This Order, issued by the King in Council on December 10th, 2025, under the authority of the Education Act 2005, officially appoints Owen Evans as His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education and Training in Wales for a five-year term beginning on January 1st, 2027, while simultaneously revoking the Education (Chief Inspector of Education and Training in Wales) (No. 2) Order 2021 on the same date.

The Secretary of State made The Control of Mercury (Amendment) Regulations 2025, obtaining consent from the Welsh and Scottish Ministers, to amend Part A of Annex 2 of Regulation (EU) 2017/852 on mercury.

These Regulations, which extend to England, Wales, and Scotland, introduce specific amendments to phase-out dates for mercury content in various products, including certain lighting types, sensing devices, and electronic components, aligning UK law with recent decisions made by the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury.

The Radio Equipment (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2025 amend the 2017 Regulations specific to Northern Ireland to implement Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/30, which introduces new essential requirements for internet-connected radio equipment concerning network integrity, fraud protection for financial transactions, and user data/privacy protection.

The instrument also updates the necessary conformity assessment procedures to reflect these new security standards, enacted under the powers granted by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 and approved by resolution of both Houses of Parliament.

These Regulations establish the framework for the creation, operation, and management of Marine Recovery Funds (MRFs) across the UK, designed to channel payments from entities responsible for adverse environmental effects of offshore wind activities towards approved compensatory measures.

The Secretary of State is empowered to set up these funds territorially, determine the application procedure for 'MRF applicants' seeking to make compensation payments, approve environmental 'measures,' and manage the subsequent delivery, monitoring, and adaptation of those measures through 'MRF contracts.'

The Broadcasting (Regional Programme-making and Original Productions) (Amendment) Regulations 2025, laid before and approved by Parliament, exercise powers granted under the Communications Act 2003 to implement provisions from the Media Act 2024 concerning programme-making quotas.

These regulations primarily confer new functions upon OFCOM to determine whether previously broadcast content ("repeats") can count towards meeting the regional programme-making quotas for licensed public service channels and to regulate original production quotas for these providers, including S4C, by amending the Broadcasting (Original Productions) Order 2004 to update definitions and align regulatory requirements.

These Regulations, issued by the Minister for the Cabinet Office with the consent of the Department of Finance for Northern Ireland, update specific financial threshold amounts within the Procurement Act 2023, effective from January 1, 2026.

The primary goal is to ensure the UK's public procurement rules, particularly those governed by the GPA, align with current international standards, while also correcting an inconsistency in below-threshold contract procedures and detailing specific threshold columns related to contracts regulated by the Welsh Ministers.

These Regulations amend the Clean Heat Market Mechanism (CHMM) Regulations 2025, which established the mandatory scheme requiring boiler manufacturers to meet escalating targets for installing low-carbon heat pumps proportionate to their fossil fuel boiler sales in the UK. The amendments officially designate the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) as the sole approval scheme for CHMM compliance, update the criteria for what qualifies as a hybrid heating system, and most significantly, increase the required low-carbon heat installation target for scheme years beginning April 1, 2026, from 6% to 8% of relevant boiler sales.

These Regulations, made by the Secretary of State with consent from the Scottish Ministers and the Department of Justice for Northern Ireland, exercise powers under the Private International Law (Implementation of Agreements) Act 2020 to extend the 'operative period' for making associated regulations by five years.

The instrument formally extends the deadline for creating subordinate legislation under Section 2 of the 2020 Act from 13th December 2025 until the end of 12th December 2030, applying across England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.