A proposed framework from the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (AMEC) urges the Federal Government to establish a national strategic reserve for critical minerals, with rare earths as the initial focus. The plan centres on stockpiling processed products such as NdPr oxide and separated heavy rare earths, rather than unprocessed ore, to buffer supply shocks in defence, EV and grid-scale magnet supply chains. AMEC also calls for long-term offtake contracts and storage facilities co-located with existing processing hubs to anchor new Australian rare earth projects.

The UK government’s Single Construction Regulator Prospectus, released just before Christmas, proposes consolidating fragmented oversight of building control and professional regulation, raising questions over how competence, registration and enforcement will be structured across contractors, consultants and inspectors. In parallel, the Competition & Markets Authority’s interim civil engineering market study report examines procurement practices, framework agreements and potential barriers to entry in major infrastructure work. Bishop & Taylor also use Kier’s recent appointment of a chief of staff to explore how centralised coordination roles might influence project governance and decision-making.

The Department for Transport has released a national climate adaptation strategy for Britain’s transport system, setting out how rail, road, ports and aviation infrastructure should cope with more frequent flooding, heatwaves and coastal erosion. Measures include requiring asset owners to embed climate risk into design standards and renewals, prioritising resilience upgrades on critical corridors and interchanges, and improving data on weather-related failures. For geotechnical and civil engineers, this signals tighter expectations on drainage capacity, slope stability, track and pavement performance under extreme temperatures, and long-term asset monitoring.