Government

The first details of a 180,000 square metre data centre for Hertfordshire have been revealed as the government announced that new IT developments will be classed as ‘critical national infrastructure’ (CNI). The new designation, to be announced by technology secretary Peter Kyle today (12 September), puts data centres on a…

Ending the use of adversarial contract advisers should be part of a new private finance initiative (PFI) model, a group representing infrastructure investors has said. The Association of Infrastructure Investors in Public Private Partnerships (AIIP) called for a ‘reset mechanism’ in contracts for schools and hospitals so that public sector…

The Scottish government is pressing ahead with plans to introduce a building safety levy. In line with legislation that will be introduced for England and Wales, developers will have to pay towards the cost of remediating dangerous buildings. The legislation was among the bills included in the government programme announced…

The Environment Agency wants to hear from contractors interested in taking part in a £3bn asset-management framework. The government-owned body issued a prior-information notice this week relating to its Collaborative Delivery Framework (CDF) 2, calling for construction suppliers to take part in a pre-market-engagement questionnaire. Flood and coastal risk management…

Funding solutions to help unlock development sites across the country will be considered by a newly created government unit. The New Homes Accelerator, announced by deputy prime minister Angela Rayner today, will work with housing and regeneration agency Homes England and councils to “leverage” public resources and reduce delays on…

Contractors have seen first light of a £100m job to build a new British embassy in Beijing. The bumper project will involve the demolition of the entire site, as well as the nearby ambassador’s residence. Rebuilding work will then commence, which will also include a new guard house and underground…

The construction sector has yet to benefit from a post-election boom, according to activity figures for July. Analysis from construction data experts at Barbour ABI found the Labour Party’s victory has failed to boost the sector, despite an uptick in energy projects moving forward. Across the board, contract awards were…

Chancellor Rachel Reeves will set out her vision for UK data centres with a key US client this week. In a meeting with US data centre operator CoreWeave, Reeves will set out a government commitment to encourage more developments to support IT demands throughout the UK, according to the Treasury.…

The government has confirmed that the Farmer review of the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) will be published at the end of the summer. There had been fears that the delayed report could be buried, as it had been commissioned by the previous government. Construction News understands that the Farmer…