The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation has published a report to the Financial Stability Board, highlighting global progress in mandatory and voluntary corporate climate-related disclosures. The report also outlines alignment with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures recommendations, noting that 82% of companies have disclosed information in line with at least one of the recommendations. It further reveals that over 1,000 companies have incorporated the International Sustainability Standards Board Standards in their reports, and 30 jurisdictions are working to integrate these Standards into their legal frameworks. A separate analysis by the IFRS Foundation of these 30 jurisdictions reveals a growing trend of including Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions and industry-specific disclosure requirements in jurisdictional frameworks. In addition, 90% of jurisdictions are considering comprehensive sustainability-related risk and opportunity disclosures.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has published its final Pensions Review report outlining its recommendations for reforms to the UK pension system. Drawing on research spanning over two and a half years, the report presents a detailed roadmap for reform that tackles what it calls significant challenges operating within the UK pension system and the financial risks impacting future generations of pensioners. Policy recommendations include a four-point state pension guarantee linking future increases to earnings and longevity, mandatory 3% employer pension contributions for all employees aged 16–74, and new mechanisms for self-employed pension contributions through Self Assessment. The proposals also recommend automatic consolidation of small pension pots especially for those approaching (or above) state pension age, facilitating flexible but protective default retirement income products such as ‘flex then fix’ approaches combining the flexibility of ‘drawdown’ with the security of annuities, and also ensuring savers have free access to high-quality information and support similar to Financial Conduct Authority's targeted support proposals.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has analysed the government's announced reform of the State Pension triple lock, which will apply from 2030–31.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has published an article examining whether Labour’s commitment to reintroduce the pensions lifetime allowance (LTA) is a good idea. The article concludes that there is a case for reinstatement but adds that it would be ‘sensible’ to go beyond simply reintroducing the LTA, and advises Labour, if they are to form the next government, to implement any reform swiftly.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has published a report examining trends in employer pension contributions and modelling potential reforms to increase minimum contributions under automatic enrolment. The report finds that employer contribution rates have risen since the introduction of automatic enrolment, although employees of smaller firms, lower earners and workers in certain sectors remain particularly likely to receive only the statutory minimum. It concludes that higher minimum contributions could improve retirement income adequacy but would reduce current take-home pay and increase employer costs disproportionately in low-paying sectors.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has published its annual report on education spending in England for 2025–26. The report compares spending across different stages of education and analyses the pressures and choices facing policymakers. It finds that spending on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is set to more than double in real terms between 2015 and 2028, creating a £6bn funding gap by 2028. The report also highlights that mainstream school spending per pupil rose by only 5% between 2019 and 2025, as rising SEND costs squeezed budgets, while early years funding has shifted towards working families and further and higher education continue to face long-term funding pressures. The IFS warns that without reforms or additional resources, rising SEND pressures and uneven pupil numbers risk undermining education budgets and outcomes.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has published a report detailing the productivity challenges facing the Crown Court of England and Wales, outlining significant declines that have contributed to a growing case backlog while recommending systemic reforms. The report, authored by Magdalena Domínguez, Joe Tomlinson, and Ben Zaranko, highlights that simply increasing sitting days or basic resources is insufficient unless efficiency is also improved—it calls for upcoming independent reviews of the criminal courts to assess productivity improvements alongside broader system reforms. This assessment underscores the importance of addressing inefficiencies within the Crown Court system to ensure that any additional resources or increased sitting days lead to genuine improvements in case management and service delivery.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has published a report, ‘Policies to improve employees’ retirement resources’, which discusses how public policy should change to bring about better outcomes in retirement for employees through their accumulation of private pension wealth. The report finds that that more than half of private sector employees who are saving in a defined contribution pension are on course to meet standard benchmarks of retirement income adequacy, but a substantial minority are not. Policy suggestions include: any employee who earns enough should be eligible for automatic enrolment (AE) from age 16 up to age 74, employees should receive an employer pension contribution of at least 3% of total pay, irrespective of whether they contribute themselves, and increases in the default pension contribution above 8% of earnings should be targeted at average and above-average earners. The IFS states that its policy suggestions would boost private pension saving for all, or nearly all, employees who currently miss out on any contribution from their employer, help employees to save more for retirement at the points of their working lives when they are most able to do so, mitigate concerns about the affordability of higher default contributions, and help ‘future-proof’ the system by ensuring that over the longer term, thresholds in the AE system keep up with average earnings growth.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has published a report examining the proliferation of deferred small pension pots in the UK and potential policy responses. The IFS recommends implementing automatic consolidation of deferred small pots, preferably through a ‘pot follows member’ approach. They suggest starting with a £1,000 limit for auto-consolidation, to be raised over time, and implementing same-scheme consolidation for multiple pots with the same provider. The report advises against immediately pursuing member choice or lifetime provider models, suggesting these be considered only after auto-consolidation is fully implemented. This recommendation aims to address the growing issue of over 12 million deferred pension pots worth less than £1,000 as of 2023, which creates administrative burdens and potentially erodes pension values.

The Home Office has repeatedly spent more than it budgeted for asylum, border, visa and passport operations in recent years, relying on emergency funding payments from the Treasury.

Law360: Historical increases in the state pension age have had a disproportionate adverse effect on women in their late 50s who are not working, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has found.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has published analysis showing that statutory Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) have created uncontrolled spending growth, with high-needs spending rising 66% from £7.5bn in 2016 to £12bn in 2025. The report identifies that councils face large annual shortfalls because statutory provision requirements exceed central government funding, with accumulated debts forecast to reach £8bn by 2028. The current 'statutory override' accounting treatment, which allows councils to report high-needs deficits separately from main budgets, expires in March 2028. Child disability living allowance spending has doubled from £2bn to over £4bn in the same period, with official forecasts suggesting further growth of £1.8bn over five years without reform. The analysis shows substantial overlap between the two support systems, with 77% of 12-15 year olds with EHCPs also receiving child disability living allowance. The IFS recommends that the Office for Budget Responsibility should produce annual forecasts for high-needs spending and calls for a comprehensive review of support systems, noting the government's commitment to publish a special educational needs White Paper in Autumn 2025.