The Netherlands Arbitration Institute (NAI) has published its 2024 NAI Arbitration Rules. The NAI has said that the new rules are more efficient and will result in faster dispute resolution. The new rules will be in force as of 1 March 2024.

National Arrangements for Incidents Involving Radioactivity

National Audit Office: The NAO audits most public-sector bodies in the UK (including the NDA) and produces value-for-money reports into the implementation of Government policies.

The National Audit Office (NAO) has announced an investigation into the Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP). The PDP is one of the Department for Work & Pensions’ (DWP) major projects and is intended to allow individuals to view information about their pensions online, securely and in one place. The responsibility for delivering the programme fell to the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS). In March 2023, the Minister for Pensions announced that the programme would be reset to allow more time to deliver the technical solution to enable the connection of pension providers and schemes. The scope of the NAO investigation will set out the purpose of the PDP and how it was set up, what progress DWP and MaPs have made against delivery plans and what has caused delays in implementation, what progress DWP and MaPS have made in resetting the programme and what changes have resulted from the reset. The investigation is scheduled for Spring 2024.

The National Audit Office (NAO) has published a study examining the Bank of England’s (BoE) Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) renewal programme, which is a critical part of the UK's national infrastructure for payment services. The RTGS system processes around £750bn worth of transactions daily and is being renewed to accommodate new banks, payment providers and technologies. Scheduled for introduction in Spring 2025, the NAO's study focuses on whether the BoE has managed the programme effectively and efficiently, ensuring resilience to future developments and risks. The study evaluates the BoE 's vision, strategy, governance, and adaptability, as well as its application of lessons learned to future digital transformations. The NAO team, led by Director Simon Reason and Senior Audit Manager Natalie Low, aims to provide insights into the effectiveness of the RTGS renewal and its broader implications for the BoE's operations.

The National Audit Office (NAO) has published a report stating that capacity and capability issues have contributed to delays to government’s Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP). In 2019, DWP delegated responsibility for delivering the PDP to the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS). However, it did not have assurance at the outset that MaPS had the capacity and capability to deliver a major digital programme such as the PDP. Between 2020 and mid-2022, DWP and MaPS made progress but in December 2022, MaPS informed DWP that the PDP’s delivery timetable was no longer viable. A subsequent review carried out by DWP in February 2023 found that multiple factors had contributed to the delivery problems, including a lack of skilled digital resources and ineffective programme governance. This delay led to a programme reset, an estimated cost increase of 23% and a revised final connection deadline of 31 October 2026—one year later than what was outlined in the original timetable.

The National Audit Office (NAO) has published a report on HM Revenue & Customs' (HMRC) readiness to handle tax evasion in high street and online retail. One of the things the report covers is how well HMRC understands and assesses the risk and scale of tax evasion in retail, and its strategy to tackle evasion. The report concludes that tax evasion costs the UK substantial sums each year in lost tax revenue.

The National Audit Office (NAO) has published a report examining the approach by the Department for Education (DfE) in supporting the school system in England respond to falling pupil numbers, seen in primary schools since 2018/19. The report: (1) outlines responsibilities, changes in pupil numbers and the implications for school finances and educational outcomes; (2) assesses the extent to which the DfE understands changes in pupil numbers and school place provision; and (3) evaluates the effectiveness of the DfE’s overall response to shifting national demand, including its sector support and oversight. The conclusions from the report note that national demand for primary school places fell by 3% between 2018–19 and 2024–25, with a further 7% decline projected by 2030, increasing unfilled places from 10% to 14%. Although DfE has focused on ensuring sufficient places, it was slow to support the sector’s response, with recent estates work only beginning to address surplus space.

The National Audit Office (NAO) published a value-for-money report on 31 October 2025, examining local authority spending on home-to-school transport in England. The report revealed that, in 2023–24, local authorities spent £2.32bn to transport an estimated 520,000 children and young people, making home-to-school transport one of the fastest-growing areas of local authority expenditure. The NAO concluded that local authorities are struggling to balance their statutory duties under the Education Act 1996, which require them to provide transport for eligible pupils, with their obligation to maintain balanced budgets.

The National Audit Office’s (NAO) October 2025 report highlights the escalating costs of clinical negligence in England, which have tripled over the past two decades, reaching £3.6b in 2024–25. The report identifies high-value claims—particularly those involving brain injuries in maternity care—as the primary cost drivers, with average compensation for such cases reaching £11.2m. Legal costs, especially for low-value claims, are disproportionately high, with a 3.7:1 ratio of legal fees to damages for claims under £25,000. The report calls for systemic reforms, including better patient safety practices, improved complaint handling and greater transparency in legal fee arrangements.

The National Audit Office (NAO) has published a report examining whether the Bank of England (BoE) has efficient and effective systems and processes to manage risks of non-compliance with legal, ethical and staff policy requirements. It concludes that the BoE has made good progress in developing new and improved systems and processes to understand the risks it faces of non-compliance with legal and ethical requirements and staff policies, and to manage these in a responsive and proportionate way. However, the BoE recognises that it has more to do to ensure its systems and processes for managing compliance risks are effective in practice, and it is planning further improvements.

The National Audit Office (NAO) has published a report examining the Department for Education’s (DfE) approach to addressing challenges encountered by local authorities in securing cost effective and high-quality residential care for children in England—revealing costs nearly doubled to £3.1bn between 2019–20 and 2023–24. The report outlines the profile of looked-after children, detailing the current costs and outcomes associated with the residential care system and explores the factors contributing to rising residential care costs and evaluates how the DfE supports local authorities in fulfilling their statutory duty to house looked-after children. The DfE has initiated reforms including draft legislation introduced in December 2024 to enhance financial oversight of private providers and encourage collective commissioning by local authorities. The report concludes the current system is not delivering value for money, citing a shortage of places for children with complex needs as a key factor driving cost increases.