The Home Office and UK Visas and Immigration have added updated versions of two codes of practice under the right to rent scheme, both of which come into force on 1 October 2026. The updated codes cover the right to rent scheme for landlords and their agents and the avoidance of unlawful discrimination when conducting right to rent checks in the private rented residential sector. The codes provide guidance for landlords, homeowners and letting agents affected by right to rent immigration checks.

The Home Office has announced that £600,000 has been allocated for the second year of the three-year £1.5m Windrush Compensation Advocacy Support Fund (WCASF), which was launched in April 2025. The funding is intended to provide dedicated advocacy support to individuals affected by the Windrush scandal, helping them navigate the compensation claims process. Community organisations interested in applying can attend virtual information sessions on 15 and 23 January 2026, with applications to be submitted via the Find and Apply Grant portal by 6 February 2026. The fund aims to assist claimants in articulating their experiences, gathering supporting evidence and accessing additional services through advocates who understand their cultural background.

The Home Office has amended clause 87 of the Crime and Policing Bill to remove the three-year limitation period for civil personal injury claims arising from child sexual abuse, thereby implementing a recommendation of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. The clause inserts a new section 11ZB into the Limitation Act 1980, providing that such claims must be dismissed if the defendant satisfies the court that a fair hearing cannot take place. The government has further amended the clause to remove an additional ground for dismissal based on ‘substantial prejudice’, following concerns raised in Committee, and considers that the retained fair hearing safeguard appropriately protects defendants’ rights while giving effect to the Inquiry’s recommendation.

The Home Office has amended Part 3 of the Workers and Temporary Workers sponsor guidance, covering sponsor duties and compliance, to bring the guidance up to date on certain changes that have been previously announced/implemented. It also makes some other minor changes, eg to the refusal annexes at the back of the guidance. One noteworthy change is to clarify that a change to a hybrid working pattern does not need to be reported on the SMS, although records need to be kept of the worker’s working patterns. A hybrid working pattern is where workers work remotely from home or another remote site on a regular basis as well as regularly attending a traditional work location such as one of the sponsor’s offices, branches or client sites. Where there are any changes to the main working location, or new client sites, this needs to be reported. Where a worker is or will be working entirely remotely (with little or no requirement to attend the sponsor’s premises or a client site), this will always need to be reported. The guidance states that in these cases the Home Office ‘reserve[s] the right to ask you to explain why you need to sponsor the worker to come to the UK if (for example) they could work remotely from their own country’.

The Home Office has published a review of the administrative review process introduced under the Immigration Act 2014, examining whether the restriction of appeal rights and introduction of administrative review for certain immigration decisions improved access to justice and delivered value for money. The report finds that administrative review initially operated as a faster and less costly mechanism for correcting caseworking errors. Its introduction coincided with a reduction in the volume of appeals reaching the Immigration and Asylum Chamber, and the process is estimated to have generated substantial savings across the justice system. However, increased caseloads, the expansion of the process’s remit, greater evidential complexity and wider operational pressures have significantly affected performance since 2019.

The Home Office and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) have published a joint response to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) report on barriers to Schedule 1 controlled drugs research. The government has accepted four out of five recommendations in principle. These include plans to exempt universities and hospitals from Home Office licensing requirements for Schedule 1 drugs research, subject to operational feasibility, and the implementation of a pilot scheme to assess the benefits and consequences of such exemptions.

The Home Office and Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) have announced various measures to combat visa abuse and worker exploitation. Employers who repeatedly breach immigration law or commit serious employment breaches, such as not paying the National Minimum Wage will face extended bans on hiring overseas workers, with repeat offenders barred for at least two years, up from the current 12-month maximum. Final ‘cooling-off’ periods will be announced in due course. Action plans for minor breaches will be extended to 12 months maximum, and companies will be prohibited from charging workers for sponsorship costs (although exactly which costs have not been specified). These changes, stated to be part of the new Employment Rights Bill, are aimed to protect vulnerable workers, particularly in the care sector. The government has also intensified enforcement actions, including revoking approximately 450 sponsor licences in the care sector since July 2022 and allocating £16 million to regional partnerships to combat unethical recruitment practices and establish operational processes with the regional partnerships to support sponsored care workers to switch employers and remain working in the care sector when they have been impacted by their sponsor’s licence being revoked.

The Home Office has announced plans requiring technology companies, including Apple and Google, to implement device-level nudity detection and blocking on smartphones and tablets used by children in the UK. The measures are intended to prevent children from taking, sharing or viewing nude images, reduce online exploitation and restrict access to pornography. The Home Office stated that where companies do not act within three months, the government will bring forward legislation requiring activation of the technology, including fines for non-compliance. Separately, the Department for Education (DfE) announced the launch of a call for evidence to inform guidance on healthy screen use for children aged 5–16, which will offer practical, evidence-based support for parents. The call for evidence will also seek views on screen use in schools and where technology can best support learning. The guidance will be published in autumn 2026.

The Home Office and the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) have announced a new Anti-Corruption Strategy aimed at tackling bribery, money laundering, and insider threats. The strategy includes an expansion of the Domestic Corruption Unit, increased enforcement funding, and tougher vetting for high-risk public sector roles, while also targeting corrupt professional enablers. Additional resources from the Economic Crime Levy will support enhanced investigations and enforcement activity. Alongside these measures, FCDO will host an Illicit Finance Summit in London from 23–24 June 2026 to build a global coalition against dirty money, focusing on stronger international cooperation, crypto-related risks and improved financial transparency.

The Home Office and HM Treasury have published the UK’s anti-money laundering and asset recovery strategy 2026–29. The strategy aims to strengthen the UK’s response to money laundering and increase the recovery of criminal assets. It will focus on higher-risk activity, improve financial intelligence sharing and invest in people, technology and legal powers. It is supported by at least £520 million from the Economic Crime Levy, a further £30 million from the high streets package announced at budget 2025 and more than 500 new officers.

The Home Office has announced plans to strengthen powers for police and local authorities to close businesses linked to organised crime by extending the maximum duration of Closure Orders and considering new temporary closure powers. The proposals, which are subject to consultation, are intended to give investigators more time to gather evidence and prevent businesses from reopening while investigations are ongoing. The government will also review the inclusion of vape shops, barber shops and car washes on the skilled worker sponsorship list following concerns about potential misuse.

The Home Office and HM Treasury (HMT) have published the Anti-Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Strategy, announcing the recruitment of 500 officers to be deployed across police forces, the National Crime Agency and the Crown Prosecution Service. The initiative is backed by £500 million over three years from the economic crime levy. The new investigators will focus on tracing illicit funds linked to serious and organised crime, disrupting domestic and international money laundering networks and recovering criminal assets. The strategy aims to modernise the UK’s response to money laundering through new intelligence capabilities, advanced technology and stronger public-private collaboration, alongside work with international partners to improve asset recovery. Accompanying figures show that, over the past year: (1) almost £350 million in criminal assets was recovered, (2) criminals were denied more than £1 billion, (3) £26 million was returned to victims and (4) 2,700 illicit finance operations were disrupted. The government also states that the money laundering threat has become more complex with the rise of fintech, crypto and artificial intelligence. The Financial Conduct Authority highlights reforms to anti-money laundering supervision as an opportunity to strengthen supervision of professional services, ensure more consistent oversight and help identify and disrupt crime.