Latest news with #Act2024
Business News Wales
28-05-2025
- Business
- Business News Wales
Planning Consultancy Expands Team as it Marks 25 Years in Cardiff
Planning Consultancy Expands Team as it Marks 25 Years in Cardiff Rising demand for housing, infrastructure and energy projects across Wales has driven continued growth at Lichfields' Cardiff office, which this year marks 25 years in the capital. The team of 17 planning professionals is one of the largest planning teams in Wales, currently advising on major schemes across the housing, education, commercial, retail, tourism and energy sectors. The Cardiff office has steadily expanded since its launch in 2000, growing in both team size and scope of work. Its planning professionals bring a mix of public and private sector experience, enabling the office to advise on everything from strategic land promotion to detailed site delivery. Recent projects include the regeneration of Central Square and Central Quay in Cardiff, the delivery of Plasdwr, Cardiff's flagship garden city, and work for the Welsh Government on the strategic site at Slade Lane in Haverfordwest, where proposals for affordable housing are being brought forward. In the education sector, Lichfields is advising on net-zero further education colleges in Rhoose and Barry for WEPCo and Cardiff and Vale College, now under construction with Bouygues UK. The team also continues to support clients in the energy sector, including Welsh Power and Pulse Green Energy. Andrew Cockett, Senior Director and Head of Lichfields' Cardiff office, said: 'We're seeing strong demand for planning advice across housing, education and energy as Wales responds to changing infrastructure needs and economic pressures. Our role is to help clients bring forward sustainable, commercially viable projects in that context.' Tourism and leisure have remained a consistent area of work for the Cardiff team, supporting long-standing clients such as Bluestone and Haven, alongside town centre regeneration and mixed-use development projects across Wales. Looking ahead, Lichfields expects further activity to be driven by the infrastructure (Wales) Act 2024 and shifting patterns of land use in city centres and surrounding areas. The broad remit of the Cardiff team including planning, economics, design and Environmental Assessment has enabled the team to work with a wide variety of developers, investors, government bodies and contractors. Andrew added: 'With public sector resources under pressure, planning work increasingly depends on close partnership between consultants, clients and local authorities. We're continuing to develop the team to meet that demand and support future growth across Wales.'
Irish Independent
09-05-2025
- Health
- Irish Independent
People will automatically be organ donors unless they object during their lifetime, under law change agreed
The soft opt-out will come into effect on June 17 and it is expected to increase the donor pool of organs for over 600 people on the transplant list. It follows an announcement today by the Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, that she is commencing Part 2 of the Human Tissue (Transplantation, Post-Mortem, Anatomical Examination and Public Display) Act 2024. She said: 'In commencing this part of the Act, we are providing, for the first time, a national legislative framework for donation and transplantation services in Ireland. "The legislation introduces a soft opt-out system of consent for organ donation meaning that when a person dies it is presumed that they would wish to donate their organs after their death unless they have objected to donation. "This is a significant moment for healthcare in Ireland and respecting potential donors wishes will be fundamental to it. Family members will always be consulted before any action is taken.' Consent for organ donation will be deemed unless the person has, while alive, registered their wish not to become an organ donor after death. A person's willingness to donate their organs after their death 'will be assumed, unless they make a statement of objection to donation,' under the law. Previously, decisions about organ donation were the responsibility of the next-of-kin. Minister Carroll MacNeill said the law will also expand pathways for living and altruistic organ donations. The aim of these measures is to increase the donor pool in Ireland by making organ donation 'the norm', while always fully respecting the wishes of people and their families. Families will continue to be consulted as part of a safe and respectful organ donation process, while the wishes of the deceased should be central to any decision. The Act also provides a framework for the donation of organs, tissues and cells from living donors and introduces a legislative basis for non-directed altruistic living donation – donation by living donors to the transplant system, not a specific person, where donations can be assigned to patients identified by clinical staff..
The Spinoff
06-05-2025
- Politics
- The Spinoff
Banning teens from social media won't keep them safe. Regulating platforms might
The new member's bill misdirects attention from the systemic drivers of online harm and places the burden of online safety on young people themselves, while the systems that foster harm continue unchecked. A National MP's proposal to ban under-16s from social media is being pitched as a bold move to protect young people. But the reality is more complicated and far more concerning. If the National Party is serious about addressing the real harms young people face online, banning users is not the solution. Regulating platforms is. The Social Media Age-Appropriate Users Bill, a proposed member's bill led by backbencher Catherine Wedd, would require social media platforms to take 'all reasonable steps' to prevent under-16s from creating accounts. Although only a member's bill yet to be drawn from the biscuit tin, the bill was announced by prime minister Christopher Luxon via X and thereby has the PM's obvious stamp of approval. The bill echoes Australia's recently passed Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024, which imposes significant penalties on platforms that fail to keep children under 16 off their services. Wedd, like many who support these measures, points to concerns about online bullying, addiction and other inappropriate content. These are real issues. But the bill misdirects attention from the systemic drivers of online harm and places the burden of online safety on young people themselves. A popular move, but a flawed premise This policy will likely have the support of parents, similar to the school phone ban – it is a visible, straightforward response to something that feels out of control. And it offers the comfort of doing something in the face of real concern. However, this kind of ban performs accountability but does not address where the real power lies. Instead, if the aim of the policy is to reduce online harm and increase online safety, then they should consider holding social media companies responsible for the design choices that expose young people to harm. For instance, according to Netsafe, the phone ban has not eliminated cyberbullying, harassment or image-based sexual abuse for our young people. At the heart of the proposal is the assumption that banning teens from social media will protect them. But age-based restrictions are easily circumvented. Young people already know how to create fake birthdates, or create secondary accounts, or use a VPN to bypass restrictions. And even if the verification process becomes more robust through facial recognition, ID uploads, or other forms of intrusive surveillance, it raises significant privacy concerns, especially for minors. Without additional regulatory safeguards, such measures may introduce further ways to harm users' rights by, for example, normalising digital surveillance. In practice, this kind of policy will not keep young people off social media. It will just push them into less visible, less regulated corners of the internet and into the very spaces where the risk of harm is often higher. Furthermore, there is a growing body of research – including my own – showing that online harm is not simply a function of age or access. It is shaped by the design of platforms, the content that is amplified, and the failures of tech companies to moderate harmful material effectively. Misdiagnosing the problem Online harm is real. But banning access is a blunt instrument. It does not address the algorithms that push disinformation, misogyny and extremism into users' feeds. And it does not fix the fact that social media companies are not accountable to New Zealand law or to the communities they serve. In contrast, the UK's Online Safety Act 2023 holds platforms legally responsible for systemic harm. It shifts the burden of online safety away from individual users and onto the tech companies who design and profit from these systems. New Zealand once had the opportunity to move in that direction. Under the previous government, the Department of Internal Affairs proposed an independent regulator and a new code-based system to oversee digital platforms. That work was shelved by the coalition government. Now, we're offered a ban instead. Some may argue that regulating big tech companies is too complex and difficult — that it is easier to restrict access. But that narrative lets platforms off the hook. Countries like the UK and those in the European Union have already taken meaningful steps to regulate social media, requiring companies to assess and reduce risks, improve transparency, and prioritise user safety. While these laws are imperfect, they prove regulation is possible when there is political will. Pretending otherwise leaves the burden on parents and young people, while the systems that foster harm continue unchecked. What real online safety could look like If the National Party, or the government, truly wants to protect young people online, it should start with the platforms, not the users. That means requiring social media companies to ensure user safety, from design to implementation and use. It may also require ensuring digital literacy is a core part of our education system, equipping rangatahi with the tools to critically navigate online spaces. We also need to address the systemic nature of online harm, including the rising tide of online misogyny, racism and extremism. Abuse does not just happen, it is intensified by platforms designed to maximise engagement, often at the expense of safety. Any serious policy must regulate these systems and not just user behaviour. That means independent audits, transparency about how content is promoted, and real consequences for platforms that fail to act. Harms are also unevenly distributed. Māori, Pasifika, disabled and gender-diverse young people are disproportionately targeted. A meaningful response must be grounded in te Tiriti and human rights and not just age limits. There's a certain political appeal to a policy that promises to 'protect kids', especially one that appears to follow global trends. But that does not mean it is the right approach. Young people deserve better. They deserve a digital environment that is safe, inclusive, and empowering.
Business Recorder
05-05-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
Agri income tax: really, are we serious?
In Punjab it was based on holdings and maximum rate Rs 500 per acre for holdings exceeding 50 acres. The rate of tax on income was similar in both the provinces with 15 percent of income for income exceeding Rs 4.8 million. In the amended law of Sindh this minimum tax being tax based on land has been omitted. This means that now there is no minimum tax on any agriculturalist based on land holding. In Punjab in the amendment Act 2024 it has been stated in the Act that a schedule shall be provided in the Punjab Agricultural Income Tax Rules. There is a reference of two types of taxes being those on the basis of holding and income respectively. These rules have now been prescribed where this new rate of 45 percent and super tax is there. However, there is no reference of minimum tax on land holding. Agri income tax: really, are we serious?—I The writer is almost firm that this is a policy measure, if so then it may be called the biggest intellectual fraud that has been done in Pakistan. This means that our decision makers are either highly incompetent or they intentionally befool the people by introducing a statute which is practically non-implementable and effectively reduces the liability and ultimate collection of taxes. The writer would go for the first option. Though exact date to this effect is not available; however, it is almost certain that the whole amount (over 95%) of agriculture has been collected by minimum fixed tax which was levied under the First Schedule to the Agriculture Income Tax Act 1997 which has been omitted by the Act in 2024 and Sindh Agricultural Income Tax Act 2025 respectively. This means that now there is no tax on a per acre basis. If this is the case then it means that an intellectual corruption has been made by Pakistani legislatures who know that with this law despite a 350 increase in the tax rate the collection would definitely be less than in the past. This writer is personally not in favour of minimum tax in any form; however, there cannot be any discrimination between two kinds of taxpayers. In Pakistan all other taxpayers are subject to minimum tax on turnover and alternative corporate tax. Now a minimum tax which was there, and was and will be the only source of income has been omitted. This means that our legislators are either not aware of what they have done or they are too clever by half to deceive the IMF by notionally increasing the maximum rate of income which is effectively non recoverable. This writer will write more on agriculture income; however, whatever has been stated reveals that Pakistan is facing economic problems not for the reason that we do not have resources or the people. The reason is the high level of incompetence and intellectual corruption. Agriculture produces over 60 percent of materials which ultimately form part of the economic activity of the country. We repeatedly make efforts to make non-documentation easy in that sector. The best recourse is there: a. Introduce a minimum adjustable withholding tax on the sale of cash agricultural crops with a low rate of say 1 to 2 percent; b. Reduce the tax rate on income from 45 percent normal tax to 20 percent and then gradually bring equal to tax rate in other sectors; c. Collection of agricultural income tax be assigned to FBR instead of the provincial department. (Concluded) Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Cambrian News
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Cambrian News
Four Welsh counties to take part in automatic voter registration pilot
The pilots, established under the Elections and Elected Bodies (Wales) Act 2024, will test different approaches to registering voters without requiring formal applications. Instead, they will focus exclusively on the local government register, which is also used for Senedd elections.
