diff --git a/.github/workflows/merge.yml b/.github/workflows/merge.yml
index 1524bad3c..c316b0b69 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/merge.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/merge.yml
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ jobs:
           echo "tag=${TAG}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
 
       - name: Create tag named from 'env.tag'
-        uses: actions/github-script@v7
+        uses: actions/github-script@v8
         with:
           script: |
             github.rest.git.createRef({
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index dff73581b..e096ba0e7 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## 2025-12-18
+- Dependabot - Pydantic
+- Dependabot - Datamodel code generator update
+- Dependabot - Pytest-cov update
+- Dependabot - github-script update
+
 ## 2025-12-17
 - [PI-889] redocly hotfix
 - [PI-889] Pytest update
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index bd125777b..93f43a430 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2025.12.17
+2025.12.18
diff --git a/changelog/2025-12-18.md b/changelog/2025-12-18.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ee61f716d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/2025-12-18.md
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+- Dependabot - Pydantic
+- Dependabot - Datamodel code generator update
+- Dependabot - Pytest-cov update
+- Dependabot - github-script update
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index f26ce3f45..b13e33f1e 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [tool.poetry]
 name = "connecting-party-manager"
-version = "2025.12.17"
+version = "2025.12.18"
 description = "Repository for the Connecting Party Manager API and related services"
 authors = ["NHS England"]
 license = "LICENSE.md"
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ packages = [
 
 [tool.poetry.dependencies]
 python = "3.12.3"
-pydantic = "1.10.22"
+pydantic = "1.10.25"
 nhs-context-logging = "^0.6.8"
 requests = "^2.31.0"
 aws-lambda-powertools = "^2.26.0"
@@ -33,14 +33,14 @@ black = "^25.1.0"
 flake8 = "^7.0.0"
 behave = "^1.2.6"
 pytest = "^8.4.2"
-pytest-cov = "^6.0.0"
+pytest-cov = "^7.0.0"
 pytest-custom-exit-code = "^0.3.0"
 sh = "^2.0.6"
 hypothesis = "^6.87.3"
 aws-lambda-powertools = { extras = ["aws-sdk"], version = "^2.26.0" }
 parse = "^1.19.1"
 pytest-mock = "^3.12.0"
-datamodel-code-generator = "^0.43.1"
+datamodel-code-generator = "^0.44.0"
 pyyaml = "^6.0.1"
 proxygen-cli = "^2.1.14"
 moto = "^5.0.1"