The government has announced plans to support and expedite approval of urban sites, such as car parks, for building.
As signalled in the National Planning Policy Framework consultation, the government is taking further steps toward the introduction of an effective ‘brownfield passport’ to ensure where proposals meet design and quality standards, the default answer is yes.
A call for evidence will be launched on options to further increase certainty in relation to brownfield development.

The government has announced a new national strategy to use advanced data analysis and algorithms to relentlessly target the most dangerous perpetrators of violence against women and girls (VAWG).
The initiative is part of the government's mission to reduce VAWG by 50 per cent within the next decade.
Police forces will use new data-driven tools to focus on the small number of offenders responsible for the highest levels of harm.

Four devolution agreements have been signed off.
The agreements mean regional mayors in Greater Lincolnshire and in Hull & East Yorkshire, and to combined county authorities in both Devon & Torbay and Lancashire.
The agreements mean local leaders have the power to make decisions in areas such as transport, adult education, and housing, boosting economic growth and opportunity, which are at the heart of the government’s agenda.

The UK Ministry of Defence, the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Canadian Department of National Defence have agreed to collaboratively pursue research, development, test and evaluation technologies for artificial intelligence (AI), cyber, resilient systems and information domain-related technologies.
The collaboration has been driven by the rapid pace of technology development and the future challenges. It is hoped it will further leverage relevant research programmes among all nations and reduce duplication of efforts.

The UK is to host a conference in San Francisco, for talks between AI developers on how they can put into practice commitments made at the AI Seoul Summit.
The event will be held across 21 and 22 November and will include workshops and discussions focused on AI.
The conference precedes France hosting the AI Action Summit in February 2025.   
Earlier this year, 16 companies from around the world, agreed to publish their latest AI safety frameworks ahead of the next Summit.

Ministers have met with local leaders to hear about the impact of child poverty.
Liz Kendall, work & pensions secretary, and Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, and both co-chairs of the Child Poverty Taskforce have met with regional leaders from some of the worst affected areas in the country, including the North East Mayor Kim McGuinness.
Almost one in three children in the North East live in poverty.

The Local Government Association (LGA) has called for a ten-year sexual health strategy.
The request comes after NHS digital published reproductive health services statistics.
The figures primarily covers contraceptive activity taking place at dedicated Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) services in England, as recorded in the Sexual and Reproductive Health Activity Dataset (SRHAD), a mandated collection for all providers of NHS SRH services. Data from GP settings and pharmacies is not included (unless otherwise stated).

The Welsh Government has announced more than £1.2 million of funding for local museums and libraries.
The Cultural Transformation Capital Grant Programme is used to help organisations preserve collections for future generations, as well as improve accessibility and sustainability. Since the fund was launched in 2017, more than £10.5 million have been awarded.

The Mayor of London has provided £3.5 million for advice services to support low-income Londoners.
The funding will be used to extend free legal, financial and employment advice and support services that are helping Londoners claim the financial support that they are entitled to.
There will be £2.7 million for London Citizens Advice and London Legal Support Trust to continue providing support at their network of advice centres and law centres.

The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) has published its latest fire safety remediation report on the fire safety of 11 metre plus buildings in the social housing sector.
All social landlords are required to submit quarterly data to RSH and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on the fire safety remediation of relevant buildings for which they are responsible.