Cabinet Office

The UK Government will send an Emergency Alert to people across England and Wales from around 19:00 on 14 August 2026, warning them not to light barbecues, campfires, fireworks or other potential sources of fire and to report fires by calling 999. Measures include emergency funding for pressured fire and rescue services, the deployment of 200 military personnel to support response and recovery in South Wales, and a temporary nationwide ban on the sale of disposable barbecues. The Government is urging insurers to process claims quickly, making the Bellwin Scheme available for exceptional local-authority recovery costs, and reminding councils of powers to restrict high-risk activities. A national wildfire summit will be held later in the year, building on £97 million of investment in fire-service training and specialist equipment.

The UK Government’s Sovereign AI venture fund is investing in OLIX, a London-based AI chip startup with offices in Bristol, as part of the company’s nine-figure fundraising. Founded in 2024 by James Dacombe, OLIX is developing specialised inference chips intended to make AI systems faster, cheaper and more energy-efficient. The company, recently valued at more than $1 billion after a $220 million Series A, is the fifth startup to receive Sovereign AI equity investment and the eleventh to receive broader support. The government says backing domestic chip companies will strengthen the UK’s AI capability, create high-skilled jobs and capture a greater share of the projected trillion-dollar global AI chip market.

Government Skills, part of the Cabinet Office, is recruiting unpaid external experts for a new College of Experts supporting the transformation into the National School of Government and Public Services. Members will advise on research, evidence, policy and programme evaluation across six priority topics, contribute up to three to five days annually when available, and receive no payment. Applicants need relevant research expertise and the ability to translate evidence into government-ready advice; applications require written evidence, a two-page CV and diversity monitoring information, with applications closing at 11:59pm on 7 September 2026.

The UK government has launched a Prime Minister’s AI Taskforce to lead its overall artificial-intelligence strategy, transform public services and promote economic growth. Lord Vallance has been appointed chair and will report directly to the Prime Minister, while AI Minister Kanishka Narayan will lead the taskforce and attend Cabinet. Based in the Office for the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, the taskforce will oversee AI adoption across the public sector, with responsibility for the AI Security Institute also moving there. Vallance will additionally chair the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor, drawing on his experience as Government Chief Scientific Adviser and leader of the COVID-19 Vaccines Taskforce.

The UK updated its National Risk Register to include threats such as democratic interference, advanced cyber attacks and digital resilience failures. The government announced a national public awareness campaign to improve household preparedness for emergencies and proposed expanded resilience roles for regional mayors. Plans include major home defence exercises in 2027, updates to classified crisis response documents and continued delivery of the Biological Security Strategy. Senior officials and partner organisations expressed support for greater public resilience and preparedness as climate risks, AI‑driven cyber threats and geopolitical pressures increase.

Government data shows that 95.6% of investment notifications under the National Security and Investment Act were approved without further action, with only nine transactions requiring conditions and one being blocked. Authorities issued 60 call‑in notices, primarily in defence and other sensitive sectors, while maintaining timely reviews within the statutory period. Updated screening rules will clarify requirements for businesses, narrow AI-related obligations, and expand coverage to critical infrastructure such as major water companies. Planned legislative adjustments aim to keep the system effective, proportionate, and supportive of investment while addressing evolving security risks.

Government procurement reforms aim to strengthen national security, support British industry, simplify bidding processes, and expand opportunities for SMEs and charities. New measures include directing certain contracts to domestic suppliers, requiring justification when steel is not sourced from the UK, redefining social value with community input, and introducing an insourcing test to reverse decades of default outsourcing. Additional steps streamline procurement through reduced duplication, AI-assisted document generation, stricter late‑payment rules, and local contract reservations. The government targets over £7 billion in SME spending by 2028, with ongoing review to ensure procurement supports growth, fairness, and national resilience.

Fourteen government buildings were closed over the past year as part of efforts to create a more efficient public estate, generating £43.1 million in savings. The number of government buildings in London has been reduced from 79 in 2017 to 28, contributing to annual savings of £17.5 million through closures, procurement measures and Net Zero initiatives. Additional savings were achieved through commercial negotiations and environmental projects, including solar panel installations. Progress continued on major government hubs, including the new Department for Science, Innovation and Technology headquarters and the Darlington Economic Campus, while plans advanced for the Manchester Digital Campus and the headquarters of Great British Energy.

A new data‑sharing agreement between the UK Cabinet Office and Airbnb aims to identify and stop illegal subletting of social housing, helping return properties to families in need. Early findings show 470 potential fraud cases across participating councils, with penalties including eviction, fines and imprisonment. The initiative marks the first collaboration of its kind between government and a short‑term rental platform, enabling local authorities to match Airbnb listings with social housing records. Officials and council leaders welcomed the partnership, urging other platforms to participate. The effort supports broader government plans to strengthen social housing provision and reduce fraud nationwide.

The fourth EU-UK Trade Specialised Committee meeting reviewed subsidy-control measures, competition policy, labour standards, taxation, environmental regulation and climate policy under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. The UK outlined plans for the National Wealth Fund, Great British Energy, subsidy-regime enforcement, labour reforms and emissions-trading developments, while the EU presented updates on its competitiveness agenda, state-aid framework, Foreign Subsidy Regulation, Digital Markets Act, platform-work rules and climate policies. Both sides raised questions about potential trade and investment effects, stressed compliance with TCA obligations, and agreed to conduct further technical exchanges on areas including offshore-wind subsidies, Contracts for Difference, competition cooperation, labour policy, emissions trading and forced-labour regulation.

The agenda for the fourth EU-UK Trade Specialised Committee meeting covers subsidy control and competition, including the UK National Wealth Fund, Great British Energy Bill, offshore wind subsidies, EU competitiveness measures, the Green Deal Industrial Plan, foreign subsidies and digital-market regulation. It also includes discussions on harmful taxation, labour rights and platform work, biodiversity and environmental-regulator cooperation, UK and EU emissions-trading systems, corporate sustainability due diligence, forced labour, and modern slavery.

The EU and UK held the third meeting of the Trade Specialised Committee in London on 4 October 2023 to discuss subsidy control, competition policy, labour standards, environmental regulation, climate policy, REACH regimes and marine spatial planning. The EU raised concerns about the UK’s Freeports, Investment Zones, retained EU law reforms, strike legislation, climate-policy changes and divergence between UK and EU regulatory systems. The UK questioned EU subsidy and industrial-policy measures, including the Green Deal Industrial Plan, and sought clarification on new environmental and net-zero initiatives. Both sides agreed to further technical discussions on the EU Green Deal Industrial Plan, environmental planning and net-zero industrial partnerships, while keeping those exchanges under the Committee’s oversight.

The EU and UK held the second meeting of the Trade Specialised Committee in Brussels on 12 October 2022. Discussions covered subsidy control, the UK Levelling Up Agenda, Freeports, the European Chips Act, implementation of the UK Subsidy Control Act, EU state-aid temporary frameworks and competition-policy cooperation. The parties also reviewed labour-market enforcement, nature restoration, environmental impact assessments, wastewater treatment and climate policies, including their respective emissions trading schemes. Both sides raised questions and concerns about potential trade distortions, regulatory divergence, labour enforcement capacity and environmental protection, while agreeing to continued technical cooperation, including a follow-up meeting on the UK subsidy-control regime.

The first EU-UK Trade Specialised Committee meeting reviewed subsidy-control measures, including the UK Subsidy Control Bill, the EU Brexit Adjustment Reserve, UK renewable-energy subsidies, and the EU’s proposed Foreign Subsidies Regulation. The parties agreed to further technical discussions on the UK bill and EU regulation after adoption, while the UK agreed to provide guidance on renewable-energy supply-chain assessments. They also discussed visa-fee rules under the European Social Charter, the UK’s proposed Single Enforcement Body, occupational health and safety, climate policies including the EU Fit for 55 package and the UK’s COP26 agenda, and environmental governance under the UK Environment Bill and the EU’s Eighth Environmental Action Programme.