Parliament has approved the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board’s 2026 Industrial Training Levy Order, maintaining levy rates at 0.33% of off-site payroll and 1.2% of on-site payroll, expected to raise £137.9m for 2026–28 and support an estimated additional 40,000 workers. Employers with off-site wage bills under £1m and on-site wage bills under £275,000 remain exempt but still eligible for ECITB training grants, preserving support for SMEs. The levy will be collected in 2027–29, with a separate decision on a proposed ECITB–CITB merger due later this year.

Austmine is urging the Australian Federal Government to ensure mining equipment, technology and services (METS) companies are explicitly eligible for the proposed Innovative Business Capital Gains Tax Concession (IBCC) due to start in July 2027. The group warns that current Treasury framing of “innovative” businesses risks favouring software and biotech while excluding METS firms developing advanced drilling systems, automation platforms and mineral processing technologies. For mining suppliers, IBCC access would materially affect capital-raising terms, R&D investment horizons and commercialisation of new equipment.

Ofwat has imposed a £30.5M redress package on South East Water and ordered the appointment of an Independent Monitor after concluding three separate enforcement investigations into the company. The intervention follows sustained performance concerns around public water supply resilience and service levels, with the monitor to scrutinise delivery of improvement plans, leakage control and outage management. Contractors and consultants working on South East Water’s network upgrades should expect tighter regulatory oversight, more prescriptive performance reporting and closer scrutiny of asset condition and hydraulic capacity improvements.