Latest news with #BlockGrant
Scotsman
2 days ago
- Business
- Scotsman
Spending review: Actions speak louder and clarity for Acorn is now vital
The challenge for Labour, north and south of the Border, is to make good on the promises Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... There was much to cheer in Chancellor Rachel Reeves' Spending Review, even if it does come with the threat of pain in the Autumn Budget to pay for it. For Scotland, investments were reeled off from the Dispatch box including the headline-grabbing increase in the Block Grant (the SNP, of course, immediately questioned why it was not higher). Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad But that apart,you could have been left with the impression that things were very rosy indeed after the Chancellor sat down. A U-turn on £750 million in funding for the creation of a supercomputer at Edinburgh University which could be one of the most powerful in the world, £250m for the Royal Navy's nuclear submarine base on the Clyde, increased funding for the NHS and house building which will trickle down to Scotland. And one of the well-trailed announcements was the support – at long last – for the huge Acorn carbon capture project in Aberdeenshire. 'Today, I can announce support for the Acorn project in Aberdeenshire, supporting Scotland's transition from oil and gas to low carbon technology," said Reeves. 'A challenge and an opportunity well understood by the leader of Scottish Labour Anas Sarwar and the Scottish Secretary.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad All good so far, but what about the detail? It is not clear from the 136-page document released by the Treasury how much funding the project will be given, indeed it later emerged a final investment decision will be taken later this parliamentary term, subject to "project readiness and affordability'. For a vital project in the North East's transition and one which has already been long-delayed, clarity is important as soon as possible. Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar praised the spending review as 'game-changing', and said the plans, including Acorn, would bring billions of pounds of investment to Scotland. Actions of course speak louder than words, and the task for Labour on both sides of the Border is to prove it.
Scotsman
2 days ago
- Business
- Scotsman
Spending review: Actions speak louder and clarity for Acorn is now vital
Rachel Reeves in the Commons today The challenge for Labour, north and south of the Border, is to make good on the promises Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... There was much to cheer in Chancellor Rachel Reeves' Spending Review, even if it does come with the threat of pain in the Autumn Budget to pay for it. For Scotland, investments were reeled off from the Dispatch box including the headline-grabbing increase in the Block Grant (the SNP, of course, immediately questioned why it was not higher). Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad But that apart,you could have been left with the impression that things were very rosy indeed after the Chancellor sat down. A U-turn on £750 million in funding for the creation of a supercomputer at Edinburgh University which could be one of the most powerful in the world, £250m for the Royal Navy's nuclear submarine base on the Clyde, increased funding for the NHS and house building which will trickle down to Scotland. And one of the well-trailed announcements was the support – at long last – for the huge Acorn carbon capture project in Aberdeenshire. 'Today, I can announce support for the Acorn project in Aberdeenshire, supporting Scotland's transition from oil and gas to low carbon technology," said Reeves. 'A challenge and an opportunity well understood by the leader of Scottish Labour Anas Sarwar and the Scottish Secretary.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad All good so far, but what about the detail? It is not clear from the 136-page document released by the Treasury how much funding the project will be given, indeed it later emerged a final investment decision will be taken later this parliamentary term, subject to "project readiness and affordability'. For a vital project in the North East's transition and one which has already been long-delayed, clarity is important as soon as possible. Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar praised the spending review as 'game-changing', and said the plans, including Acorn, would will bring billions of pounds of investment to Scotland. Actions of course speak louder than words, and the task for Labour on both sides of the Border is to prove it.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Construction to take over Independence Square through summer
INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — There aren't a lot of options for parking around Independence's Square right now. It's been cut by about half as construction takes over. 'This place would normally be completely full,' General Manager of Independence's Game Cafe, Jonathan Reinig, said Wednesday, referring to parking outside of his storefront on West Lexington Avenue. Cones, barriers, signs, and caution tape are now in the place of parking spots. The 'Square Streetscape' project includes streets around the Historic Truman Courthouse. Kansas City Royals 'gone' without Missouri funding bill: Former lobbyist The Project Overview for it, according to the City, reads: 'The Downtown Square Streetscape Improvement Project (Square Streetscape) includes landscaping, lighting, bicycle and pedestrian accommodations, and other hardscape features and ADA accessibility improvements. Square improvements include the addition of bump-outs, amenity zones, parklets, improved light poles, and a bi-directional cycle track. Narrowing lane widths and converting the Square to one-way vehicular travel will also enhance pedestrian safety and create a more livable and inviting downtown district.' 'We love being up on the square, there's a lot of activity up here. We got Truman County courthouse, which brings people in the center from all over the county to the square,' business owner Sean Fite of Sonshine Sports Apparel said. Maintaining historic charm, supporting businesses, and increasing accessibility are some of the goals of the project, according to the City of Independence. 'The finished product is going to look really good, which is nice. The Independence Square has definitely needed a facelift for quite a while,' Reinig added. Those who FOX4 spoke to Wednesday say it'll be worth the wait, but for now, accommodations are being made for guests of at least one shop on the square. 'It definitely is affecting foot traffic. We are having to modify the way our shop works,' he shared. 'We have a huge event coming up in June. We are going to be sending out where the parking lots are, how to get to Game Cafe from those locations. We've turned the back alley into an alternate entrance.' Some upgrades, advocates of the Square say, are for safety; others say some are for aesthetics. Rep. Graves asking RFK Jr. to look into cancer cases at Liberty school 'It'll be a shorter crossing for pedestrians, but it also is going to add a lot of greenery to the area,' Jeff Rogers, the Executive Director of the Independence Square Association, shared. 'Sometimes you kind of get used to something being less than. To be able to walk amongst a much more beautiful place will really lift the pride and spirits of everyone here.' The project is slated to be funded by a $3 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Block Grant, secured by U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II. Over $700,000 will be provided by the City, by way of Community Development Block Grant Funding. 'The City hopes to have construction wrapped up by the fall, so others can enjoy one of the most historic parts of Independence and the Kansas City metro,' a statement from the City, shared said. You can view the renderings of the project here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
New Straits Times
02-05-2025
- Health
- New Straits Times
Trump budget proposes drastic cuts for US scientific research
WASHINGTON: The White House wants to reduce US health spending by more than a quarter next year, with the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention facing the brunt of billions of dollars in cuts. President Donald Trump's administration on Friday proposed a US$163 billion cut to the federal budget that would sharply reduce spending in areas including health, education, and housing next year, while increasing outlays for defense and border security. The proposed budget requests US$93.8 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services - a cut of US$33.3 billion, or 26.2 per cent - from this year's budget of US$127 billion. It includes a cut of US$18 billion, or 40 per cent of the money allocated to the NIH, leaving it with US$27 billion. The Trump administration wants to cut funding altogether for four of the agency's 27 institutes and centers while consolidating others into five new ones. A total of almost US$1 billion would be eliminated for the National Institute on Minority and Health Disparities, Fogarty International Center, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, and National Institute of Nursing Research. Some of the NIH's remaining institutes and centers would be consolidated under five new ones: the National Institute on Body Systems Research, National Institute on Neuroscience and Brain Research, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institute of Disability Related Research, and National Institute on Behavioral Health. Cutting NIH funding threatens research into cures for serious diseases, puts lives at risk, and delays diagnoses, treatments and cures, said George Vradenburg, chairman of UsAgainstAlzheimer, patient advocacy group. 'WHOLESALE GUTTING' The proposal almost halves the CDC budget by almost US$3.6 billion, leaving it with a US$4 billion budget. It proposes merging various programs tackling infectious diseases, opioids, sexually transmitted infections and other areas into one grant program funded at US$300 million. It calls for eliminating programs it described as "duplicative" or "simply unnecessary" like the National Center for Chronic Diseases Prevention and Health Promotion, National Center for Environmental Health, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Global Health Center, Public Health Preparedness and Response, and Preventive Health and Human Services Block Grant. The administration did not propose cuts at the Food and Drug Administration. It proposed $674 million in cuts at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services but said benefits would not be affected. The cuts follow a plan announced in March by Secretary for Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. seeking to reshape federal public health agencies by cutting 10,000 employees and centralizing some functions of the FDA, CDC and others under his purview. The job cuts include 3,500 at the FDA, 2,400 at the CDC, and 1,200 at the NIH. "This isn't a reorganization; it's a wholesale gutting of programs that save lives and reduce healthcare costs for all of us. Eliminating these efforts would reverse decades of progress," former CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden said of the proposed budget.
