The government has announced a new "Energy Bills Discount Scheme" for business, charities and the public sector.
The current scheme ends in March. The new scheme will give a discount on high energy bills until 31 March 2024. Under the current scheme, costs are capped.

The Procurement Bill will have its second reading in the House of Commons today, with the bill simplifying four sets of laws into one.
The new rules are intended to be simpler, more flexible and less complicated and therefore open up more government procurement for small businesses and voluntary and community groups.
Minister for the Cabinet Office Jeremy Quin said: "We are making public sector procurement simpler, more transparent and easier to navigate.

The Local Government Association (LGA) has called on the government to make the Household Support Fund permanent.
The recently released Resolution Foundation’s annual Living Standards Outlook 2023 report has shown that a typical family is set to be £2,100 worse off over two years due to the rising cost of living.

The Scottish Government has urged people to make sure they are not missing out on benefits during the cost-of-living crisis. People are being encouraged to check if they are eligible for the 12 benefits administered by Social Security Scotland.
Those eligible could include people on low incomes responsible for children under 16, people who need help paying for a funeral, disabled people, carers, young people entering the workplace and those who need help to heat their homes.

New laws have been brought into force that mean that new homes in England will be built with gigabit broadband connections.
The Building Regulations 2010 has been amended meaning that new homes in England will be fitted with   the infrastructure and connections capable of delivering gigabit broadband.
Housing developers will be legally required to future-proof new homes in England for next-generation gigabit broadband as standard practice during construction.

The Scottish Government has announced that more than 180 projects in rural areas will receive grants up to £100,000 from the Rural & Island Communities Ideas into Action (RICIA) fund.
The fund is used to support not-for-profit community groups with innovative approaches to community-led local development. This could include work towards net zero and just transition goals, tackling rural poverty and supporting rural communities through the cost of living crisis.

Prime minister Rishi Sunak has delivered a speech outlining his top five priorities for 2023.
The priorities include halving inflation, economy growing, debt falling, waiting lists and small boats.
Full details on how each priority is to be achieved have not been released. These are set to be shared "in the coming months".

Independent research commissioned by London Councils has concluded that councils provide a vital safety net to households in financial crisis and that they should receive long-term government funding for local welfare services.
The research looked at the role played by boroughs’ Local Welfare Assistance (LWA) schemes in helping residents, including in preventing homelessness and was led by analysts at the research firm Policy in Practice and co-funded by the Greater London Authority.

The London Assembly Budget and Performance Committee is set to meet tomorrow to discuss TfL’s budget submission for 2023-24. This will include the government funding agreement and the impact and costs of new services such as the ULEZ Expansion and the Elizabeth Line.

The 'Get Around for £2' bus scheme has been launched with many single bus fares capped at £2 until the end of March.
From 1 January to 31 March 2023, more than 130 bus operators outside of London will charge no more than £2 for single tickets.
The scheme is intended to help the bus industry recover from the pandemic and also reduce carbon emissions and congestion.