The government has announced it is slashing the red tape that holds back ground-breaking innovations from coming to market. New funding will fast-track ground-breaking innovations such as drones delivering medicines in the Scottish islands to firefighters using AI to spot fire risks faster.
Six business experts from across the islands have been selected to help shape new opportunities for young entrepreneurs, businesses and third-sector organisations to develop and grow their ideas in Orkney, Shetland and the Outer Hebrides. Heriot-Watt University has appointed the specialists to its Industry Advisory Board for its ‘innovation and commercialisation project' - one of the key strands of the wider TalEntEd Islands Programme.
The MHRA leads three new government-backed projects using AI-driven approaches to make medicines safer and bring treatments to patients more quickly. A new study will use artificial intelligence (AI) and NHS data to predict side effects from drug combinations before they reach patients.
The UK government's major national programmes and initiatives since 1997 that were explicitly aimed at "cutting red tape" or reducing regulatory and administrative burdens. There haas been at least 9 distinct, named national initiatives (some are agencies or rules rather than one-off campaigns).
Screen Scotland has published the latest figures detailing the screen sector's impact within the Scottish economy. The research shows continued economic growth in Scotland's film and television sector, and the value of sustained public investment in film and television production, cinema exhibition, screen education, talent and skills development.
The UK has about 18.3 % of its population aged 65+ The highest-share country is Japan with around 30.0 % aged 65+ in 2025. Japan's share of 65+ is ~30 % versus the UK's ~18.3 % — so Japan has roughly 1.6 times the proportion of older people compared to the UK.
Annual mid-year population estimates of people aged 90 years and over by sex and single year of age to 105 years and over, and comparisons between UK countries. There were an estimated 625,000 people aged 90 years or over in the UK in 2024; this is an increase of 53.7% since 2004, and an increase of 2.2% since mid-2023.
there are growing reports in the UK and elsewhere that large-scale data centres are generating complaints from local people and utilities alike about their impact on water and electricity supplies. Below is a summary of how this is playing out, what the concerns are, and how prevalent the issues appear to be.
With cash ISA reform rumours circulating again, Moneyfacts data reveals higher rate taxpayers and those with larger savings pots could have made more money from top-paying cash ISAs since 2020 despite standard savings accounts paying a greater rate of interest due to their tax efficiency. The importance of tax-efficient saving via ISAs is growing as more people shift into higher tax bands, which reforms could threaten.
The latest figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for September 2025 show continued pressure on the UK's public finances, reinforcing a challenging fiscal backdrop for the government. In September 2025 alone public sector net borrowing (i.e., the shortfall where spending exceeds income) reached about £20.2 billion making it the highest such figure for any September in five years.
Your phone buzzes at 6 a.m. It's ChatGPT: "I see you're traveling to New York this week.
Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper to boost opportunity for disadvantaged students, hold universities to account and put sector on firm financial footing. Bold plans to break down barriers to opportunity, hold universities to account, and put the post-16 education system on a firmer financial footing have been unveiled as part of the government's plan for national renewal.
The Scottish Government is embroiled in a significant legal dispute with waste management company Biffa Waste Services Limited, which is seeking up to £166 million in damages. The case stems from the collapse of Scotland's ambitious Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), a flagship environmental initiative aimed at reducing litter and boosting recycling rates.
The Chancellor will kick off the first ever Regional Investment Summit with a blitz on business bureaucracy announcing further cuts to red tape and promising to save UK firms nearly £6 billion per year by the end of Parliament. Rachel Reeves set to announce blitz on business bureaucracy, slashing red tape and regulations to save UK businesses nearly £6 billion per year by the end of the Parliament and drive economic growth.
Victims and direct witnesses of crime who sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) will no longer be gagged from speaking out under new plans (from Monday 20 October). Government clampdown on misuse of NDAs as "gagging orders" to conceal crime.
The Scottish Health Survey 2024 results, published today, provide information on the health, and factors relating to health, of adults and children in Scotland. Half of all adults now have at least one long-term condition, continuing the upward trend.
Draft plan to increase reuse and recycling whilst growing the economy. Proposals aimed at creating new jobs and driving economic growth by keeping materials and goods in use for as long as possible have been published for consultation.
Scotland's world-renowned universities are facing the most acute financial strain in decades, with deficits, job cuts, and a rising tide of industrial unrest threatening to upend the country's higher education model. Once viewed as a global benchmark for publicly funded, tuition-free study, Scotland's university sector now finds itself squeezed between soaring costs and stagnant government funding forcing radical budget cuts, restructuring, and strike threats across campuses from Dundee to Edinburgh.
Billions will be unlocked to build affordable homes, power communities and connect the countryside, as the Chancellor joins forces with pension providers and insurers to drive growth in every region. 20 of Britain's largest pension providers and insurers set to launch Sterling 20 group at first-ever Regional Investment Summit on Tuesday 21 October 2025.
The IMF is issuing a clear, urgent alert: public debt worldwide has soared to levels not seen since the aftermath of World War II, and governments will need to act now if they want to preserve fiscal flexibility and economic resilience. For countries like the UK, the United States, France and Japan, where debt‐to‐GDP ratios already exceed or approach 100 %, the implications are especially acute.