The Cabinet Office and Office of the Parliamentary Counsel (OPC) have announced updates to the guidance on how to draft Bills. These updates include changes to Parts 2.1 and 2.2 (gender neutrality and sex-specific language), Part 5 (citation), Part 6.8 (amending uncommenced material), Part 9.3.11 (made affirmative procedure) and Part 9.5 (amending subordinate legislation).

The Cabinet Office and Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA) have announced that the government’s artificial intelligence (AI) fraud detection tool, the Single Network Analytics Platform (SNAP), has been upgraded with new sanctions and debarment reports. The new datasets added to SNAP were: 18,000 UK and US sanctioned entities, including those introduced following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; 1,000 World Bank debarments, that are deemed ineligible for World Bank contracts; and 647,000 UK dormant companies that do not have any income. The government has said that the new datasets will help public sector organisations to better detect ‘fraudulent claims on public funds through contracts, grants and loans’.

The Government Commercial Function (GCF) has announced that it is working towards a ‘go-live’ date for the new procurement regime of 28 October 2024. This date will be formalised in commencement regulations, which the GCF has stated are expected to be made in May 2024. Existing legislation will continue to apply to procurements started under the old rules. This announcement marks the beginning of the six-month preparation period, and the GCF has stated that during this time a comprehensive programme of learning and development will be published to support professionals in implementing the changes. In addition to guidance already published, guidance has been provided to cover the transition from the old to the new regulations.

The Cabinet Office has announced that NHS England (NHSE) and the Incubator for Artificial Intelligence (i.AI) have signed a Collaboration Charter on the use of AI in the NHS. The Collaboration Charter empowers the NHS to use AI to drive operational efficiency, improve patient care and improve staff experience. Under the Collaboration Agreement, i.AI specialists will work to identify opportunities where technology could be used to support the NHS and implement AI-driven solutions.

The Cabinet Office has announced the appointment of three new Civil Service Commissioners to the Civil Service Commission. The previous Director-General for Commercial, Trade and International at the Government Legal Department, Elizabeth Hambley, non-executive member of the Department for Transport Board, Tony Poulter, and non-executive director of the Scottish Government, Dr Neil Wooding, have been appointed as Commissioners for a five-year non-renewable term. The Civil Service Commission is an independent regulatory statutory body which regulates recruitment into the Civil Service and promotes and hears appeals brought under the Civil Service Code. The Civil Service Commission was established under the provisions of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010. The appointments have been made following an open competition, a recommendation by the Prime Minister and approval by King Charles III.

The Cabinet Office has launched a review of all UK Arm's length bodies (ALBs).The review will examine ALBs for potential closure, merger or reintegration into government departments unless their separate existence can be justified. The initiative follows the recent decision to incorporate NHS England into the Department of Health and Social Care. The government will assess ALBs against four principles ministerial policy oversight, efficiency, stakeholder management and independent advice. Bodies essential for government scrutiny or protecting rule of law will remain independent. New legislation may be required to implement resulting changes.

The Cabinet Office and the European Commission have concluded negotiations for the UK’s association to Erasmus+ in 2027 and completed exploratory talks on UK participation in the EU’s internal electricity market. In a joint statement following the May 2025 EU-UK Summit, Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, Maroš Šefčovič, and HM Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office, the Rt Hon Nick Thomas-Symonds MP, confirmed that the agreed financial and other terms provide a balanced basis for UK participation in education, training, sport and youth programmes, offering opportunities for individuals in both the UK and the EU. The parties also reported that exploratory discussions on UK participation in the internal electricity market have been finalised, with formal negotiations to follow to establish the necessary framework, which is expected to benefit businesses and consumers, strengthen energy security and support investment in the North Seas region.

The Cabinet Office has announced a data-sharing partnership with Airbnb to help local authorities identify and tackle the fraudulent subletting of social housing. Under the first agreement of its kind between the UK government and a short-term rental platform, participating councils will compare social housing records with Airbnb listings to identify unauthorised short-term lets, remove confirmed listings and take enforcement action, with offenders facing eviction, fines and up to two years' imprisonment. The scheme covers more than 450,000 properties across participating authorities, including councils in London, Edinburgh, Birmingham and Anglesey, and has already identified 470 potential cases of fraud. The government said the partnership aims to return social homes to households in genuine need, noting that an estimated 5,800 social homes in England are suspected of being illegally sublet on short-term rental platforms, with each case costing taxpayers an estimated £78,300.

The Cabinet Office has announced the launch of the Prime Minister’s new Artificial Intelligence (AI) Taskforce, chaired by Lord Vallance and led by AI Minister Kanishka Narayan, to direct and implement the government’s AI strategy. The Taskforce will report to Cabinet Secretary Antonia Romeo and Kanishka Narayan, while Lord Vallance will report directly to the Prime Minister. It will seek to support economic growth, transform public services and increase AI adoption across the public sector, drawing on the delivery model used by the Vaccines Taskforce.

Cabinet office has announced the Evaluation Task Force's (ETF) launch of a stakeholder consultation to seek feedback on proposed updates to the Magenta Book. The consultation, running until May 2025 focuses on four areas: value for money evaluation, test and learn approaches, benefits realisation alignment and research transparency.

The Cabinet Office, led by The Rt Hon Pat McFadden MP, has announced that thousands of Civil Service roles, including senior leadership positions, will be relocated from London to 13 regional locations across the United Kingdom. The plans include the closure of 102 Petty France which houses the Ministry of Justice, Crown Prosecution Service, Government Legal Department and the Law Commission. This initiative forms part of the government's ‘Plan for Change’, which aims to decentralise decision-making and align policy delivery more closely with local communities by placing civil servants alongside frontline workers and local leaders. Additionally, the reform will include the establishment of new digital and AI campuses in Manchester and an energy campus in Aberdeen, leveraging local talent and expertise.

The Cabinet Office has announced measures to revise Whitehall consultation and reporting approaches, working with the new Cabinet Secretary to address legal and administrative duties that Ministers consider disproportionate. The measures include introducing a higher bar for new statutory reporting and consultation requirements, using AI to identify existing consultation and reporting duties that may be slowing delivery and revisiting the use of Equalities Impact Assessments to ensure they are proportionate and focused on policy outcomes. The approach also includes replacing Environmental Impact Assessments with Environmental Outcomes Reports for new infrastructure projects, reforming collective Cabinet agreement processes and introducing a new accountability framework for Permanent Secretaries aimed at preventing the reintroduction of unnecessary duties and impact assessments.