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Government policy is set to dominate mining investment in 2026, with 47% of respondents to White & Case’s Mining & Metals 2026 survey citing political variables and nearly 40% expecting state‑backed financing to be the main tool in developed markets. Some 73% foresee widening divergence between US and Chinese critical minerals policy, while a funding gap between the US and Europe is seen as a key opportunity, alongside risks of over‑expansion and a two‑to‑three‑year “gold rush” bubble. Copper and gold are viewed as the “sure bet” price risers, with gold miners seen as prime consolidation targets and strategic partnerships favoured over traditional M&A.

Sustainability reporting in construction is described as fragmented and inconsistent, with project disclosures difficult to compare and data quality varying widely across contractors and asset owners. This patchwork approach is exposing schemes to reputational, regulatory and operational risk, particularly as clients demand verifiable carbon footprints, lifecycle assessments and supply chain traceability aligned with frameworks such as the GHG Protocol and EU taxonomy. For geotechnical and civil engineers, the direction of travel points to standardised metrics on embodied carbon in concrete and steel, site energy use and materials sourcing becoming routine contract requirements.

JCB technical service director Phil Layton has begun a two-year term as president of the Committee for European Construction Equipment (CECE), representing the UK’s Construction Equipment Association. Layton plans to prioritise decarbonisation of construction machinery fleets, support for open global markets and a more competitive regulatory framework for European OEMs. CECE’s immediate policy push targets EU secondary legislation on road circulation of construction machinery and a guidance document for implementing the new Machinery Regulation, ahead of the CECE congress in London on 27–29 October.

The first UK standard for women’s safety on construction sites has been launched at the House of Lords, creating a formal national benchmark for site conditions, behaviour and facilities. Developed to address harassment, inadequate PPE fit and lack of appropriate welfare provision, the standard is intended for adoption by principal contractors, clients and supply chains across major infrastructure and building projects. Contractors will be expected to embed its requirements into site inductions, toolbox talks and subcontract terms, with compliance likely to influence prequalification and framework bids.

Trump’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has overhauled Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act regulations to merge the two-step exploration licence and commercial recovery permit into a single, shorter review, potentially halving permitting times for polymetallic nodule projects in US and international waters. The Metals Company has already applied under the Trump-era framework for exploration over 199,895 sq. km and a 25,160 sq. km commercial recovery area in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, while Impossible Metals is pursuing AI-guided AUV nodule collection off American Samoa and in Bahraini waters. The move raises legal and environmental uncertainty because the US has not ratified the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea or the International Seabed Authority regime governing mining beyond national jurisdiction.

Chile’s president-elect José Antonio Kast has scrapped a standalone mining ministry, folding it into the economy portfolio and appointing agronomist Daniel Man as dual Minister of Economy and Mining, reversing plans to name ex‑BHP and Los Andes Copper CEO Patricio Montt. Los Andes Copper (CVE: LA) shares initially jumped 21.79% in after-hours trading on the TSX before sliding 16.07% the next day, leaving the stock 7.7% down at $15.74 and valuing the company at about C$473 million. Industry groups warn the dual mandate risks sidelining Chile’s largest industrial activity just as the new minister must unblock an estimated $105 billion in delayed mining investments and permitting reforms.

The UK government’s £15bn Warm Homes Plan aims to upgrade up to five million homes by 2030 with rooftop solar, heat pumps supported by £7,500 grants, domestic batteries and insulation, with low-income households receiving fully funded packages. DESNEZ expects Future Homes Standard rules to make rooftop solar mandatory on new homes “where practicable”, tripling the current number of solar-equipped properties, while a new Warm Homes Agency and Workforce Taskforce will coordinate delivery and skills. Industry bodies welcome the scale but warn current supply chains, installer competence and training capacity are insufficient to deliver more than 1.5m heat pumps a year.

US lawmakers have introduced the bipartisan SECURE Minerals Act to create a $2.5 billion Strategic Resilience Reserve (SRR) for critical minerals, directly targeting China’s control of over 60% of mined rare earths and about 90% of processing. The SRR would be run as an independent government corporation with a seven-member presidentially appointed board, prioritising US domestic projects, recycling and unconventional feedstocks, and materials where US import dependence is near 100%. Lawmakers are pushing to attach the measure to the US National Defense Authorization Act, signalling long-term policy backing for non-Chinese rare earth, lithium, graphite and cobalt supply chains.

Government plans a “once‑in‑a‑generation” overhaul of England’s water sector, proposing a new regulator with an in‑house chief engineer to tighten technical scrutiny of ageing treatment works, trunk mains and sewer networks. The reforms aim for earlier intervention on failing assets, with stronger powers to act before service reservoirs, pumping stations or CSO outfalls reach critical condition. Measures will target reduced pollution incidents and lower household bills, signalling tougher performance requirements for leakage control, storm overflow management and long‑term asset resilience.

Condition monitoring surveys will become compulsory across England’s water networks under a new Defra white paper, with a single regulator empowered to mandate regular “MOT‑style” health checks on pipes, pumps and other critical assets. For the first time in around 20 years a chief engineer will sit within the regulator, tasked with restoring hands-on inspection of buried mains and treatment infrastructure previously overseen by Ofwat. A transition plan due in 2026 and a subsequent water reform bill will define implementation, signalling more preventative maintenance, structured asset condition data and tighter performance scrutiny for operators and contractors.

Regulatory uncertainty around approvals and land access is emerging as a major bottleneck for Australia’s critical minerals sector, prompting the Australian Drilling Industry Association (ADIA) to urge the Federal Government to streamline overlapping state–federal processes. ADIA is pushing for clearer, faster pathways for exploration drilling permits, native title and environmental approvals to support projects targeting lithium, rare earths and other battery metals. For geotechnical and drilling contractors, the message is that mobilisation schedules, rig utilisation and investment in new equipment will hinge increasingly on predictable regulatory timeframes rather than purely geological risk.

The Canadian Infrastructure Bank is shifting its C$18 billion mandate towards critical minerals, starting with a C$55 million bridge loan and a potential C$500 million follow-on facility for Torngat Metals’ C$2 billion Strange Lake rare earths project in remote Nunavik, Quebec. The bank plans to co-invest in transport and power infrastructure and may use contracts for difference and offtake-backed structures to de-risk revenue for feasibility-stage projects across Canada’s 34 listed critical minerals. Memoranda of understanding in Manitoba, British Columbia’s Golden Triangle and Saguenay target integrated road, rail, port and industrial hub planning with Indigenous and provincial partners.

New members are being sought for the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) Council for the session starting in November 2026, with elected members helping to set policy on infrastructure, professional standards and climate resilience. Council members typically influence guidance on areas such as geotechnical risk management, asset resilience for bridges and tunnels, and the adoption of digital design and construction methods. Chartered and incorporated engineers considering standing should assess the time commitment for attending Council meetings in London and contributing to technical and regional committees.

BHP president Australia Geraldine Slattery has been appointed to the Business Council of Australia (BCA) board, adding a major iron ore, metallurgical coal, copper and nickel producer’s operational perspective to national policy debates. Her role at BHP spans large-scale open-pit and underground operations in Western Australia, Queensland and South Australia, including long-life assets such as Pilbara iron ore hubs and Olympic Dam. The appointment signals closer input from bulk commodities and critical minerals operators into discussions on emissions policy, approvals reform and long-term energy and infrastructure planning.

Mining companies in 2026 face ESG risk dominated by geopolitical fragmentation, with Russia’s war in Ukraine, Middle East conflict and African coups driving sanctions exposure, trade route disruption and board‑level scenario planning on supply chains and project delivery. Tailings governance is shifting from voluntary to quasi‑regulatory, as ICMM reports 67% GISTM conformance, the UK High Court’s Samarco ruling widens negligence exposure, and the World Mine Tailings Failures database projects 13 catastrophic failures by 2029. Simultaneously, ISSB IFRS S2 climate disclosure, GRI 14: Mining Sector 2024 and TNFD uptake by 730+ organisations, including 179 financial institutions with $22 trillion in assets, are turning climate, water, land disturbance and biodiversity into hard conditions for capital and permitting.

The Supreme Court has ruled that Providence Building Services was not entitled to terminate its £7.2m JCT Design & Build 2016 contract with Hexagon Housing Association over two late payments on a six-block social housing scheme in Purley. Interpreting clause 8.9, five law lords held unanimously that a contractor must first accrue a termination right under clause 8.9.3, meaning a second late payment only justifies termination if the first was more than 28 days overdue. The decision confirms that identical wording in the 2024 JCT D&B edition also offers stronger protection to employers against “trigger happy” termination over minor payment delays.

US lawmakers have introduced a bipartisan bill to create a $2.5 billion Strategic Resilience Reserve for critical minerals, with a seven-member board empowered to buy, store and sell materials such as rare earths, lithium, graphite and cobalt across US facilities. The reserve would prioritise recycled feedstock but also accept mined material, recycle sale proceeds back into operations, and allow allied countries to join with contributions of at least $100 million. Proponents aim to counter China’s control of about 60% of mined rare earths and most downstream processing, and to anchor a Western price benchmark for currently thinly traded minerals.

Kevin Rudd’s decision to step down as Australia’s ambassador to the US at the end of March injects uncertainty into a role that has been central to negotiating critical minerals, defence-industrial integration and US Inflation Reduction Act access for Australian projects. His replacement will inherit files covering lithium, rare earths and graphite supply chains, AUKUS-related technology transfer, and efforts to secure US offtake and financing for Australian mines via mechanisms such as the US Defence Production Act and Export-Import Bank. For miners, any gap or policy reset in Washington could slow permitting, funding decisions and long-term offtake agreements.

The 5th Ministerial Roundtable at the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh has concluded with the creation of a new ministerial steering group to shape future agendas on mineral security and supply-chain resilience. Convened by Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, the roundtable gathered producing and consuming countries from Africa, Asia and Europe to discuss cross-border investment frameworks and shared ESG standards. The steering group will coordinate between forums, aiming to turn high-level commitments on responsible mining and critical minerals into specific policy and project pipelines.

Westminster City Council has adopted a retrofit-first planning policy in its City Plan Partial Review, obliging developers to evidence options for retaining and adapting existing structures before applying for demolition and rebuild. The plan also tightens affordable housing requirements, shifting the tenure mix in new schemes from 40% to 70% social rent and from 60% to 30% intermediate, and capturing sites with fewer than 10 units through financial contributions. Four large mixed-use strategic sites are flagged for redevelopment: St Mary’s Hospital, Westbourne Park Bus Garage, land adjacent to Royal Oak, and Grosvenor Sidings.

Australia’s Federal Government has named lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite and rare earths as the first commodities eligible for its $1.2 billion Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve, ahead of Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ mid-year budget update. The reserve will allow Canberra to buy and hold physical stockpiles to support downstream processing projects and stabilise supply chains, with details expected to influence financing for operations such as Larvotto Resources’ Hillgrove gold–antimony project in NSW. For miners, the move signals potential price support and new offtake-style backing for qualifying critical mineral projects.

Australia will create a A$1.2 billion critical minerals reserve by year-end 2026, initially stockpiling domestically produced rare earths, antimony and gallium to counter China’s pricing power and support defence and clean-tech supply chains. The scheme will secure and on-sell offtake rights rather than physical tonnes, with Export Finance Australia and the industry department gaining expanded powers to structure transactions and support local miners. An associated US–Australia agreement includes an US$8.5 billion project pipeline, and G7 finance ministers are expected to debate minimum pricing for some critical minerals.

US President Donald Trump and Congress are moving to overturn Joe Biden’s 20‑year mining ban on more than 225,000 acres of Superior National Forest in northern Minnesota, using the Congressional Review Act after Interior officials argued the ban was not properly filed in the Congressional Record. If lawmakers reject the ban within 60 days, the Trump administration could reissue long‑contested federal leases for Antofagasta’s Twin Metals underground copper‑nickel‑cobalt‑PGM project, located in the Duluth polymetallic belt. The mine would be Minnesota’s first underground operation since 1967 and the next major US nickel producer as the country’s only existing nickel mine nears closure.

A coalition of UK environmental professionals is calling for natural capital – including rivers, wetlands, soils and urban green space – to be formally designated as critical national infrastructure (CNI). The group argues that assets providing flood attenuation, coastal protection and urban cooling deliver system-level resilience comparable to power, water and transport networks, and should therefore receive similar statutory protection and long-term funding. For civil and geotechnical engineers, this would push nature-based solutions such as floodplains, saltmarsh and sustainable drainage systems further into core infrastructure planning and asset management.

MPs have sharply criticised Thames Water’s performance in a Commons debate, with one MP saying she “wouldn’t trust Thames Water to run a bath” as they examined the company’s financial stability and pollution record across London and the Thames Valley. The session scrutinised the utility’s remediation plans for sewage discharges into the River Thames and its ability to fund long-term upgrades to ageing sewers and treatment works under its current debt-laden structure. For civil and water engineers, the outcome could reshape investment timing, regulatory requirements and delivery models for major network rehabilitation schemes.

UK ministers have pushed back the Development Consent Order decision for the two 1.5GW Dogger Bank South offshore wind farms, extending the statutory deadline from 10 January 2026 to 30 April 2026. The schemes, totalling 3GW in the North Sea, would require extensive offshore foundations, subsea cabling and grid connection works comparable in scale to the existing Dogger Bank A, B and C projects. The four‑month delay prolongs design and procurement uncertainty for marine geotechnical campaigns, fabrication yards and onshore grid reinforcement planning.

The Office for Environmental Protection has issued formal notices to Defra and the Environment Agency over suspected failures to comply with regulations transposing the EU Water Framework Directive into UK law, signalling potential systemic issues in river basin and groundwater quality management. The case centres on how environmental objectives, monitoring and classification of water bodies have been implemented, including the setting of chemical and ecological status under the WFD regime. Civil and water engineers should expect closer scrutiny of discharge permits, combined sewer overflow operation and design standards for future catchment and treatment schemes.

Subsidence Security Guidance 2025, issued as a technical standard for UK mining operators, is being interpreted as a de facto national benchmark for managing ground movement risk across transport, energy and water infrastructure. The framework pushes asset owners to map legacy mine workings, karst and compressible soils, integrate continuous ground monitoring (InSAR, LiDAR and automated levelling) and link trigger thresholds directly to asset management plans. For geotechnical and structural engineers, it signals closer regulatory scrutiny of differential settlement, serviceability limits and resilience of buried pipelines, foundations and trackbeds.

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.

Western Australia has opened a new funding round under its Clean Energy Future Fund (CEFF), making $9 million available for clean energy projects that cut emissions or reduce energy costs. Mining, minerals processing and remote industrial operations are eligible, with typical projects including on-site solar and battery storage, high‑efficiency electrification of diesel loads, and demand‑side management technologies. The scheme targets projects that can be replicated across WA’s grid‑connected and off‑grid sites, signalling scope for miners to de‑risk low‑emission power trials at existing operations.

The UK Trade Remedies Authority has confirmed anti-dumping tariffs on Chinese-built excavators will stand, rejecting appeals from LiuGong and Caterpillar over its May 2025 decision. LiuGong sought to exclude its battery-electric excavators from the product definition, while Caterpillar challenged the calculation of its individual dumping and injury margins and the causal link assessment. Tariffs, introduced following a JCB complaint, remain at 18.81% for one sampled exporter and up to 40.08% residual, affecting UK pricing and procurement of Chinese excavators across fleet renewals.

Deep seabed mining remains legally blocked after legal scholars Aline Jaeckel and Erik van Doorn argued that the International Seabed Authority cannot approve exploitation in areas like the Clarion-Clipperton Zone until separate benefit-sharing regulations, controlled by the ISA Assembly, are adopted. The ISA’s Finance Committee only produced a first draft benefit-sharing framework in 2024, centred on a Common Heritage Fund, while about 40 countries now support a moratorium and African states oppose using shared funds for remediation. Companies including The Metals Company, Impossible Metals and Lockheed Martin are advancing CCZ plans despite this regulatory deadlock.

An anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation has been opened by the UK Trade Remedies Authority into Chinese-made boom lifts, following a complaint from UK manufacturer Niftylift. The probe covers telescopic and articulated boom lifts, including sub-assemblies, with working heights of 6 m and above, such as models like the Dingli BT44HRT now entering the UK market. Scissor lifts, forklifts, vertical mast lifts, mobile self-propelled cranes and motor vehicles with integrated boom or scissor assemblies are explicitly excluded, so procurement teams must check machine classifications carefully.

Engineers Against Poverty chair Richard Threlfall calls for the engineering, infrastructure and construction profession to lead on cutting whole‑life emissions and controlling capital cost overruns in major civils programmes. He argues that effective infrastructure governance must move beyond compliance to active stewardship of carbon, cost and social outcomes, with engineers shaping procurement models and performance metrics rather than leaving them to financiers and policymakers. For practitioners, this signals greater responsibility for transparent cost baselines, carbon accounting and value-for-money evidence on large public works.

A Productivity Commission proposal to replace company tax with a hybrid cash flow tax has drawn a lukewarm response from the Minerals Council of Australia and the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies, which warn it could deter long-life, capital-intensive projects. Industry groups argue that immediate expensing of capital and tighter limits on interest deductibility may not suit multi-decade mines with heavy upfront spend on shafts, processing plants and rail links. They are calling for detailed modelling of impacts on marginal projects, junior explorers and existing royalty and PRRT settings before any shift proceeds.

More than 60% of global demand for critical minerals is now met via international trade, with the IEF warning that copper and nickel could face material shortfalls by the mid-2030s as total demand for copper, nickel, cobalt, lithium and rare earths climbs from 28 Mt in 2021 to nearly 41 Mt by 2040. EV copper use alone is forecast to jump from 200,000 t in 2020 to 3.4 Mt by 2035, while Indonesia supplies over half of nickel, the DRC about 70% of cobalt, and China over 90% of rare earth refining. More than 600 policies now target critical mineral supply chains, with the US, Canada and Australia incentivising exploration, refining and recycling, and Indonesia, Chile and Peru pushing in-country value addition and export controls.

US federal critical minerals policy in 2026 is set to move beyond rare earths to high‑risk inputs such as antimony and tungsten, where the US currently relies heavily on China, Tajikistan and Russia for supply into defence alloys, munitions and flame‑retardant applications. Washington is expected to prioritise domestic processing capacity over new mines, backing alternatives to traditional smelting and refining that cut emissions and withstand high US power prices. Intensifying competition for electricity from AI data centres will put aluminium, copper, magnesium and titanium processors under pressure, favouring technologies that materially lower energy use and total production costs.

Landmark Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 has received royal assent, giving ministers new powers to accelerate major roads, rail schemes, reservoirs, windfarms and grid connections, and underpinning Labour’s target of 1.5 million new homes. Key measures include a Nature Restoration Fund for centralised biodiversity offsetting, streamlined judicial review with only one court challenge allowed on meritless major project cases, and reformed local authority planning committees pushing smaller schemes to officers. The Act also simplifies EV charger approvals, eases compulsory purchase, and offers up to £250/year electricity bill discounts for 10 years to households near new pylons.

Ontario and Canada have signed a “one project, one review” agreement to coordinate federal and provincial environmental and impact assessments, targeting long-delayed mining and infrastructure schemes in the Ring of Fire and other critical mineral districts. The deal dovetails with Ontario’s One Project, One Process (1P1P) framework, which aims to cut mine approval timelines from up to 15 years to a maximum of two years, with Frontier Lithium’s PAK project the first pilot. For geotechnical and mining teams, the move signals materially shorter permitting horizons for cobalt, lithium, nickel and copper projects backed by a C$500 million processing fund.

The Planning and Infrastructure Act has received Royal Assent, bringing into force a wide package of reforms aimed at accelerating housing delivery and major infrastructure consenting across the UK. Measures include streamlining Development Consent Order processes for nationally significant projects and tightening statutory timescales for planning decisions, with the intention of reducing multi‑year delays on large transport, energy and water schemes. For engineers, the changes signal pressure to front‑load design, environmental assessment and geotechnical risk work to meet shorter pre‑construction and examination windows.

Brazil has indefinitely postponed a planned March 2026 auction of mineral exploration areas rich in critical minerals after the National Mining Agency (ANM) said it lacks funds to cover embedded auction costs. The tender was to be the first mining round run jointly with B3, the São Paulo stock exchange operator, using a bidding model already applied in power and oil and gas, and would have addressed a backlog of roughly 100,000 areas awaiting auction. The delay jars with Brazil’s push to market its 94% share of global niobium reserves and significant graphite, nickel, lithium and rare earth potential.

Quarry operators warn that proposed revisions to the National Planning Policy Framework published on 16 December strip out references to maintaining a “steady and adequate supply” of aggregates and no longer describe mineral supply as “essential”. The Mineral Products Association says this weakens long‑standing minerals policy just as permitted aggregate reserves are already in long‑term decline despite historically low sales. Executive director Mark Russell argues the NPPF should include a clear national statement of need for construction aggregates, industrial sands and building stone, with consultation running until March 2026.

Collaboration between Western Australian mining industry bodies and local government is being strengthened ahead of 2026 to manage shifting regulatory, workforce and infrastructure demands. Stakeholders are aligning on issues such as approvals timeframes for new pits and tailings facilities, skills pipelines for autonomous haulage and remote operations centres, and long-term planning for regional roads and power networks servicing major iron ore and lithium hubs. For engineers, closer coordination could mean clearer permitting pathways, more predictable infrastructure funding, and earlier input into standards affecting pit design, waste storage and closure obligations.

Government changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) are being broadly welcomed by infrastructure stakeholders, though with cautious caveats over delivery and resourcing. Developers and consultants see potential for faster consent on nationally significant projects and large housing schemes if local plan-making and appeals are genuinely streamlined. Civil engineers are watching how revised tests on design quality, environmental assessment and transport impacts will be interpreted by planning authorities, as this will directly affect scheme viability and programme risk.

Government plans to create a Single Construction Regulator to take central control of built environment professions, arguing that current self-regulation by bodies such as building control and architects’ institutions is too fragmented and inconsistent. A call for evidence is scheduled for spring 2026, with a full strategy and detailed regulatory framework for competence, oversight and enforcement due in spring 2027. The model will draw on safety regimes in aviation, energy and healthcare, and explicitly link regulation of people, products and buildings, signalling tighter accountability for designers, inspectors and contractors.

Government plans to convert the Building Safety Regulator into a Single Construction Regulator with powers spanning high‑rise building control, oversight of the building products regime and regulation of construction professions, but without directly carrying out product testing or certification. The consultation prospectus, issued by building safety minister Samantha Dixon, runs to 20 March 2026, with detailed regulatory reform proposals due summer 2026. For designers, contractors and product manufacturers, this signals tighter, centralised scrutiny of competence, product compliance and safety case evidence on complex residential projects.

Julie Wood has been confirmed by the ICE Council to succeed David Porter as President of the Institution of Civil Engineers in November 2026, setting the leadership line-up two years in advance. The early confirmation gives continuity for ongoing work on infrastructure resilience, decarbonisation and digital delivery across ICE’s 95,000-strong global membership. Civil engineering firms can expect policy and guidance stability through at least 2027 as Porter’s term transitions to Wood’s, aiding long-term planning for major UK and international projects.

The UK Competition and Markets Authority warns that the civil engineering market for public roads and railways is stuck in a “negative cycle” of low margins, limited competition and underinvestment, constraining delivery of schemes such as National Highways’ RIS3 upgrades and Network Rail renewals. The report points to fragmented procurement, short-term frameworks and risk-heavy contracts that deter smaller contractors and weaken supply chain resilience for major earthworks, structures and track renewals. Engineers can expect continued pressure on bid pricing, programme certainty and capacity for innovation unless procurement and contract models are reworked.