Anti-cartel enforcers warn of focus on public procurement using AI tools

Cartels are by their nature secretive so few outside the group fixing prices or rigging bids or other anti competitive behaviour know what is going on until it hits the headlines. Yet few in the industry are surprised when they hear about prosecutions; this behaviour seems to have always been resignedly regarded as ‘one of those things’, and endemic.

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Failure to build, maintain and operate adequate infrastructure leads to record fine for Thames Water

Ofwat has fined Thames Water a record £104.5 million for breaches of rules relating to its wastewater operations that led to serious and routine dumping of untreated sewage into waterways. Ofwat admits that the true scale of Thames’ network spills is unknown, and is likely to be ‘much higher than reported’.

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Pension plan to double the number of megafunds

Government has announced reforms to pension funds that it is claimed could lead to £50 billion of investment in UK infrastructure, reversing decades of declining investment of funds in the UK.

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Councils could get power to seize builders’ land banks

Developers who consistently fail to build out consented sites and those who secure planning permissions to trade land speculatively could face a ‘delayed homes penalty’ of thousands of pounds per unbuilt home under new government measures.

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Government takes over planning control for new reservoirs

Environment Secretary Steve Reed has taken over control of the planning process to build two major reservoirs.

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Planning rules relaxed for house builders and planning committees to be modernised under government plans

Planning rules would be relaxed for housebuilding sites of up to nine houses and planning committees are to be modernised under proposals from the Ministry of Housing.

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Crown Estate partnership to unlock £24 billion of developments

The Crown Estate and Lendlease have agreed a partnership that it is hoped will unlock housing and science innovation hubs across the UK worth £24 billion.

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Ministry rejects New Towns cost estimates as ‘purely speculative’

Government plans for a dozen new towns in England could cost up to £48 billion, according to a report examining the best locations to build them. The report from WPI Strategy however was immediately rejected by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) as ‘extremely speculative’.

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Builders call for licensing system to be introduced

The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) has launched a model for licensing building companies, after a decade long campaign and cross-industry collaboration to get the issue on the Government’s agenda.

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New partnership model proposed for next-generation privately funded infrastructure

Development, building and property services specialist Wates Group has launched a ‘white paper’ calling for the government to rethink its position on private finance to deliver real growth for the UK economy.

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