Government

The government has declined to confirm whether existing contracts on the HS2 Euston build will still be valid under new plans for the station. Meanwhile, the UK’s largest contractor, Balfour Beatty, which has not yet won work on that part of the megaproject, was represented at a meeting to discuss…

A coalition of unions has called for the removal of asbestos from all public buildings within the next 40 years. Unions representing more than four million workers wrote to political party leaders to ask them to include in their general election manifestos a policy to take asbestos out of non-domestic…

This is the extract from the prime minister’s speech to the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester in which he provided his reasons for U-turning on HS2. He also listed the projects on which the money saved will now be spent. A false consensus has taken root but all that matters…

Prime minister Rishi Sunak has announced that he is “cancelling the rest of the HS2 project”, adding that “in its place we will reinvest every single penny of the £36bn in hundreds of new transport projects”. The largest UK construction project in decades has been dramatically cut back, with Sunak…

The government has confirmed a delay to new regulations requiring developments to create a net improvement to the local environment – but only until January next year. The requirement for developers to deliver biodiversity net gain (BNG) of 10 per cent were due to come into force in November. But…

The construction industry has provided a mixed reaction to reports that the government is delaying a new biodiversity regulation for developments. Biodiversity net gain (BNG) rules were due to come into force in November, meaning developers would have a statutory obligation to improve habitats for wildlife. However, government sources have…

Business secretary Kemi Badenoch has claimed the government is committed to tackling late payments. Badenoch told the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) that her entire team was committed to improving the situation for SMEs. “On things like late payments, I know a lot of people really care about this issue…

The government has rejected two different proposals for office-led tower schemes close to the Shard at London Bridge. Communities secretary Michael Gove agreed with the planning inspector that neither application for the same plot, known as New City Court, should be allowed, stating that the high-rise proposals would harm the historic…

Chancellor of the exchequer Jeremy Hunt has confirmed the northern leg of HS2 is under review as he criticised the ballooning costs of the scheme. In an interview on LBC Radio on Thursday evening (21 September), Hunt was asked if he could commit that the HS2 leg to Manchester would…

Housebuilding targets should be put on an equal footing to environmental goals, a House of Lords committee has said. The Lords’ Built Environment Committee report says the way conflicts are managed between new housing and the needs of the environment results in “failing to deliver” both, according to Construction News’ sister…