New laws have been brought into force that mean that new homes in England will be built with gigabit broadband connections.
The Building Regulations 2010 has been amended meaning that new homes in England will be fitted with   the infrastructure and connections capable of delivering gigabit broadband.
Housing developers will be legally required to future-proof new homes in England for next-generation gigabit broadband as standard practice during construction.

The Scottish Government has announced that more than 180 projects in rural areas will receive grants up to £100,000 from the Rural & Island Communities Ideas into Action (RICIA) fund.
The fund is used to support not-for-profit community groups with innovative approaches to community-led local development. This could include work towards net zero and just transition goals, tackling rural poverty and supporting rural communities through the cost of living crisis.

Prime minister Rishi Sunak has delivered a speech outlining his top five priorities for 2023.
The priorities include halving inflation, economy growing, debt falling, waiting lists and small boats.
Full details on how each priority is to be achieved have not been released. These are set to be shared "in the coming months".

Independent research commissioned by London Councils has concluded that councils provide a vital safety net to households in financial crisis and that they should receive long-term government funding for local welfare services.
The research looked at the role played by boroughs’ Local Welfare Assistance (LWA) schemes in helping residents, including in preventing homelessness and was led by analysts at the research firm Policy in Practice and co-funded by the Greater London Authority.

The London Assembly Budget and Performance Committee is set to meet tomorrow to discuss TfL’s budget submission for 2023-24. This will include the government funding agreement and the impact and costs of new services such as the ULEZ Expansion and the Elizabeth Line.

The 'Get Around for £2' bus scheme has been launched with many single bus fares capped at £2 until the end of March.
From 1 January to 31 March 2023, more than 130 bus operators outside of London will charge no more than £2 for single tickets.
The scheme is intended to help the bus industry recover from the pandemic and also reduce carbon emissions and congestion.

The Department for Transport and Active Travel England have announced £32.9 million of funding to boost walking and cycling schemes across the country.
Families, commuters and school children are being encouraged to take up healthy habits. The funding can be used by local councils to develop a network of local walking and cycling schemes, to be co-created by the communities that will use them.

Scotland has published a National Carers Strategy in order to improve the lives of unpaid carers across Scotland.
The announcement follows engagement with carer organisations, carer centres, local government and unpaid carers.
The strategy also aims to ensure that the importance of carers to society is recognised and that carers' voices are represented in policy making.

The government has announced £654 million for the Homelessness Prevention Grant intended to protect vulnerable people from homelessness.
The funding will be shared among councils in England over the next two year to provide support to those who need it.
The funding will be spent on temporary accommodation for families, helping those at risk of becoming homeless to pay deposits for new homes and mediating with landlords to avoid evictions.
£24 million will be spent on supporting victims of domestic abuse.

Scottish ministers have made an agreement with social landlords on below-inflation rent increases for the next financial year.
Under the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) Act 2022, rents are effectively frozen in the social rented sectors until 31 March 2023. Further announcements on future plans for the private sector rent freeze will be announced shortly.