Delays at the Building Safety Regulator’s Gateway 3 stage are linked by law firm Irwin Mitchell to 44 undecided schemes and 5,594 completed higher-risk residential units remaining unoccupied, with one case waiting 550 days against an eight‑week target. Of 158 Gateway 3 applications in 2023, 55 took more than three months for a decision, raising concerns over cashflow impacts on developers and handover timing for residents. The BSR disputes the interpretation, stating no new-build higher-risk building that passed Gateway 2 has yet applied for Gateway 3 and that current cases are mainly transitional legacy projects with significant safety issues.

MPs on Parliament’s transport select committee are questioning whether the Railways Bill’s proposed Passengers’ Council will have any real enforcement powers to deliver a fully accessible national rail network. Concerns centre on the council’s ability to compel infrastructure managers and train operators to retrofit step-free access, tactile paving and compliant boarding interfaces across thousands of stations and platforms. For designers and asset owners, the outcome will influence how strongly accessibility standards are mandated in future station upgrades, platform works and rolling stock procurement.

New South Wales has introduced a bill to make its Demerit Point Reward Program permanent, following a trial that began in 2023 to encourage safer driving behaviour. The scheme rewards motorists who avoid new offences over a defined period by restoring demerit points, directly affecting licence suspension thresholds and enforcement loads on the road network. For road and traffic engineers, the programme’s permanence would lock in a behavioural lever that can be modelled alongside physical safety upgrades, speed zoning and enforcement camera placement.