The Home Office has launched a call for evidence seeking views on reforming the licensing system under the Licensing Act 2003. The consultation aims to develop a modern licensing system that reduces administrative burdens on businesses by 25% while maintaining the four existing licensing objectives, focusing on alcohol sales in pubs, restaurants and nightclubs and entertainment licensing. Responses are due by midday on 6 November 2025.

The Home Office has launched a call for evidence to reform the UK's National Referral Mechanism (NRM) for identifying victims of modern slavery.  The evidence gathered aims to create a more effective identification system where victims are recognised early and accurately so they can be protected and provided with appropriate assistance and support towards recovery from exploitation. The consultation will focus on three key areas:

The Home Office has launched a call for evidence on anonymous access to UK telephone numbers and call routing for fraud. It aims to improve understanding of how criminals obtain telephone numbers and access call routing services by establishing themselves as telecommunications providers or exploiting existing providers, and to assess whether further proportionate safeguards are needed. It focuses on access to telephone numbers through allocation, sub-allocation and resale, as well as call routing and related technologies, and seeks evidence on weaknesses in identity verification, onboarding and commercial arrangements that may enable fraud. Building on existing measures, including Ofcom’s strengthened customer verification requirements and caller ID spoofing rules, the Telecoms Fraud Sector Charter and the Fraud Strategy 2026–29, the Home Office is seeking evidence on the scale and impact of these risks, possible regulatory, legislative and industry responses, international approaches and any unintended consequences of potential interventions. The call for evidence excludes messaging applications, encrypted platforms, fraud unrelated to telephone numbers or call routing, and the retail purchase of telephone numbers by individual consumers. The call for evidence will run until 7 October 2026.

The Home Office is seeking views on unauthorised fraud in the UK, following a significant rise in the phenomenon fuelled by increasingly sophisticated methods and the rapid evolution of the digital economy. The government is seeking detailed input, supported by data, case studies and operational insight from organisations, industry bodies, law enforcement, regulators, consumer groups and victims themselves. Responses are sought by 7 October 2026.

The Home Office has launched a consultation on Martyn’s Law, seeking views of organisations, businesses, local authorities and individuals responsible for standard tier premises. The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill, also known as Martyn’s Law, named after Martyn Hett, who was killed in the 2017 Manchester Arena attack, aims to ensure that premises are prepared for terrorist attacks. This consultation focuses on the implications of Martyn’s Law, on smaller businesses in the standard tier category. The consultation closes on 18 March 2024.

The Home Office has launched a consultation to develop a new legal framework governing law enforcement use of facial recognition and similar technologies.The consultation seeks views on which technologies should be covered, including biometric, inferential and object recognition tools, which organisations should be subject to the framework, and what safeguards are necessary to protect privacy rights while ensuring proportionate use relative to the seriousness of harm being addressed. The consultation ends on 12 February 2026.

The Home Office has launched a consultation on a proposed mandatory licensing scheme for knife sales and imports. The scheme would require licences for businesses, private sellers, and importers of knives and bladed items. Key proposed measures include: police suitability checks for sellers, mandatory age verification, secure packaging requirements and import licences designed to prevent sellers from relocating overseas to avoid regulation. These proposals are a response to recommendations made by the Independent Review of Online Knife Sales, led by National Police Chiefs' Council knife crime lead Commander Stephen Clayman. The measures aim to tackle the ‘grey market’, where knives are sold without regulatory oversight through unregulated resales on social media platforms.

The Home Office has announced the launch of the 'Stop! Think Fraud' national campaign against fraud. The campaign is being led by counter fraud experts who will provide consistent, clear and simple to follow advice through an online fraud hub. The campaign will also signpost people to organisations for advice and support. The government has reported that the campaign is a step against the most prolific crime type in the UK and delivers on the Fraud Strategy's commitment to a public awareness campaign. The government has commented on other key strategy pledges that have been fulfilled in line with the Fraud Strategy, including the agreement of the world’s first charter to prevent online fraud, the rollout of the National Fraud Squad and the appointment of a government anti-fraud champion. The campaign is supported by the tech, financial and retail sectors and law enforcement.

Law360, London: A string of leading insurance organisations have agreed to clamp down on criminal attempts to manipulate the UK insurance market with fake claims, among a range of other pledges included in a government charter designed to tackle fraud in Britain.

The Home Office has launched a new insurance fraud charter at the first Joint Fraud Taskforce (JFT) meeting of 2024. The 'Fraud sector charter: insurance' is a voluntary agreement between the government and the insurance sector, aimed at finding gaps in the insurance market, strengthening cooperation and criminal justice results, gaining a better understanding of the scale of the problem and improving victim support. The JFT will consider progress in relation to actions arising from each commitment in this Charter, with a review expected to be conducted six months after publication.

The Home Office has launched two parallel consultations as part of its efforts to combat knife crime. The first seeks views on the proposed legal description of ninja swords to be included in the list of prohibited weapons under section 141 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, along with potential defences or exemptions. The second consultation proposes measures to hold senior executives of online platforms personally liable for failing to swiftly remove content related to illegal knives. These initiatives form part of the government's broader strategy to halve knife crime over the next decade and follow a campaign by Pooja Kanda, whose son was killed with a ninja sword in 2022. The consultations are open until 11 December 2024 and invite input from the public, law enforcement, legal professionals and other relevant stakeholders.

The Home Office has initiated the recruitment process for the first ever Windrush Commissioner, with applications now open. This independent role, to be appointed by the summer of 2025, will advocate for those affected by the Windrush scandal and advise on the delivery of compensation and status schemes. The Commissioner will work alongside the re-established Windrush Unit with a brief to drive forward lessons learned and embed cultural change within the department. As previously confirmed, the government has also committed £1.5 million in grant funding to enhance advocacy support for victims applying for compensation, as part of a broader reset of the Home Office's response to the scandal.