Government

An extra £40bn of work than originally anticipated could be up for grabs under the next iteration of the UK Government’s flagship construction framework. The Crown Commercial Service yesterday (4 February 2026) released an edited pipeline notice for its Construction Works and Associated Services 3 framework, which is set to…

The transport secretary has promised to fully design Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) before tendering for contractors. Heidi Alexander pledged in the House of Commons on Monday (2 February) to finalise the scope of works for the relauched £45bn project first and vowed to avoid “the same mistakes as the previous…

A London council has changed its procurement methods and will make more of preconstruction services agreement (PCSA) methods after pausing the third phase of a housing programme due to financial pressures. The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea has delivered 168 homes under its £139.3m new homes programme, with another…

The Building Safety Regulator has yet to sanction any building control bodies after assuming oversight of the sector in October 2024, Construction News can reveal. Information obtained under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act shows that 11 complaints have been registered with the BSR against private registered building control authority…

Building control procedures for some telecoms works could be relaxed, following industry concerns over delays and compliance burdens. Officials from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said the higher-risk building (HRB) control regime had created unintended consequences, with routine telecoms tasks now subject to the same oversight as…

Building Safety Regulator (BSR) chairman Andy Roe has played down the prospects of his body taking a hardline approach on legacy gateway two applications. The BSR said in a document released  on Tuesday (27 January) that it would reject projects stuck in the gateway if “achieving an approval within the…

MPs have called for the Serious Fraud Office to investigate after finding a “catastrophic failure” over government-backed insulation schemes. In a new 34-page report, the cross-party Public Accounts Committee (PAC) found that more than 30,000 homes had been left with defects due to failures under ECO4 and the Great British…

Subcontractors should be forced to meet the same competence and training standards as tier one firms on public contracts to tackle low-pricing culture, a coalition of trade groups and unions have told the government. The 11-strong coalition wrote to business minister Chris McDonald calling for the government’s latest procurement reforms…

The National Federation of Builders (NFB) has called for British contractors to be used to build the new Chinese embassy in London, as a means of allaying espionage fears. It comes as housing secretary Steve Reed gave planning permission on Tuesday (20 January) for China to build Europe’s largest embassy…

A government minister has declined to put on a date on when the revived Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) project might be finished, but warned that railway improvements “take a very long time”. Speaking in a House of Lords debate on Monday (19 January), rail minister Lord Peter Hendy said the…