The Welsh government has launched a Built Environment Mission Statement and a Digital Action Plan for Construction, committing to project bank accounts (PBAs), prioritising retrofit over new build, and promoting offsite prefabrication of large components. Developed with Constructing Excellence in Wales, the digital plan targets productivity gains, better project delivery and “future‑ready” skills, backed by a forward pipeline of public sector contracts to give earlier visibility of workload. The Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Act 2023 now makes socially responsible construction procurement a statutory duty, requiring public bodies to agree well-being objectives with trade unions or staff representatives.

Roads Australia will rebrand as Transport Australia following member approval at its recent Annual General Meeting, signalling a shift from a roads‑only focus to a broader, multimodal transport remit. The peak body, which has spent more than a decade convening governments, contractors and consultants on issues such as road funding models, asset management and decarbonisation, will now explicitly cover rail, ports and integrated transport networks. For civil and transport engineers, this points to policy forums and guidance increasingly framed around whole‑of‑network planning rather than discrete road projects.

BS 30417 introduces the UK’s first formal standard for inclusive PPE sizing and fit, moving away from legacy designs based on a single “average man” template. The standard sets out anthropometric measurement guidance, fit-test protocols and size-range requirements so items such as fall-arrest harnesses, hi-vis garments and safety footwear can accommodate women, ethnic minorities and workers with non-standard body shapes. For contractors and asset owners, it signals future procurement specifications where PPE suppliers must evidence compliant size ranges and documented fit assessments rather than offering limited S–XL ranges.