Latest news with #AnnualReview
Scoop
4 days ago
- Politics
- Scoop
The House: Parliamentary Agency Resources Under Pressure
Parliament risks being overwhelmed by an increase in public engagement on bills, Clerk of the House David Wilson told MPs this week. Wilson, along with Speaker Gerry Brownlee and Parliamentary Service Chief Executive Rafael Gonzalez Montero, joined the Governance and Administration Committee on Wednesday. The event was part two-albeit a month late-of the Estimates hearing for the Office of the Clerk and the Parliamentary Service. Brownlee is not a cabinet minister, but even so, he is the minister responsible (as Speaker) for Parliament's agencies, the Office of the Clerk (OOC), and the Parliamentary Service (PS). He oversees the PS but the OOC is independent. Much of Wednesday's hearing was focused on a perceived strain on the OOC's staff and resources. The source of that strain has apparently come from the increase of three things: the increased use of urgency, the number of public submissions on bills, and the amount of scrutiny by select committees. Such technical, behind-the-scenes parliamentary issues are dry but crucial to the effective oversight and transparency of government, and to participation in the law-making process. Both are sacrosanct to a functioning democracy. Wilson said the Office of the Clerk currently has the resources to cope with the aggregate demand for its services. His concern though, is being able to cope with a potential "new norm" of having unprecedented submissions on bills, which he said they would "really struggle to deal with". "We can deal with one or two bills that attract a huge amount of public interest [but] we couldn't deal with those simultaneously, though, with current resources," Wilson said. So would such a shift mean that some public submissions will not be able to be processed because the Office of the Clerk wouldn't have the capacity? There is potential mitigation on the horizon in the form of the Parliament Bill, which is currently waiting for its second reading. While not a silver-bullet, the law change would enable Wilson to make a case directly to Parliament for sufficient resourcing to deal with the increased scale of submissions, and not rely on the discretion of the Minister of Finance. Double the scrutiny, half the resource The current session of Parliament changed how select committees scrutinised Government spending and performance. This included the introduction of two dedicated scrutiny weeks a year (one for Estimates and one for Annual Review), longer hearings and cross examinations, and more for committees to report. All that extra scrutiny increases labour and time costs. Green MP Ricardo Menéndez March expressed concern about whether Parliament has the resources to do justice to the new arrangements. "The feedback we have received [is] that there's a genuine trade-off that happens with increased scrutiny and ability to produce substantive reports," he said. Wilson said it's a matter of priorities. "More so than previously, there is the need to weigh up where the energy and attention of the committee and therefore the staff are going to focus... If you're doubling the amount of time spent on scrutiny, there's not double the amount of resource to support that," he said. Other than hoping for respite from the Parliament Bill's new funding mechanism, MPs could also propose changes to Parliament's rules and processes in the Standing Orders Review, which happens at the end of each Parliamentary term. That would be expected to occur in 2026. Brownlee, who chairs the Standing Orders Committee, suggested this as a method for countering the increased strain on Parliament's staff and resources. He told MPs on Wednesday the trend is that there are more submissions on all bills at the moment than there has been in the past. "I think it's for the Standing Orders Committee of Parliament to make some decisions around that, so if you've got some ideas, then feed them in," Brownlee said. * RNZ's The House, with insights into Parliament, legislation and issues, is made with funding from Parliament's Office of the Clerk.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Valmet has published the Annual Report, the Corporate Governance Statement, the Remuneration Report and the Green Finance Report for 2024
Valmet Oyj's stock exchange release on February 27, 2025 at 11:00 a.m. EET ESPOO, Finland, Feb. 27, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Valmet has today, on February 27, 2025, published its Annual Report for 2024 on the company's website at The Annual Report consists of two separate parts: the Annual Review, and the Financial Statements and Report of the Board of Directors. The Annual Review covers Valmet's operations, strategy, market environment and sustainability in 2024. The Financial Statements and Report of the Board of Directors report includes Valmet's Financial Statements and the Report of the Board of Directors for 2024. The EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) aligned Sustainability Statement is included within the Report of the Board of Directors. The audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers Oy has provided a limited assurance report on the Sustainability Statement. Valmet has today published its Financial Statements in European Single Electronic Format (ESEF). The ESEF report is available on the same website and attached to this release. The audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers Oy has provided an independent auditor's reasonable assurance report on Valmet's ESEF Financial Statements in accordance with ISAE 3000 (Revised). Valmet has also published its Corporate Governance Statement and Remuneration Report for 2024. These have been prepared in accordance with the recommendations of the Finnish Corporate Governance Code and are available at Additionally, Valmet has today published its Green Finance Report for 2024. The report includes information about Valmet's allocation and impact of the proceeds of green debt transactions issued under the Green Finance Framework. The Annual Review, the Financial Statements and Report of the Board of Directors, the Corporate Governance Statement, the Remuneration Report and the Green Finance Report are attached to this stock exchange release. Further information, please contact: Anu Pires, SVP HR, interim SVP Marketing, Communications, Sustainability and Corporate Relations, Valmet, tel. +358 40 592 6234Pekka Rouhiainen, VP, Investor Relations, Valmet, tel. +358 10 672 0020Rasmus Oksala, General Counsel, Valmet, tel. +358 50 3173 830 VALMETKatri HokkanenCFO Pekka RouhiainenVP, Investor Relations DISTRIBUTION:Nasdaq HelsinkiMajor media Valmet has a global customer base across various process industries. We are a leading global developer and supplier of process technologies, automation, and services for the pulp, paper, and energy industries. With our automation and flow control solutions, we serve an even wider base of process industries. Our more than 19,000 professionals around the world work close to our customers and are committed to moving our customers' performance forward – every day. The company has more than 225 years of industrial history and a strong track record in continuous improvement, sustainability, and renewal. Valmet's net sales in 2024 were approximately EUR 5.4 billion. Valmet's shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki, and the head office is in Espoo, Finland. Follow us on | X | X (IR) | LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram | Processing of personal data This information was brought to you by Cision The following files are available for download: Valmet-Financial-Statements-2024 213800D9O7FUQDH83V62-2024-12-31-en Valmet-Corporate-Governance-Statement-2024 Valmet-Remuneration-Report-2024 Valmet-Annual-Review-2024 Valmet-Green-Finance-Report-2024 View original content:
