The government has added a new clause to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, which would extend the application of the existing right to work scheme to cover alternative working arrangements that have previously fallen outside its scope. Currently, the statutory framework under the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 requires right to work checks only for individuals engaged as employees under conventional contracts, if the employer is to obtain a statutory excuse against a civil penalty where a worker is subsequently found to lack the requisite immigration permission. The new clause would extend the need for checks to employers and businesses which engage individuals to undertake work for third parties through non-traditional contracting methods: those operating under a worker’s contract, as individual subcontractors, and through online matching platforms. This measure would effectively broaden the remit of the existing checks to catch forms of engagement prevalent in the gig economy, where many workers are self-employed or operate under casual, zero-hours, or temporary arrangements.

Law360, London: The Office of the Whistleblower Bill was introduced for its first reading in the House of Commons on 18 December 2025. The second reading of the Bill will take place in the House of Commons on 25 April 2025. This article will provide an outline of the draft Office of the Whistleblower Bill, which has been produced by Whistleblowers UK as secretariat to the All Party Parliamentary Group for Whistleblowing.

There are three nuclear new build utilities in the UK: NNB GenCo with plans to build 6.4GW of new nuclear, NuGeneration Ltd which was planning 3.6GW capacity (which Toshiba has just announced it hopes to sell to KEPCO) and Horizon Nuclear Power generating at least 5.4GW.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) have announced that the new Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct & Promotional Marketing Code (CAP Code) and Code of Broadcast Advertising (BCAP Code) rules on alcohol alternative product advertising have come into force on 14 May 2024. The ASA and CAP have also released a formal guidance alongside, which explains how the rules should be interpreted and applied, as most of the rules depend on the content of an ad and the context in which it appears. The guidance also includes examples of approaches that would not be acceptable. The new rules can be found in Section 18 of the CAP Code and Section 19 of the BCAP Code, and cover the promotion of beverages with an alcohol by volume (ABV) at or below 0.5% which are marketed as alternatives to alcoholic drinks, and also cover the content of alcohol alternative product ads and how they should be appropriately targeted.

The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) launched the RM6190 Technology Services 4 framework on 12 December 2025, replacing the RM6100 Technology Services 3 framework, which expires in March 2026. The new framework, which will run for up to 8 years, is largest of its kind in the public sector, incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) and automation as ancillary services to help enhance digital services in the public sector. Let under the Procurement Act 2023 (PA 2023), the framework aims to facilitate more flexible procurement of technology services, including service and architecture design, end user support, IT infrastructure, app development, data and transformation services. Key updates include simpler procurement terms, removal of maximum call off terms and supplier limits, and the ability for customers to procure services from two lots in one exercise. Contract terms have been revised to address feedback relating to intellectual property rights, insurance limits and liability arrangements, with potential cost savings of up to 20% compared to current market rates.

Ireland—Commercial analysis: This article, written by Patrick Holan, partner, Richard Ryan, partner, and Simon Breen, partner, of Arthur Cox LLP, notes that on 16 July 2026, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) delivered an important judgment in IMI—Imagens Médicas Integradas SA and Others v Autoridade da Concorrência, Cases C‑258/23 to C‑260/23, EU:C:2026:585, concerning the powers of competition authorities to seize electronic communications during antitrust investigations. In a decision likely to be welcomed by competition regulators across the EU, the court confirmed that EU law does not require prior judicial authorisation for the seizure of business emails during competition inspections, provided that the applicable legal framework contains appropriate safeguards to protect fundamental rights and that effective judicial review is available.

Commercial analysis: On 3 July 2025, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) issued its draft guidance on the price transparency provisions in the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA 2024) and launched a consultation on this draft guidance (to close on 8 September 2025). The new guidance is a supplement to the Unfair Commercial Practices guidance (CMA207). Written by Anna Blest, knowledge counsel, Marieke Datema, counsel, and Richard Shaw, partner, all at BCLP LLP.

The Cabinet Office has published a new collection gathering details of public inquiry recommendations made since 2024, and the government's responses, providing a new resource for tracking government actions and implementation. The collection entitled ‘Public Inquiries: Recommendations and the Government Response’ will provide access to interactive dashboards for each public inquiry, recording inquiry recommendations and the government’s commitments in response to those recommendations, plus updates on their implementation by the departments/bodies responsible. At launch, the collection includes dashboards for the Infected Blood Inquiry report of 20 May 2024 and the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 report of 4 September 2024. The dashboards will be updated periodically to record implementation progress. Additional dashboards will also be added in due course. Recommendations made by the Infected Blood Inquiry additional report of 9 July 2025 will be included in the next update, as well as the recommendations of the UK Covid 19 Inquiry (Module 1) report.

1. Have there been any recent developments regarding the New Caledonia merger control regime and are any updates/developments expected in the coming year? Are there any other ‘hot’ merger control issues in New Caledonia? New Caledonia is a French overseas territory with increased autonomy from mainland France under a special status. As such, New Caledonia has since 2014 a separate merger control regime and its own competition rules, which are enforced by the Autorité de la concurrence de la Nouvelle-Calédonie (ACNC). The two regimes however share many similarities and the two competition authorities collaborate closely. The ACNC would therefore routinely refer in its decisions to the merger control guidelines and decisional practice of the French Competition Authority (FCA). While New Caledonia is not part of the European Union (EU) (but one of the associated overseas countries and territories of the EU under Article 198 TFEU), the French merger control rules and decisional practice are very similar to that applied at the EU level, resulting in a significant (indirect) influence from EU merger control jurisdictional and substantive

Practice Management has launched a new Career development subtopic, bringing together practical guidance and precedents to help law firms develop structured and inclusive career pathways. The new content is designed to support both organisational career development strategies and individual career planning, providing firms and professionals with tools to support progression at all stages of a legal career.

The Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) has confirmed that the UK government accepted its recommendation to amend the tariff rate quota on imports of Category 1 steel products, effective from 1 October 2024. The new steel safeguard measures will be split into two categories—Category 1A, which will be accessible to parties who wish to import the products for commercial application and Category 1B for downstream processing. The quota for Category 1A will remain at the current levels of just over 1 million tonnes annually, while the quota for Category 1B will be set 132% higher than that of Category 1A, amounting to approximately 2.3 million tonnes annually. Category 1B allowances will be allocated on a global basis, but there will be a cap of 40% to ensure there is no domination by a single country. Where the steel import volumes are exceeded, importers will be required to pay the 25% tariff. In light of the new quotas, the TRA is reassessing a suspension review recommendation, initiated in February 2024, following Tata Steel UK's plans to close its blast furnaces in Port Talbot, inviting public input until 13 October 2024.

Restructuring & Insolvency analysis: The LexisNexis Restructuring & Insolvency practical guidance team has published a new Checklist called ‘Checklist for approval of Part 26 schemes and Part 26A restructuring plans involving HMRC’. This Checklist sets out the factors which HMRC will consider when assessing a Part 26 scheme of arrangement or Part 26A restructuring plan which seeks to compromise debts owed to HMRC. It also outlines the information which must be provided to HMRC, their process for assessing the scheme/plan, the kinds of scheme/plan they are likely or less likely to approve and the court’s approach to challenges from HMRC.