The government has announced it has signed a new partnership with Wayve, a British company that is developing self-driving vehicle technologies.
The partnership will focus on shared research that will support the ongoing development and deployment of automated vehicles.
It is hoped that the partnership will act as a catalyst for new investment, skilled jobs and long-term growth across the UK car industry.
A Memorandum of Understanding sets out how the Department for Business and Trade and Wayve will collaborate on research helping to take self-driving vehicles from prototypes through to commercial reality.
HMRC have proposed a new criminal offence for making reckless, untrue statements or declarations about what's known as 'direct taxes' - Income Tax, National Insurance and the like. For Customs and Excise and VAT ('indirect taxes'), it is already possible to prosecute individuals who make untrue statements or submit incorrect documents either knowingly or recklessly, without the need to prove dishonesty. The penalties for such offences can be severe, including substantial fines and imprisonment. The direct tax regime does not currently contain an equivalent offence.
A new Freedom of Information (FOI) request has discovered that health and safety violations cost British employers over £44 million per year. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) revealed that serious breaches have resulted in an increasing number of prosecutions between 2023 and 2025.