Nearly 1,200 public sector sites across Greater Manchester are now connected to the GM One Network.
The GM One Network provides fast and reliable digital infrastructure for essential public services, with schools, community centres, fire stations and traffic control signals across Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), Bury, Rochdale, Stockport and Oldham local authorities all signed up.

A new Housing Planning Hub is set to increase the rate at which homes with planning permission are delivered in Scotland.
It is hoped this will stimulate housing supply and support economic growth.
The hub is set to be operational in early 2025.
There will also be three times the number of current student bursaries available to encourage more future planners and address staff shortages.
Public finance minister Ivan McKee said: “Planning has not created the housing emergency, but it can help us to find solutions to the challenges we are facing.

The government has announced new climate goals, including reducing emissions by 81 per cent by 2035 compared to 1990 levels.
The announcement came at the COP29 summit in Azerbaijan.
The government believes that tackling the climate crisis is essential to national energy security, economic growth and protecting current and future generations.
It is hoped the announcement will strengthen the UK’s position as a place for investment in the technologies and jobs that are driving growth across the world.

Councils will be given new powers to bring life back to high streets and transform shops that have been empty for a long time.
High Street Rental Auctions (HRSAs) will give businesses and community groups a right to rent neglected town-centre commercial properties.
HRSAs will allow local leaders to put the leases of empty properties up for auction in an attempt to stop disengaged landlords from sitting on empty properties for more than 365 days in a 24-month period.

The latest iteration of the G-Cloud agreement has launched for customers to buy from.
Buyers are able to access tens of thousands of cloud hosting, cloud software and additional support services.
90 per cent of the suppliers on G-Cloud 14 being small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and 70 per cent of the total suppliers are classified as micro and small organisations.

The Mayor of London has called for more investment in housebuilding.
New research, commissioned by City Hall, London Councils, Trust for London and the G15, has highlighted the impact improving housing affordability could have on London’s productivity and the government’s growth agenda.
The research shows that a one per cent increase in housing affordability in London could yield a boost of £7.3 billion in economic output over a decade.

On the first day of COP29, the prime minister has announced that the UK will lead the world in the pro-growth clean energy transition.
Offshore wind developers are set to be incentivised to invest in the UK’s historic industrial heartlands, coastal areas and oil and gas communities, and in turn boost green jobs, and support sustainable factories.  
The Clean Industry Bonus will come with a provisional £27 million per Gigawatt of offshore wind projects.

The GOV.UK One Login is making securing and completing an apprenticeship easier for apprentices and their employers.
The apprenticeship service is now fully transitioned onto the one platform and as a result, has simplified the way employers, apprentices and training providers interact with the government.

Buses of Somerset and Somerset Council have begun work to electrify bus depots in Taunton and Minehead, ready to operate 26 brand new electric buses from Spring 2025.
The works will create EV charging infrastructure as well as upgrading the bus depots in Taunton and Minehead.
Once complete, the electric ready depots will enable a fleet of 26 double and single-decker electric buses to run across Buses of Somerset’s routes, bringing cleaner, greener travel to local people.

The Environment Agency has launched a consultation on waste charges and is encouraged the waste, water and farming sectors to have their say.
The Environment Agency is consulting on new regulatory charges for specific waste activities as well as updating existing charging regimes from April 2025.