The Welsh Government has published up update of reforms to procurement legislation.

The government has announced a £60 million Regional Innovation Fund to boost support for universities in areas with lower levels of R&D investment.
Technology secretary Michelle Donelan announced the plans.
The RIF will see £48.8 million go towards 110 universities across England and will be delivered by Research England.

The government has announced up to £80 million for upgrades to social housing in a bid to cut energy bills.
Energy security and net zero secretary Claire Coutinho made the announcement on Monday.
It is hoped the funding will generate energy bill savings of around £240 a year for some of the lowest-income households.
More than 100,000 households in England have already received pay-outs from the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund and the new funding is enough to upgrade an additional 9,500 homes.

The government has announced that 100,000 homes and businesses in rural parts of the UK will be further supported to access improved broadband connections.
Thérèse Coffey, secretary of state for rural affairs announced the plans on Monday.
Consultations have been published which outline plans to review and update the broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) which gives homeowners and businesses the legal right to request an affordable, decent broadband connection, and to develop and assess future policy to improve broadband connectivity for Very Hard to Reach Premises.

55 towns are set to receive a share of £1.1 billion levelling up investment.
There will be 6 in the North East, 10 in the North West, and 4 in the West Midlands, along with 7 towns in Scotland and 4 in Wales.

The government has awarded £3.3 million of funding to 26 night shelter across the UK, so that rough sleepers are able to access a safe place to stay and vital support to help turn their lives around.
The Night Shelter Transformation Fund, previously awarded £9.88 million in its first round in August 2022. This funded 56 organisations over three years.

New regeneration plans have been announced in a bid to level up Hull and Sandwell.
Levelling Up Partnerships (LUPs) will see tailored regeneration plans rolled out across twenty of England’s areas most in need of levelling up, with Hull and Sandwell the first to benefit.
The areas have been selected based on analysis set out in the Levelling Up White Paper which measured areas against metrics such as educational attainment, gross pay, and life expectancy.
The two areas will receive £20 million each to address challenges specific to their locations.

Professionals in the North of England are being urged to apply for senior roles in the public sector. The push is in a bid to increase the regional diversity of the UK’s top public sector appointments and level up the UK.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe, minister of state at the Cabinet Office visited Darlington on Thursday 28 September and spoke to local professionals about applying for public sector appointments which govern over 300 public institutions in the UK.

Roads minister Richard Holden has confirmed allocations for 64 local authorities across England from the £80 million investment in the bus service improvement plan+ (BSIP+) for 2024 to 2025.
It is hoped millions of people across England will benefit from lower fares, improved reliability and better bus services.

The UK government is set to meet with island community leaders on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland on 9-10 October to discuss connectivity.
The third Islands Forum will be chaired by the secretary of state for levelling up Michael Gove.
The forum will focus on connectivity, recognising the importance of physical and digital connectivity to islands, particularly those with no fixed links to the mainland.
Eligible council leaders and chief executives of island communities in all parts of the UK have been invited to take part in the third forum.