The Minister for EU Relations, Nick Thomas-Symonds, has delivered a speech at the EU-UK Forum in Brussels, outlining the UK government's approach to strengthening UK-EU relations. He emphasised a pragmatic shift, focusing on three key pillars: strengthening national security, improving public safety through strong borders, and increasing prosperity through economic growth. He noted recent progress, such as increased engagement between UK and EU leaders, plans for a leader-level summit in May 2025, and the UK's commitment to implementing existing agreements such as the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and the Windsor Framework. Thomas-Symonds also emphasised the importance of reducing trade barriers, rejoining the Horizon programme, and collaborating on issues such as energy security and combating organised crime.

The Minister for Migration and Citizenship, Mike Tapp MP, wrote to the Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee (HASC), Rt Hon Dame Karen Bradley MP, on 17 July 2026 regarding the HASC’s report, ‘Earned Settlement: Examining the Government’s proposed reforms’. Tapp said the government’s current intention is to publish its response to the earned settlement consultation alongside its response to the HASC report in autumn 2026. Officials are continuing to analyse consultation responses and are considering the HASC’s recommendations as part of that process. Tapp said the HASC will be updated if the timetable changes.

Minister for Pensions, Torsten Bell MP, has announced at the Pension and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) Conference on 11 March 2025 that the government's Pensions Investment Review will be finalised in coming weeks, with a new Pensions Bill to be introduced before the House of Commons' summer recess (currently scheduled for 22 July 2025). The Minister has confirmed the March 2026 deadline for the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) pooling reforms and outlined plans for defined benefit (DB) scheme surplus flexibilities. The speech highlighted current defined contribution (DC) schemes' allocation of 3% to infrastructure and 0.5% to private equity, compared to 11% infrastructure allocation in Canada. The LGPS, currently holding £400bn in assets, is projected to reach £1trn by 2040.

The Minister for Pensions, Torsten Bell MP, has hosted a roundtable with regulators and leading pension providers to support a joined-up approach to Value for Money (VFM) in pensions. The event marked the first public discussion of the ‘Pound for Pound’ (‘£4£’) initiative, aimed at shifting the UK market from cost-based comparisons to broader value-based metrics, shifting market conversations away from cost towards value. This shift is essential for the success of the government’s proposed approach set out in the Pension Schemes Bill 2025. Insights from Australia’s superannuation system were central to the session, highlighting how clear benchmarking, transparency and regulatory oversight have transformed both member outcomes and the understanding of value in Australia. Intended to inform the impending regulatory consultation on VFM metrics, the superannuation system formed a key reference point as the discussion explored how lessons from Australia and insights from providers could shape regulatory thinking and support the development of the Pension Schemes Bill. Roundtable participants including the Department for Work and Pension, the Financial Conduct Authority, Pensions UK and a number of the Mansion House Accord signatories, agreed that now is the time for government, regulators and industry to collaborate in shaping and embedding a robust, fit-for-purpose VFM regime.

The Minister for Legal Migration and the Border Tom Pursglove MP, addressed the House of Commons (HoC) on the recent passports e-Gates network outage, which caused significant disruption to UK airports. As Dan Jarvis MP noted, this followed system collapse at the start of the late May bank holiday weekend in 2023 because of a failed system upgrade, and technical issues in 2021 which caused the gates to fail three times in two months. The Minster informed the HoC that the outage occurred at around the a quarter to eight on Tuesday 7 May 2024 and that the issue had been resolved before half past midnight. He also gave more details on the outage.

As reported by the London Maritime Arbitrators Association (LMAA), The Minister of State for Courts and Legal Services has announced that the Arbitration Act 2025 will come into effect on 1 August 2025. More details to follow.

The UK Minister of State for Trade Policy, Greg Hands, has written a statement to the UK Parliament, providing an update on the UK-Switzerland enhanced Free Trade Agreement (FTA) following the fourth round of negotiations. The updates include the Department for Business and Trade closing the chapter on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to help UK SMEs grow their operations easily into the Swiss market and a fifth hybrid round of negotiations in the UK scheduled for the summer of 2024, among other things.

The Minister of State for Local Government and English Devolution has issued a formal letter to councils invited to submit final proposals for unitary local government reorganisation. The letter outlines the process, provides guidance on financial decision-making, and emphasises partnership working in social care. It reaffirms the UK Government’s commitment to establishing a single-tier system of local governance in selected areas, signalling continued support for streamlining local government and improving service delivery.

In a letter dated 18 December 2025, Housing and Planning Minister Matthew Pennycook MP tells the Planning Inspectorate to scrutinise attempts to revisit viability and planning obligations through section 73 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA 1990), reiterates that section TCPA 1990, s 106A is the proper route to modify obligations, and flags upcoming guidance and legislation to implement section 73B.

In legal practice, a ministerial act is a step that implements a decision or statutory duty in a purely mechanical or clerical way, leaving no room for personal judgment or discretion. It is not limited to acts by a government Minister; “ministerial” describes the nature of the function.The term is a descriptive expression developed in case law across the UK and Ireland rather than a generally defined statutory term, though many statutes impose duties that are ministerial in character. Hallmarks include: a non-discretionary duty; objective preconditions; and an obligation to act once those preconditions are met. Typical examples include sealing and issuing a court order once made, entering judgment, registering documents that satisfy formal requirements, issuing a licence where statutory criteria are met, and executing a warrant.Practical significance: in public law and judicial review, courts may grant a mandatory order (historically mandamus) to compel performance of a ministerial duty, but will not dictate the outcome of a discretionary decision. The distinction also informs questions of public authority liability and immunity (judicial immunity attaches to judicial acts, not purely ministerial steps). Usage is broadly consistent across England & Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland.

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. EU legislation which is not directly applicable (eg Directives and Decisions) can be enacted either by primary or secondary legislation in the UK. The vast majority of EU legislation is enacted by Statutory Instrument (SI) under section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 (ECA 1972). This section confers authority on ministers, government departments or Her Majesty in Council to make, with certain exceptions contained in Schedule 2 of the Act, subordinate legislation. Subordinate legislation made under this section can repeal or amend existing legislation if this is incompatible with EU law, including, subject to certain conditions, Acts of Parliament. The use of statutory instruments to implement subordinate legislation SIs implementing EU law are made under the powers in s1(1) and s 1(2) of the Statutory Instruments Act 1946 (SIA 1946). In the context of the EU, where any such subordinate legislation includes provisions addressing technical standards then under Directive 83/189/EEC (as amended by Directive 88/182/EEC) any such

The Department for Business and Trade has published a statement from the Minister for Enterprise, Markets and Small Business, Kevin Hollinrake, on the government’s review of domestic abuse statutory leave provision for employees. The review assessed whether the government should create a specific leave entitlement for those experiencing domestic abuse. Hollinrake stated that it was ‘not the right time to bring forward specific proposals’ due to the complex and varying needs of victims of domestic abuse.