On 25 March 2026, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published a policy paper setting out a package of temporary planning, funding and regulatory measures intended to accelerate housing delivery in London, with a particular focus on increasing affordable housing supply. The paper responds to a marked slowdown in housebuilding, attributed to factors including high interest rates, increased construction costs and viability pressures, which have led to stalled schemes and reduced output. In parallel, the Secretary of State and the Mayor of London published a letter to London Boroughs and a letter to housebuilders and registered providers.

This Practice Note explains the obligations of local authorities to provide support for special guardians. It sets out how a local authority assesses the need for special guardianship support services including financial support. It also looks at what the local authority must take into account when carrying out assessments for financial support under the Special Guardianship Regulations 2005. Support for special guardians Under the Children Act 1989 (ChA 1989), local authorities have an obligation to make arrangements for the provision of support for special guardians. The support may be either counselling, advice and information or such other services, including financial support as are prescribed by regulation. The Special Guardianship Regulations 2005, SI 2005/1109, reg 3(1) as amended sets out the following range of prescribed services as special guardianship support services: • financial support payable under the Special Guardianship Regulations 2005, Chapter 2; • services to enable groups of ◦ relevant children ◦ special guardians ◦ prospective special guardians, and ◦ parents of relevant children to discuss matters relating to special guardianship • assistance, including

The claims of a patent must be supported by the disclosure in the description.

A support trust is a trust under which the trustees are obliged to apply income (and sometimes capital) to provide for a beneficiary’s maintenance and support, rather than having an entirely unfettered discretion whether to benefit them. In practice, it sits between a fixed-interest trust and a fully discretionary trust.In England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland, “support trust” is a descriptive term rather than a statutory label; its content depends on the trust instrument and case law on trustees’ duties of maintenance, education and benefit. The beneficiary may have an enforceable right to be supported to a level judged reasonable by the trustees, taking into account their needs, resources and lifestyle.In Scots law, similar concepts arise under trusts for aliment, maintenance or support, again determined by the trust deed and general trust principles.Support trusts are commonly used in family settlements and for vulnerable or financially immature beneficiaries, balancing protection of capital with a degree of security for the beneficiary. They raise practical issues on trustees’ discretions, standard of living, interaction with means‑tested benefits, and potential variation or restructuring for tax and estate planning purposes.

The Supporting Principles of good corporate governance contained in the 2016 and prior versions of the UKCG Code.

The Children’s Commissioner for England has published an August 2026 update to its handbook for higher education professionals supporting care-experienced students, first issued in October 2024. The revised guidance retains the handbook’s 33 recommendations but strengthens its emphasis on accommodation support, including access to rent guarantor schemes and year-round housing, and adds practical signposting to resources such as the Unite Foundation’s Blueprint for a #HomeAtUniversity. It also updates information on leaving-care arrangements, including reference to Staying Close support for some young people leaving residential care, and refreshes links to sector resources. The update is intended to help universities and other higher education providers ensure that care-experienced students can access consistent financial, housing and pastoral support throughout their studies.

Immigration analysis: UK visa applications can be costly; when a Skilled Worker visa is obtained for five years, total costs can exceed £12,000 for one applicant. As the year comes to a close and budgets are drawn for 2023, a key decision employers must make is the level of financial support provided to current or prospective employees submitting visa applications. Shanaz Haque, Gemma Hyslop, Adam Hickling and Ali Ali of Fragomen discuss key considerations for employers supporting employees with the costs of sponsored work UK visas.

This Practice Note provides practical guidance and tips for in-house lawyers on being a team player by supporting colleagues, working with challenging colleagues and sharing know-how. Further information can be found in Practice Notes: Collaborating with legal colleagues to achieve quality and consistency and Boosting quality, productivity and transparency within the legal team. The challenges of being a team player The legal profession is often regarded as one where individuals tend to be competitive and collegial teamwork is not a natural activity. Departments where there is a good collegial atmosphere generally perform better, and ideally, the head of the legal team will be trying to encourage the appropriate level of collegial behaviour. Many organisations provide their employees with training on personality types and team work. It is well worth spending some time exploring the theory around this as it will give you a much better understanding about how to interact with different personalities. If training is not available within your organisation, you can get a reasonable understanding online, on websites such as:

Scope of this Practice Note A central bank digital currency (CBDC) uses an electronic record or digital token to represent the virtual form of a fiat currency of a particular nation (or region). A CBDC is centralised as it is issued and regulated by the competent monetary authority of the country. A CBDC would make electronic money, issued by a country’s central bank, available to all households and businesses. This would allow everyone to make electronic payments in central bank money. This Practice Note focuses on the work carried out by supranational authorities in relation to CBDCs and, increasingly, wholesale tokenised central bank money (including tokenised reserves) and related cross-border tokenisation arrangements. Since 2024, a significant part of the supranational discussion has moved from retail CBDC (rCBDC) design in isolation to the interaction between CBDCs, tokenisation, programmable platforms, settlement finality, data governance, AML/CFT, legal authority and cross-border interoperability. Supranational authorities’ approach to CBDCs BIS surveys on CBDCs BIS Paper No 101: Proceeding with caution—a survey on central bank digital currency The Bank of International Settlements

This Practice Note focuses on the approach taken by supranational bodies such as the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) (the international body that brings together the world's securities regulators), the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) (the primary global standard setter for the prudential regulation of banks) to the regulation of cryptoassets. It also provides some background to the meaning of cryptoassets and the unique challenges that cryptoassets pose to regulators. For more information taken by EU authorities and regulators, see Practice Note: EU regulation of cryptoassets. For information about the approach taken by UK authorities and regulators, see Practice Note: UK regulation of cryptoassets. This Practice Note should also be read in conjunction with Practice Note: Web 3.0, digital assets and cryptoassets—essentials which discusses: • What are cryptoassets? • Common terms associated with cryptoassets • Development of cryptoassets • Characteristics of cryptoassets • Considerations for businesses looking at cryptoasset technology • Cryptoassets, the smart contract and ICOs • Disputes involving cryptoassets • Regulation of cryptoassets • Cryptoassets as regulated

A term associated with the institutional framework created by the Treaties of Paris (ECSC) and Rome (EURATOM and EEC) and further redefined by each amendment to the Treaties.

This Practice Note outlines the role of supranational bodies in the anti-money laundering (AML), counter-terrorist financing (CTF) and counter-proliferation financing (CPF) legal and regulatory framework for financial services. It addresses the role and publications of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and FATF-style regional bodies (FSRBs); the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS); the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS); the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO); the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs), and the Wolfsberg Group. Further resource is as follows: • for practical guidance on the UK’s AML/CTF/CPF framework for financial services, see the Anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CTF)—overview • for practical guidance on the EU’s AML/CTF/CPF framework for financial services, see the Financial crime and sanctions (EU Law)—overview • for a timeline of relevant developments, including publications by the FATF, see: AML/CTF/CPF—timeline of UK legal and regulatory developments for financial services and AML/CTF/CPF—timeline of EU legal and regulatory developments for financial services, both of which include supranational developments Overview of supranational bodies and international co-operation on