Spotlight: A new Housing Secretary, Britain’s £240bn green superpower plan and AI's evolving role in infrastructure delivery

ENERGY

📰 Britain’s £240 Billion Green Superpower Plan Faces Crucial Test | Energy Connects

📰 Why Octopus CEO Greg Jackson joined UK Cabinet Office Board | Sustainability Magazine

📰 UK grid: Connection clarity as Gate 2 slams shut | Solar Power Portal

📰 UK solar pipeline skyrockets as July 2025 the busiest month on record | Solar Power Portal

📰 Powering change: UK battery firms aim to unlock the way to net zero | The Guardian

🗣 The UK's offshore wind sector: turning strategy into reality | Politics Home

📰 UK offshore wind buildout threatened by infrastructure gaps warns EIC report | Renewable Energy Magazine

📰 Trump’s war on offshore wind raising ‘sovereign risk’ for foreign investors | Financial Times (paywall)

✒️ Assessing, Monitoring and Mitigating the Effects of Offshore Wind Farms on Biodiversity | The UK Energy Research Centre

📰 ELIRE Infra and partners secure UK funding for hydrogen floating power hubs to decarbonize ports | Offshore Energy

INFRASTRUCTURE

🗣️The main event: why local stakeholders are the most important people on major projects | Building

✒️ Big decline in belief public services are listening, as Reform UK becomes magnet for those who feel powerless | King's College London

📰 Infrastructure project ‘fast-track’ process ‘re-design’ proposed | Pinsent Masons

🗣️ RICS launches landmark global standard on responsible use of AI in surveying | The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors

✒️ AI use in Project Management nearly doubles in just two years, APM survey finds | Association for Project Management

📰 Can AI really transform infrastructure? | pbc today

📰 UK infrastructure financing on track to reach record high | The Financial Times (paywall)

📰 Amey Unveils Nature Positive Strategy for Biodiversity | Edie

📰 Reform UK vows to cancel Labour’s northern rail plans | The Financial Times (paywall)

DEVELOPMENT

📰 Reed succeeds Rayner as housing secretary | Construction News

📰 New Housing Secretary to ‘build baby build’ but who is he? | The Negotiator

📰 Industry calls on new housing ministers to maintain momentum | pbc today

📰 Pennycook remains in post but three new junior ministers join MHCLG following reshuffle | Planning Resource (paywall)

📰 Thirteen policy and legislation changes to expect this autumn | Planning Resource (paywall)

📰 The mid-market opportunity: Why SME construction developers hold the key to solving Britain’s housing crisis | pbc today

📰 Vistry launches joint venture with Homes England for large-scale sites | Building

📰 UK planning permissions at their lowest since 2012, warn HBF | pbc today

📰 Why inspectors appear to be taking a softer approach to housing land supply targets when examining local plans | Planning Resource (paywall)

✒️Accelerating Development and Nature Recovery: A Natural England Perspective on the Nature Restoration Fund | Natural England