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MPs declare more than £1m of gifts and hospitality in year since election
MPs declare more than £1m of gifts and hospitality in year since election

The Herald Scotland

time03-07-2025

  • Politics
  • The Herald Scotland

MPs declare more than £1m of gifts and hospitality in year since election

But analysis of the MPs' Register of Interests by the PA news agency shows hundreds of MPs have declared receiving gifts in the past year. Some 236 MPs declared gifts from UK sources, totalling £477,539, while 144 said they had been on overseas trips paid for by donors, charities, think tanks or foreign governments, worth another £810,761. In total, 318 MPs declared that they had received gifts in the year since the election, just under half the number sitting in the Commons. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage declared receiving almost £100,000 in gifts and hospitality since the election, mostly relating to trips to the US (Ben Whitley/PA) Reform UK leader Nigel Farage declared the highest value, receiving gifts worth a total of £98,709 over the past year. The bulk of these took the form of flights and accommodation on a number of trips to the United States, paid for by Reform donor Christopher Harborne and party volunteer George Cottrell. But they also include £8,413 for a helicopter journey from JC Bamford, whose owner has previously backed the Tories, and tickets worth £2,000 from boxer Derek Chisora to watch his fight against Joe Joyce last August. The biggest recipient of hospitality from UK sources was the Prime Minister, thanks to his regular attendance at Arsenal games. Sir Keir declared £11,170 worth of football tickets over the past year. A long-standing Arsenal season ticket holder, he has previously said that he is no longer able to sit in the stands because of security concerns, but has been offered a seat in the club directors' box so he can continue to attend matches with his son. The Prime Minister declared a total of £17,344 in hospitality and other gifts since the election, with other donations including tickets from Universal Music and the FA to see Taylor Swift and the loan of clothes to his wife. Long-standing Arsenal season ticket holder Sir Keir Starmer has said he accepts hospitality in the club's directors' box as security concerns mean he can no watch matches the stands (Stefan Rousseau/PA) Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch declared just one gift – £14,350 from Tory donor Neil Record to cover work space, accommodation and hospitality for a series of meetings in Gloucestershire in March this year. While several MPs received significant sums in gifts, most declared lower amounts or none at all, with the median MP receiving £1,208 in gifts over the year. Some 49 MPs received free tickets to football matches in the past year, totalling almost £59,000. But gifts from football clubs and organisations such as the FA and the Premier League totalled more than £70,000, and included concert tickets as well as hospitality at matches. The single largest gift of sporting tickets, however, was declared by shadow business minister Greg Smith, who received hospitality worth £5,160 at last year's British Grand Prix from hosts Silverstone. Four other MPs, including Leader of the Commons Lucy Powell and shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel, also received hospitality at Silverstone last year. Eight MPs received hospitality from the Lawn Tennis Association at Wimbledon in 2024, while golf's R&A provided tickets for four MPs at the Open. Another 49 MPs received tickets to awards ceremonies including the Baftas, the Brit Awards and the British Kebab Awards, while 23 were given tickets and hospitality for horse racing events, and 21 received tickets to concerts. The most popular of those concerts were part of Taylor Swift's Eras Tour, with nine MPs receiving free tickets totalling £14,628, mostly from the Premier League and the FA. As well as the Prime Minister, they included Cabinet ministers Darren Jones, Peter Kyle, Bridget Phillipson and Wes Streeting, and Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey. During the last election, Labour campaigned on a pledge to restore probity to public life after the scandals that had plagued the previous Conservative government. Last year Sir Keir sought to toughen up transparency rules for ministers, introducing a new monthly register of gifts and hospitality for ministers rather than the previous quarterly releases. He also changed the Ministerial Code in November to include the seven principles of public life directly in the rules and allow the independent adviser on ministerial standards to launch his own investigations. But Alastair McCapra, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, warned the continued culture of gifts and hospitality in British politics risked creating a 'full-blown crisis of legitimacy'. He said: 'At the heart of this credibility gap is the shadowy relationship between business and politics. 'The entrenched culture of gifts and hospitality in British politics creates the perception of corruption, and the suspicion of back doors to access are damaging a Labour Party that campaigned on promises of transparency, integrity and a break from the past. 'Political scandals thrive in the gaps between information and silence. 'If the Government and the business community are serious about building back trust, they must prioritise and accept a relationship that is transparent and accountable to the public.'

UK's Berkeley appoints Rob Perrins as executive chair to lead growth strategy​
UK's Berkeley appoints Rob Perrins as executive chair to lead growth strategy​

Time of India

time21-06-2025

  • Business
  • Time of India

UK's Berkeley appoints Rob Perrins as executive chair to lead growth strategy​

BENGALURU: British homebuilder Berkeley on Friday proposed the appointment of CEO Rob Perrins as executive chair to succeed Michael Dobson and lead its 10-year strategy to invest 5 billion pounds ($6.73 billion) in building new homes. Shares in the high-end home builder dropped 8% and were headed for their worst day since March 2020, as it also reported results and forecast fiscal 2026 and 2027 profit below market expectations as affordability concerns weigh on the sector. "I believe the market is overly focused on the very short term, while the long-term prospects for this business remain unchanged," Peel Hunt analyst Clyde Lewis said, saying the share move is likely an over-reaction to the cautious outlook. As part of the board reshuffle due to Dobson's planned departure in September, the company said finance chief Richard Stearn would become CEO to replace Perrins. During Dobson's nearly three-year tenure, Berkeley's shares have risen 20%, outperforming rivals Barratt Redrow, Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon. Berkeley said on Friday it can allocate 5 billion pounds in investments under its 2035 growth strategy, which will include delivering 4,000 rental homes through its Build to Rent platform. The company earmarked 2 billion pounds of shareholder returns over that period. British finance minister Rachel Reeves' spending review outlined an additional 10 billion pound investment to build thousands more homes in England, on top of a 39 billion pound, 10-year affordable housing plan. However, Britain's housing market, which has been under pressure from high interest rates and economic uncertainty, is also grappling with regulatory reforms aimed at enhancing safety and addressing systemic flaws, further slowing delivery. Berkeley posted a 5% drop in pre-tax profit to 528.9 million pounds for the year ended April 30, slightly ahead of the 526.3 million pounds expected in an LSEG poll. The company forecast fiscal 2026 pre-tax profit of 450 million pounds, below analysts' estimates of 477 million pounds. It expects fiscal 2027 profits to be at similar levels.

Govt lags in using development funds
Govt lags in using development funds

Express Tribune

time19-05-2025

  • Business
  • Express Tribune

Govt lags in using development funds

Taxpayers allocating a proportion of their income for their country expect to see the results of their contribution in the form of some development work implemented by the government to improve the quality of life of people in the country. In Sindh, however, development is reduced to a buzzword, with the majority of funds underutilized even as the year ends. With only weeks remaining before the books close, several provincial departments are still issuing tenders for new development schemes, according to sources. In the first week of May alone, the Highways Division of the Sindh government invited tenders for more than 200 projects, including the construction of 125 roads in Umarkot, setting up of a paver block in Larkana alongside the installation of 77 CC drains. It should be noted that the current financial year will end on June 30th and work on the projects will start only in the next financial year. This is because even after these tenders are floated, contracts take time to be awarded and work to begin-making the timely completion of projects within the year a pipe dream. While development funds are often released in scattered tranches, non-development allocations tend to be readily spent. According to figures obtained from the Finance Department, by the first week of May, Rs1,477 billion out of Rs1,925 billion allocated for non-developmental expenditures, had been released to provincial departments, which ended up spending 88 per cent of this amount. On the contrary, out of the Rs959 billion budget allocated to provincial departments for development projects, Rs571 billion was released, of which only 69 per cent was utilized. An official from the Finance Department, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that provincial departments spent a large chunk of the development budget on ongoing schemes, while very little was spent on new schemes. "Since there is no need to complete new formalities for ongoing schemes, it is easy for departments to spend money on existing projects. However, it is difficult to spend on new development schemes since it takes a long time for them to complete all the formalities," explained the official. Dr Kaiser Bengali, a renowned economist, highlighted various technical reasons behind the underutilization of development funds. "Funds are allocated in the budget for new development projects, but the financial year is spent completing their formalities. Any new development project has to go through various stages from approval and preparation of PC-1 to the release of funds. This process often takes a long time hence its implementation is delayed. The relevant institutions of the provincial government should include in the budget only those development schemes for which PC-1 has already been prepared. This will reduce the amount of time taken to implement them," opined Dr Bengali. The problem of timely utilization of funds is not limited to the funds allocated by the provincial government since the allocation received by the Sindh government from the federal government too is not utilized in a timely manner. This can be gauged from a report published by the Auditor General of Pakistan regarding the non-utilization of Zakat funds. Every year, the federal government distributes the funds collected in the form of Zakat to all the provinces, which are obliged to spend this money on the deserving people. With this money, financial assistance must be provided to the impoverished households in the provinces by giving them subsistence allowances. This amount should also be spent on the welfare of orphans, treatment of poor patients and scholarships for underprivileged students at universities. According to the report, the federal government provided Rs4.63 billion as Zakat to Sindh during the financial year 2021-22. However, despite the passage of a whole year, the provincial government spent only Rs850 million on public welfare.

MARKET PULSE AM MAY 19, 2025 [WATCH]
MARKET PULSE AM MAY 19, 2025 [WATCH]

New Straits Times

time19-05-2025

  • Business
  • New Straits Times

MARKET PULSE AM MAY 19, 2025 [WATCH]

KUALA LUMPUR: News on the latest moves on the stock and crypto markets. Bursa Malaysia opened in the red today, weighed down by a lack of fresh catalysts to drive the domestic market. The broader market was in negative territory, with the technology sector leading the decline, falling by nearly two per cent. For today, the FBM KLCI is expected to hover within the range of 1,570 to 1,580. In the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin climbed to RM452,244. Conversely, Ethereum dipped to RM10,477, while Solana fell to RM720. That's it for Market Pulse.

Industry backs early approval of solar projects
Industry backs early approval of solar projects

Express Tribune

time15-04-2025

  • Business
  • Express Tribune

Industry backs early approval of solar projects

Listen to article Stakeholders from the industry and the government have voiced strong support for the early approval of centralised solar projects while citing their competitive tariffs and potential to reduce national electricity costs and subsidies. At a public hearing convened by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on K-Electric's (KE) auction evaluation reports for its 120-megawatt and 150MW solar projects in Deh Halkani and Deh Metha Ghar, respectively – both located in Sindh – the stakeholders shared their views on the proposed tariffs and project execution. The Request for Proposals (RFP) for KE's 640MW renewable energy projects had been floated early in 2024. In December 2024, Nepra conducted hearings on the power utility's 150MW solar projects in Winder and Bela (Balochistan), followed by hearings in February for its 220MW hybrid project in Dhabeji. Company officials highlighted that they had assessed the reduction in KE's generation cost through the addition of 120MW and 150MW projects and the expected displacement of power generation based on expensive fuel. It was ascertained that annual savings would be Rs3,477 million while aggregate savings over 25 years would go up to Rs86,937 million. These projects will also help realise foreign currency savings of $765 million in the entire time frame. KE officials emphasised that the bidding process had been carried out transparently and in accordance with the regulatory guidelines. They mentioned that the inclusion of both physical and electronic submissions pointed out the company's dedication to fairness and openness throughout the process. The officials stressed that the bidding process, which yielded a tariff bid from Kapco, followed Nepra's guidelines and was conducted transparently, including advertisements in the international and local newspapers. Nepra voiced concern over the justification of accepting a single bid and asked why a second round was not initiated. KE responded that procedural delays impacted feasibility timelines and may have deterred other bidders. KE said that the decision was based on comparative benchmarking with similar projects and the urgency of delivering low-cost energy to consumers. Nepra also discussed the prudence and assumptions underpinning the business plan, particularly regarding the debt-equity structure and fuel displacement figures. KE officials responded that all the standard prudency checks had been observed, with estimated annual fuel savings of Rs1.6 billion and Rs1.8 billion from these projects, alongside potential annual foreign exchange savings of over $30 million. They added that across KE's full portfolio of 640MW of renewable energy projects, expected savings could reach up to Rs12 billion per annum. The proposed tariff is levelised – not cost-plus – and was defended as competitive and economically justified under the current market conditions. KE reiterated that the associated transmission infrastructure had already been assessed with support from the World Bank and necessary NOCs were secured. The proposed tariff structure was lauded, with hearing participant Rehan Javed describing it as very good and advantageous for both consumers and the government. He emphasised the affordability of the tariff and stressed the need for expediting approvals pertaining to the right of way and transmission infrastructure. It was suggested that Hesco and Sepco should also be involved in future planning to encourage industrial growth in the south and reduce transportation costs. Another participant requested Nepra to share the timeline for issuing a decision on KE's renewable energy projects so that the benefit could be passed on to consumers; to which Nepra member assured that it would be announced within two months. Transaction Adviser to the Government of Sindh Irfan Yousuf expressed confidence in the competitiveness of the process and emphasised that it was conducted transparently and provided all bidders with an equal opportunity to participate.

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