LONDON, March 18 -- The government of the United Kingdom issued the following news: * Better protections for people's visitation rights in health and care settings * Government to drive cultural change across the system * Ministers considering bringing forward legislation as part of wider reforms Patients and residents in care homes, hospitals and hospices willno longer be cut off from their loved ones unless in exceptional circumstances, under a government drive to strengthen visiting rights ...
LONDON, March 18 -- The government of the United Kingdom issued the following news: A series of high-level diplomatic engagements held in London marked a historic step forward in deepening co-operation between Central Asia and the United Kingdom. Over several days of intensive dialogue, foreign ministers, senior officials, and institutional leaders came together to advance strategic collaboration across education, security, culture, finance and economic development. UK-Turkmenistan Structured ...
LONDON, March 18 -- The government of the United Kingdom issued the following news: New research has found government-funded childcare has cut costs on childcare for families in half, with working parents now saving an average of £8,000 a year. According to Coram Family and Childcare's annual Childcare Survey, costs of a part-time childcare place have now dropped back to the same level as 2005 - reversing more than two decades of rising costs in just two years and giving more children the...
LONDON, March 18 -- The government of the United Kingdom issued the following news: The Marine Management Organisation's (MMO) Non‑Executive Board recently welcomed Geraint Evans, Chief Executive of the UK Major Ports Group (UKMPG), who outlined the strong progress of the Ports Sandbox programme and the deepening partnership between the regulator and the ports sector. The Ports Sandbox is a joint initiative, co-designed with industry, that aims to strengthen consistency, transparency and...
LONDON, March 18 -- The government of the United Kingdom issued the following news: We used a collaborative approach to developing this framework including consulting with senior colleagues across the wider internal audit function. This helped us to ensure the framework is practical, relevant and aligned to the needs of the government internal audit function and profession. A person's capabilities, abilities and skills, are collectively referred to as competences. Many professions use framewor...
LONDON, March 18 -- The government of the United Kingdom issued the following news: The government will introduce new fees for passport applications on8April 2026. The proposals, which are subject toapproval byParliament, will include the following: * the fee for a standard online application made from within the UK will rise from £94.50to £102for adults and £61.50to£66.50for children * postal applications will increase from £107to£115.50for adults and£...
LONDON, March 18 -- The government of the United Kingdom issued the following news: * Communities to gain new powers to protect local spaces, shape their high streets, and celebrate culture. * New tools for local leaders to keep residents safe by cracking down on dangerous pavement parking and strengthening standards for taxi and private hire vehicle licencing. * Local people will see stronger and more public scrutiny of their regional mayors, through new Local Scrutiny Committees. Streets wil...
LONDON, March 18 -- The government of the United Kingdom issued the following news: The Prime Minister hosted the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, at Downing Street yesterday afternoon. The Prime Minister began by setting out the UK's unwavering support for Ukraine, adding thatwith the focus on the Middle Easthe was determined to ensure the worlddoes not take its eyes off what's happening in Ukraine. Paying tribute to the courage and resilience of the Ukrainian people, the Prime Min...
LONDON, March 18 -- The government of the United Kingdom issued the following news: Fly-tippers and waste vandals could soon be forced to clean up our streets and parks and pay the costs of clearing their mess under new government plans for "clean up squads". Under the proposals, local authorities would get the powers to issue fly-tippers with so-called conditional cautions instead of being taken to court. These could see offenders complete up to 20 hours of unpaid work, cleaning our streets, ...
LONDON, March 18 -- The government of the United Kingdom issued the following news: The government has published England's first ever Land Use Framework - a plan for delivering new homes, nature restoration, clean energy and food security. It demonstrates clearly that there is enough land to deliver the government's objectives provided we use land more efficiently and for multiple benefits. For too long, fragmented decision-making has led to inefficient land use and left us exposed in the shor...