In this year's Programme for Government, the Scottish Government has includes plans to safeguard homeowners and residents by accelerating progress to identify, assess and fix unsafe cladding on Scotland’s medium and high-rise multi-residential buildings.
Ministers will be given new powers to remediate buildings with unsafe cladding through a Cladding Remediation Bill.

The government has announced new measures so that onshore wind projects supported by local people will be approved more quickly in England.
The government says it has streamlined planning rules, so local areas will have a greater say in how onshore wind projects should be considered and hopefully reduce energy bills and increase national energy security.
The measures include widening the ways that suitable locations can be identified, including by communities, and speeding up the process of allocating sites by giving alternatives to the local plan process.

The Scottish Government has announced that childcare provision will be expanded to increase access for more families, as part of a new package of measures to tackle poverty.
Further support is to be announced for frontline staff working in private, voluntary and independent (PVI) providers in the early learning and childcare sector.

£34.6 million has been awarded to more than 70 areas across the country to support rough sleepers.
Funding will be used to provide up to 4,300 additional beds to help people off the streets.
The announcement comes to mark the anniversary of the Rough Sleeping Strategy, which was announced in September 2022.

Libraries across Scotland are now able to apply to the Public Library Improvement Fund to help finance creative projects and sustainable services.
Projects that could receive funding include those that tackle the cost of living crisis, bridge the digital divide, tackle the attainment gap for children and young people, or address sustainable development goals.
The fund is administrated by the Scottish Library and Information Council, who will make awards in line with the aims and ambitions of its current strategy.

The government has set out its ambitions for the AI Safety Summit, which is due to take place on 1st and 2nd November at Bletchley Park.
The summit will bring together key countries, leading technology organisations, academia and civil society to inform rapid national and international action at the frontier of Artificial Intelligence (AI) development.

The Community Ownership Fund has reopened for applications.
Up to £2 million in government funding is available for pubs, community halls, gardens, sports clubs and other treasured locations.

Oxford City Council has announced that Electric vehicle owners and hirers across the county will be able to make use of a variety of offers on World EV Day (9 September).
World EV Day aims to highlight the progress in e-mobility and promote the shift to electrified transport.
To celebrate this year, EV charging point companies will be offering deals for drivers across Oxfordshire.
Free charging will be available, as well as the chance to join the county-wide EV car club scheme.

Schools across the country have been advised that any space or area with confirmed RAAC should no longer be open without mitigations in place.
The news comes only a few days before the start of the new school year.
A statement from the Department of Education said: "While building maintenance is the duty of councils and academy trusts, new RAAC cases have reduced the Department for Education’s confidence that school and college buildings with confirmed RAAC should remain open without mitigations in place.

The government has teamed up with health professionals, fitness experts and sports stars with the aim to get another 3.5 million adults and children active by 2030.
The new sports strategy sets national participation targets of an additional 2.5 million adults and 1 million children active by 2030.
A new taskforce will be led by Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer, Sports Minister Stuart Andrew and former England Rugby Union international Ugo Monye.