Daily index of UK government & Parliament publications
Analysis of 10 key publications
Defence Secretary John Healey has introduced the Armed Forces Bill, a sweeping piece of legislation designed to modernise the 2006 Act that has governed the armed forces for two decades. The Bill consolidates reform across multiple domains: it will continue the core framework of military discipline and governance, amend provisions relating to reserve forces, clarify the legal status of visiting forces, and establish new protections for military remains. Additionally, it transfers defence functions from the Oil and Pipelines Agency to the Ministry of Defence and expands the remit of the MOD Police. This is a significant structural exercise, signalling the government's intention to adapt military law to contemporary operational demands and institutional arrangements.
HMRC's latest analysis reveals the UK tax gap for 2024–25 stands at 6.4%, or approximately £59.2 billion in unpaid taxes. The figure represents a modest deterioration from the previous year but sits well below the 7.5% recorded when systematic measurement began in 2005–06, indicating a generally positive trajectory over two decades. Small business non-compliance accounts for the largest share of the shortfall, a persistent challenge despite successive government compliance campaigns. The Treasury is pursuing an ambitious £10 billion annual revenue raise through gap-closing measures by 2029–30, with new enforcement tools now at HMRC's disposal—including direct asset seizure and extended investigation windows—to pursue both historical and ongoing evasion.
The Public Authorities Fraud Investigation and Enforcement Service has begun active operations against those who exploited Covid loan schemes, marking a significant escalation in the government's counter-fraud efforts. The enforcement window for pursuing such cases has doubled from six to twelve years, whilst investigators have been granted unprecedented powers to search premises and seize assets directly from bank accounts and wages. These measures, introduced at recent budgets, are calculated to have already protected £7.5 billion of public money from fraud over two years, with nearly 2,000 company directors banned and 86 criminals prosecuted. The scheme represents a stark rhetorical and practical contrast to the previous administration's record, during which an estimated £10.9 billion in pandemic fraud and error went unchecked.
In a direct effort to level the competitive playing field between physical retailers and online vendors, the government is bringing forward by six months its plan to scrap customs duty relief on low-value imports—goods valued at £135 or less will now be subject to full import duties. Separately, HMRC is conducting a targeted review of online sellers' VAT compliance, with revenue from recovered taxes earmarked for reform of the business rates system to benefit struggling high street businesses. These measures acknowledge a structural inequality in the current tax treatment of imported goods and domestic retailers, one that has increasingly tilted advantage toward remote sellers. The Treasury is also reforming VAT rules on land sales, positioning the move as enabling faster delivery of affordable housing.
The Ministry of Justice has launched a broad consultation on reshaping financial remedies for relationship breakdown, addressing what the Law Commission identified as significant gaps in legal clarity and accessibility. The government proposes a "codification-plus" model for divorce law, which would translate settled case law principles around needs and sharing into statutory form whilst introducing qualifying nuptial agreements to allow couples to make binding financial arrangements beforehand. A parallel reform would extend legal protections to cohabitants on separation—currently minimal—through a new statutory framework. These reforms disproportionately affect vulnerable groups including women, children, and survivors of domestic abuse, and mark an attempt to modernise family law after decades of incremental case-by-case development.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has nominated Professor Jonathan Haskel CBE, an economics professor at Imperial College London specialising in productivity and growth, as chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility. Haskel brings substantial credentials: he served on the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee from 2018 to 2024 and has held oversight roles at the UK Statistics Authority and Competition and Markets Authority. His appointment requires Treasury Committee approval and a pre-appointment hearing. The move signals continuity in the fiscal governance framework, though his research focus on productivity may subtly influence the OBR's analytical priorities in forecasting longer-term economic performance.
The government has announced up to £60 million in funding for new artificial intelligence research laboratories at Oxford and University College London, designed to develop the next generation of commercially viable AI systems. The investment reflects an explicit strategy to keep fundamental AI breakthroughs anchored in Britain whilst making the technology cheaper, more reliable, and more readily accessible to businesses and public services. Current applications already span cancer diagnosis acceleration and energy system resilience, though the labs will focus on foundational research for future waves of innovation. The funding includes access to large-scale computing power, positioning the UK as a credible competitor in a globally competitive domain.