and that any extensions will continue to be considered case by case, based on operational needs, the nature of the treaty, and potential implementation impacts.

The government has responded to the House of Commons Procedure Committee's (PC’s) report and recommendations on Commons scrutiny of Secretaries of State in the House of Lords. The government has rejected the Committee's core recommendation that practice is changed by the House of Commons so that the Foreign Secretary is able to answer questions and make statements from the Bar of the House at the end of the Commons Chamber. The government said that scrutiny of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is no less as the Foreign Secretary sits as a member of the House of Lords and that the Foreign Secretary and the FCDO ministerial team respond to significant select committee scrutiny. The government recorded that the Foreign Secretary will continue to cooperate and engage with select committee evidence sessions. The government indicated that the proposal in relation to appearances at the Bar of the House could undermine the principle of comity between the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Chair of the PC, Dame Karen Bradley, expressed disappointment that the PC’s recommendations were rejected by the government and said that while the government's response highlights the Foreign Secretary's appearances before select committees, 'all members of the House of Commons should be afforded the opportunity to raise issues on behalf of their constituents.'

The UK government has updated the list of companies awarded compensation or exemption from the indirect costs of the Contracts for Difference, renewables obligation (RO) and small scale feed-in tariff (FiT) regimes. The government has also released updated relief exemption forms for Northern Ireland.

Law360: The government was forced to pay back £44m in the first quarter to people who have been charged too much tax on pension withdrawals, bringing the total repaid to date to £1.4bn.

Law360: The government could be considering the removal of tax breaks on workplace pensions salary-sacrifice plans, experts have warned, as part of an effort to increase revenue in the next budget.

The Home Office has published a report on safe and legal routes into the UK. The report has been produced under the Illegal Migration Act 2023 and outlines the governments policy on the safe and legal routes into the UK for humanitarian purposes and asylum. The report examines country specific routes like the Ukraine Scheme, global resettlement routes, refugee family reunion and the displaced talent mobility pilot. The report contains a summary of statistics for some of the visa routes it describes. However, there is no safe and legal route to claim asylum from outside the UK and no plans announced in the report to introduce one.

HM Treasury (HMT) has published the government’s response to the 2024 consultation on the Money Laundering Regulations (MLRs), detailing changes that will be made to the MLRs to close loopholes, clarify requirements and ensure customer due diligence is targeted at high-risk activity. A draft Statutory Instrument will be published for technical feedback in due course, and laid before Parliament later in 2025 if parliamentary time allows. The government says other issues will be addressed through guidance, in collaboration with supervisors, to ensure a consistent, risk-based approach.