For the first time, customers applying for a UK visa in Hong Kong will now have the option to pay £1,000 for a faster decision on their visa application, in addition to the standard visa fee.

Between September 2024 and January 2025 the commercial partner for visa applications outside the UK will change from TLScontact to VFS Global in some locations in Africa, Europe, the Middle East and central Asia. Affected people will receive emails from the companies explaining any action they need to take. The changes will not affect the time taken to make visa decisions or the outcome of the decisions. In the UK, TLScontact will be the new commercial partner for UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services from 15 October 2024.

The Intellectual Property Office has published the UK Voluntary Code of Good Practice on Transparency in Music Streaming. The Code is a minimum standard of good practice adopted by the signatories to inform dealings with everyone involved in the music streaming industry and is intended to provide better communications between companies, organisations and music makers, as well as drive up standards in the industry. It deals with contracting with music makers, royalties, audits, supply chains, licence agreements with distributors and collecting societies, and communicating with music makers.

The UK has accepted the accession of 16 countries to the Convention on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters, according to a notification published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, acting as depositary. The countries are Albania, Andorra, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Iceland, India, Kuwait, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, Morocco, North Macedonia, the Republic of Korea, Seychelles, Serbia and Sri Lanka. The UK's declaration of acceptance was deposited on 11 March 2026. The UK's acceptance also applies to its territories, including the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Akrotiri and Dhekelia, the Cayman Islands, the Falkland Islands and Gibraltar. In accordance with Article 39 of the Convention, the accessions will enter into force on 10 May 2026, the sixtieth day following the deposit of the UK's declaration of acceptance.

The Department of Health and Social Care, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, UK Health Security Agency, the Rt Hon Baroness Chapman of Darlington and Ashley Dalton MP have announced that, on 20 May 2025, 124 Member States including the UK, adopted the Pandemic Agreement at the World Health Assembly in Geneva. The agreement aims to strengthen global co-operation in the prevention, detection and response to future pandemic threats, while maintaining national sovereignty. It establishes faster mechanisms for pathogen and pathogen data sharing, supporting the UK’s ability to accelerate the development of vaccines, treatments and diagnostic tools.

A Commonwealth citizen who is able to provide proof that one of his grandparents was born in the United Kingdom and Islands and that any such grandparent is the applicant's blood grandparent or grandparent by reason of an adoption recognised by the laws of the United Kingdom relating to adoption can qualify for admission to the United Kingdom in order to work.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has announced that the UK and Belgium entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 16 June 2026 under the London Protocol to enable the cross-border transport of carbon dioxide (CO₂) for permanent geological storage. Signed by the UK DESNZ, the Flemish Minister for Energy and Climate, the Belgian Federal Minister for the North Sea, and the Walloon Minister for Energy and Climate, the MoU removes a key regulatory barrier by allowing the import and export of captured CO₂ for permanent offshore geological storage, supporting the development of cross-border carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) projects. The arrangement is intended to encourage investment, accelerate CCUS deployment, and support economic growth and skilled jobs in both countries. It confirms that each country will remain responsible for issuing the necessary permits and authorisations under the London Protocol and relevant domestic legislation, identifies the competent authorities responsible for regulation, and states that the MoU does not create legally binding rights or financial obligations, while providing for consultation, annual review, amendment by mutual agreement, and termination on notice.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has announced that the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ed Miliband, and the Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen co-operation on clean energy investment and technology. The MoU establishes a framework to support innovation, accelerate the deployment of clean energy technologies and strengthen links between businesses and researchers in both economies. It builds on existing co-operation agreements between the UK and 11 other US states, including Washington and Florida. The partnership also seeks to enhance collaboration on climate action and environmental protection, including sharing expertise on biodiversity conservation and building resilience to extreme weather.

As of exit day (31 January 2020) the UK is no longer an EU Member State. However, in accordance with the Withdrawal Agreement, the UK has entered an implementation period, during which it continues to be subject to EU law. This has an impact on this Practice Note. For further guidance, see Practice Note: Brexit—IP rights. ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This Practice Note sets out the law of unjustified threats of UK and Community design right infringement prior to its amendment by the Intellectual Property (Unjustified Threats) Act 2017 (IP(UT)A 2017). Communications made prior to 1 October 2017 continue to be governed by the old regime in respect of patents, trade marks and designs, as appropriate. All references in this Practice Note to the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, the Registered Designs Act 1949, and the Community Design Regulations 2005, are references to the legislation as it was prior to its amendment by the Intellectual Property (Unjustified Threats) Act 2017 (IP(UT)A

The UK and EU have ratified a new set of arrangements to ensure Northern Ireland's traders can fully benefit from the UK’s independent free trade policy. Over 13,000 tons of lamb, beef, and poultry will be covered by UK tariff rate quotas. The new arrangements will be available alongside the new UK Internal Market system from 30 September 2024. The new quota regime will allow Northern Ireland’s businesses to access the same benefits and opportunities as the rest of the UK but maintain sufficient protection for farmers. The new regime means that those importing higher tariff products like meat into Northern Ireland will benefit from UK trading agreements as well as business exporting goods.

The UK and EU have signed the legal text in Brussels confirming the UK’s participation in the Erasmus+ programme from 2027. More than 100,000 people are expected to participate in the first year, including apprentices undertaking placements with European companies, school groups participating in exchanges and organisations involved in cross-border initiatives. The agreement implements a commitment made at the first EU-UK Summit in May 2025 through an amendment to Protocol I of the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

This Checklist summarises which companies and limited liability partnerships (LLPs) are subject to the principal UK and EU mandatory environmental reporting requirements. It provides a high level summary of, and includes links to the sources for, the relevant reporting requirements. For a more detailed summary of the relevant mandatory reporting requirements, see Practice Notes: CSR, ESG and human rights reporting and initiatives and EU mandatory corporate sustainability reporting. For a summary of the voluntary reporting requirements to which many companies and LLPs choose to adhere, see Practice Notes: TCFD recommendations and other ESG reporting frameworks, standards and benchmarks [Archived] and Investor group guidance on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. UK requirements Requirement Scope Source Strategic report to contain description of principal risks and uncertainties. All companies (other than micro and small companies).Traded LLPs and banking LLPs. Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006), CA 2006, s 414C(2)(b)Applied to traded LLPs and banking LLPs by Limited Liability Partnerships (Accounts and Audit) (Application of Companies Act 2006) Regulations 2008, SI 2008/1911, Reg 12A Strategic report to include