Government

MPs have criticised “woefully inadequate” funding for local authorities’ road maintenance, despite government claims of “record money” for fixes. Last year the government announced a “record” £7.3bn in capital funding for local highway maintenance over the four‑year period from 2026-27 to 2029-30. However, during a House of Commons debate on…

The Department for Transport (DfT) has pushed back against claims that domestic steel will not be used on the £10bn Lower Thames Crossing. A spokesperson for the department said procurement for steel had not started, dismissing claims made in The Times over the weekend. The broadsheet said domestic steel manufacturers…

Dozens of higher-risk building (HRB) schemes have been stuck for months at the gateway three approval stage with the Building Safety Regulator (BSR), new figures show. According to the data, revealed in a freedom of information (FOI) request from law firm Irwin Mitchell, 44 HRB schemes are still awaiting a…

Annual construction output increased by 1.8 per cent in 2025 in the fifth consecutive year of annual growth, according to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). However, total output fell by 2.1 per cent in the final quarter (Q4) of the year compared with Q3, due…

The reinforced aerated autoclaved concrete (RAAC) emergency in England’s school estate goes beyond “an isolated safety risk” and “is symptomatic of a chronic capital investment deficit”, a parliamentary committee has said. A report published today (February 11) by the cross-party Education Committee found that despite the government’s progress in removing RAAC…

A plan to mandate apprenticeships on school building projects could avoid issues experienced by similar schemes run by councils, according to a sector expert. The Department for Education (DfE) announced yesterday that construction firms on school building projects will need to provide apprenticeship and T-level placements under the government’s forthcoming…

A shortfall in construction capacity has held back the government’s attempts to remediate hospitals affected by dangerous reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), a senior health department figure has admitted. The multibillion-pound programme to replace hospitals fitted with RAAC cannot move any faster without increasing costs, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC)…

The Building Safety Regulator is set to operate as the shadow Single Construction Regulator (SCR) before the overarching body begins formal operations, officials said last week. Before Christmas, the government’s prospectus for the new regulator said the SCR would “take over [the BSR’s] responsibilities” and be the “foundation for an…

The Department for Transport (DfT) has begun early market engagement in its hunt for partners in a public-private deal to design, build and maintain the planned HS2 Euston station terminus. The government has long been working on a masterplan to provide a train station that is a combination of the…

A £3bn first phase of work to restore the Houses of Parliament should begin this year, the body presenting proposals to MPs on its future has recommended. The Restoration and Renewal Client Board said in a report published on Thursday (5 February) that phase one would include building temporary chambers…