The Secretary of State enacted the South East Water Limited (River Ouse and Shell Brook) Drought Order 2025, temporarily modifying licence conditions to manage a serious water supply threat in Sussex due to drought, imposing monitoring requirements, and setting an expiry date of June 2, 2026.

The Secretary of State issued the South East Water Limited (River Ouse and Shell Brook) Drought Order 2025, effective from December 3, 2025, until June 2, 2026, to address a threatened serious water supply deficiency in the Sussex region caused by an exceptional shortage of rain.

This Order temporarily modifies South East Water Limited's existing abstraction licence (No. 21/128) by reducing required compensation release volumes to the Shell Brook, altering the natural flow conditions under which water can be abstracted from the River Ouse at Barcombe, and enabling abstraction at Ardingly during the Order's duration.

The Order mandates adherence to an environmental monitoring plan and specific mitigation measures detailed in a supporting Environmental Assessment Report.

The Regulations amended Part A of Annex 2 to Regulation (EU) 2017/852 by inserting new entries and associated phase-out dates for mercury use in several categories of devices, effective from December 23rd, 2025, across England, Wales, and Scotland.

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 Secretary of State established the Marine Recovery Funds Regulations 2025 under the Energy Act 2023, detailing the administration, operational rules, application procedures, and compensation mechanisms for mitigating the environmental impact of offshore wind activities across England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

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 Regulations amended cross-references within Article 95 of the GB Biocidal Products Regulation and extended the data protection end date for certain active substance/product-type combinations to 31 December 2030.

The Biocidal Products (Data Protection Periods) (Amendment) Regulations 2025, made by the Secretary of State with the consent of the Scottish and Welsh Ministers, modify Article 95 of the GB Biocidal Products Regulation by updating cross-references to previous EU regulations and significantly extending the data protection expiration date to 31 December 2030 for specific active substance/product-type combinations where approval decisions are still pending.

* The Clean Heat Market Mechanism Regulations 2025 were amended to confirm MCS as the certification scheme, adjust hybrid heating definitions, and raise the low-carbon heat target to 8% starting April 2026.

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.

The Regulations amended the Control of Mercury (Enforcement) Regulations 2017 to implement EU changes regarding dental amalgam restrictions in Northern Ireland, updating customs enforcement provisions and defining transitional relief until 2034.

The Control of Mercury (Enforcement) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 amend the 2017 Regulations to implement new restrictions on mercury, focusing specifically on dental amalgam within Northern Ireland as required by the 2024 EU amendment regulation concerning mercury.

These changes update customs enforcement powers regarding import and export prohibitions and clarify temporary exemptions for existing use and import of dental amalgam by registered dental professionals in Northern Ireland until the end of 2034, while also adding corresponding reporting duties.

The Order appointed 12th November 2025 as the end date for the access preparation period concerning the coastal margin for the Portsmouth to South Hayling section of the England Coast Path.

This Order, made by the Secretary of State under powers derived from the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, formally appoints 12th November 2025 as the day the access preparation period ends for the coastal margin associated with the England Coast Path route covering Portsmouth to South Hayling, referencing previous approvals of Natural England’s inspection reports.

The Regulations prescribed conditions for nuclear disposal site exemption from the NTPL regime and amended the 2017 regulations to define disposed matter as excepted matter.

These Regulations establish the necessary technical conditions for certain nuclear installations used for the disposal of nuclear matter to be exempt from the strict liability provisions of the Nuclear Third Party Liability (NTPL) regime established under the Nuclear Installations Act 1965.

The requirements include limiting the effective dose to the public off-site to no more than 1 millisievert and ensuring the risk of criticality on the site is negligible; furthermore, the legislation amends previous regulations to define nuclear matter disposed of on such an exempted site as 'excepted matter,' thereby clarifying liability responsibilities.