Manufacturing

The government announced major changes last week to the immigration system as part of its plan to reduce net migration and encourage more home-grown skills. If you run a business, even if you don’t currently recruit from overseas, it’s worth understanding what’s changing and how it could affect your future hiring plans.

If you’re a parent of a 16 to 19-year-old who’s staying in full-time education or training, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is reminding families to extend their Child Benefit claim by 31 August to avoid the payments stopping altogether.

With many families finding out where their child will be starting school this September, now is a good time for working parents to start planning childcare. The government’s Tax-Free Childcare scheme can save them up to £2,000 a year per child – and this could be good news for employers as well as employees.

The government has published its Impact Assessment on the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which indicates benefits to the economy of potentially up to £7.5 billion over the next decade.

The UK and India signed a new trade agreement last week that will reduce tariffs and open up one of the world’s fastest-growing markets to British businesses. The deal – described by the government as the most significant bilateral trade agreement since Brexit – is expected to boost trade by £25.5 billion a year by 2040.

From April 2026, banks and payment service providers will face stricter rules around how and when they can close customer accounts, under new legislation aimed at improving transparency and giving people and small businesses more time to respond to account closures.

From 1 July 2025, UK businesses involved in cross-border disputes will benefit from a major change in how their legal judgments are recognised overseas, thanks to new international rules being introduced under the 2019 Hague Convention.

James Murray, the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, made a Written Ministerial Statement last week that included a number of tax simplification, administration and reform measures. In total, 39 measures were announced.