Members met on Anglesey to learn more about the potential new nuclear development at its Closed and Open Plenary meetings.
A sketch of Wylfa by CoRWM member Stephen Tromans (non-irradiated graphite on paper).
On 11 and 12 September 2024, CoRWM members met on the beautiful island of Yns Mon (Anglesey) for its Closed and Open Plenary meetings. Some of the hardier members of the Committee were able to swim in the less than tropical waters of Trearddur Bay between working sessions. As well as our regular business, we had an excellent presentation from Sasha Wynn Davies, chair of the Wales Nuclear Forum. North Wales has a strong nuclear heritage and is part of the “nuclear arc” of Cumbria, Lancashire, Cheshire and North Wales. The power station at Wylfa was a crucial source of employment on Anglesey and Sasha left us in no doubt that the future economic and social well-being of the island is bound up with potential new nuclear development at that site, whether at gigawatt scale or with small modular reactors, or both.
After our Open Plenary meeting, we were privileged to visit Wylfa, at the invitation of the site manager Stuart Law. Stuart and the site waste manager Adele Brooksbank gave us an excellent overview of the issues involved in decommissioning and waste management before taking us on an illuminating tour. It was opportune to make the visit for two reasons: first as a helpful complement to our visit to Trawsfynydd last year, another Magnox station, but a very different one; and secondly since the last visit by CoRWM members to Wylfa was in January 2015, almost 10 years ago. Much has happened since then including the consignment of the last batch of Magnox fuel to Sellafield for reprocessing in September 2019. It is greatly to the credit of the site management that defuelling was undertaken and completed so that Sellafield was not kept waiting for the fuel., and moreover that the site was able to reshuffle fuel between reactors to accommodate the earlier delays in Sellafield’s readiness to receive spent fuel. The site has also completed the difficult job of dealing with a number of badly corroded fuel elements affected by a water leak into the dry store in the past.
This location of Wyla on the north coast of Anglesey was chosen for a nuclear power station because of its geological stability and easy access from the sea for construction materials. The proximity of seawater was important for cooling its twin nuclear reactors, the last and largest of the Magnox type. Construction began in 1963 and the station fed its first electricity into the supply grid in 1971. A high-voltage power line was built across Anglesey to transport the electricity. A considerable portion of the output, up to 255 MW, was consumed by the nearby Anglesey Aluminium smelting plant.
Wylfa was the last of the ten Magnox power stations to be built and the second constructed with a pre-stressed concrete vessel. Construction began in 1963 at a cost of £740 million and commercial operation commenced in 1971. Its twin reactors and associated turbo-generators had a generating capacity of up to 980 megawatts (electrical) [MW(e)]. It was the largest of the Magnox stations and its massive scale was very apparent on our site tour. Over its life from 1971 to 2015, Wylfa produced 232 TW hours of electricity, a very significant contribution to the UK’s power needs.
It is proposed to have the site ready for a period of care and maintenance by 2037, which will leave just the reactors and dry store cells. However, critically, achieving that goal will depend on reliable funding. In particular, certainty of funding is necessary because of the long lead in times to projects because of the need to comply with procurement legislation. It was clear that in some cases better, storage facilities are needed for waste, with some wastes having to be stored in makeshift locations. While this is not unsafe, it is certainly sub-optimal in terms of handling and access. Considerable use was made of asbestos as a cheap building material during construction in the 1960s, and this will present its own challenges in achieving a state of passive safety for the remaining buildings.
In terms of waste disposal offsite, we were interested to hear of the cessation of shipments to the LLWR at Drigg, in favour of commercial licensed landfills and incinerators. Since 2007, government policy and strategy has sought to divert wastes away from the LLWR where alternative routes are available, as LLWR itself is seen as a valuable national resource and subject to increasing space constraints. Also, the Wylfa environmental permit was varied to allow a wider range of suitable disposal routes. The site will generate about 3,000 tonnes of graphite, currently packed as tightly as possible for a core design, and which once dismantled and packaged for a GDF will have an increased volume of 2.6. This illustrates graphically the future demands on space in a GDF from this particular waste stream.
Finally we had an interesting visit to the control room for the twin reactors. The enormous size of Wylfa’s cores gave inherent stability against transients, i.e. changes in the coolant system temperature, or pressure, caused by changes in power output, by evening out fluctuations. This will have been beneficial in terms of waste production, and may be a factor to bear in mind with a generation of smaller reactors in the offing. It was also interesting to hear (at least for those of us more technically minded) that some fuel had been in low flux regions of the core for 22 years: this must presumably have been beneficial in terms of spent fuel arisings relative to the 11 outages that will have happened during that time. Also, online refuelling at Wylfa may well have enabled greater fidelity in fuel discharge and hence less spent fuel volume. This does illustrate an important linkage between reactor design and operation and spent fuel generation.
This useful visit left us with plenty to consider in our ongoing work. We were impressed that Stuart Law had worked at Wylfa for 32 years and his pride in both the history and current phase of the site, together with his intimate knowledge, were apparent. The challenge at Wylfa and of course other Magnox and AGR sites will be maintaining those levels of commitment and practical knowledge as the current generation of management retires.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Linda Yueh, Fellow in Economics/Adjunct Professor of Economics, University of Oxford
For the first time in 14 years, it was a Labour chancellor who delivered the UK budget. And for the first time ever, that chancellor was a woman. But Rachel Reeves faces an almighty task: plugging a £40 billion spending gap in the knowledge that pre-election promises not to raise the main taxes are still fresh in people’s memories.
Growth was the buzzword of the election campaign – Reeves now had to lay her cards on the table. So here’s what our panel of experts made of the plans:
More challenges for employers and small businesses
Shampa Roy-Mukherjee, Associate Professor in Economics, University of East London
The budget introduces £40 billion in tax hikes and, in some areas, spending cuts that will put pressure on the economy and business in particular. But it also reflects the government’s focus on economic growth, with policies intended to stabilise finances while addressing some of the concerns of small businesses.
The chancellor has retained her commitment to preserve the rates of income tax, employee national insurance and VAT. But a notable change is the increase in employers’ national insurance contributions (NICs) from 13.8% to 15%.
There was also a reduction in the secondary threshold, which is the amount at which the employer starts paying NI on each employee, from £9,100 to £5,000. Altogether this will raise £25 billion annually but will significantly impact many businesses that will now face higher wage bills.
The national living wage is also rising by 6.7% to £12.21 per hour in April 2025, boosting incomes for about three million workers but again increasing costs for many businesses. These rising taxes and wage increases, alongside incoming employment regulations, will strain businesses, particularly in sectors with high labour demands.
To offset some of these pressures, the employment allowance, which allows some smaller employers to reduce their NICs, has been raised from £5,000 to £10,500. The chancellor said that over 1 million employers will not see their NICs bill rise as a result.
Small businesses in retail, hospitality and leisure, where profits have been hit as consumers struggle with the cost of living, will benefit from a 40% business rate relief on properties up to £110,000. Other supportive measures include a continued freeze on fuel duty, which will aid logistics and transport costs. Corporation tax remains fixed at 25%.
Higher wages for three million, but it could cost more to get the bus to work
The biggest change for those on low incomes was an increase in the national minimum wage (for 18 to 20-year-olds) of 16.3%, from £8.60 to £10 an hour, and an increase in the national living wage (for employees aged 21 and over) of 6.7%, from £11.44 to £12.21, from April 2025. This will lead to a pay rise for more than 3 million workers.
Business associations warn that this will cause job losses, particularly in hospitality and the care sector, where many employees earn the minimum wage. But a large body of research has not found a negative effect of minimum wages on employment.
There is some evidence that earlier minimum wage rises caused an increase in the number of zero-hours contracts in social care, as firms tried other ways to reduce wages. However, the new employment rights bill introduced earlier in October would limit the use of zero-hours contracts in this scenario.
The budget could have an indirect effect on pay packets though. The effect of the change to employer NICs will be greater in sectors with more low-paid workers, such as hospitality, and employer associations have warned that it will risk jobs. There is also some evidence that in the long term, firms pass some of these costs on to employees by reducing their wages.
However, the minimum wage increase will reduce the capacity for firms to reduce wages. And any long-term effect would also be offset by lower income taxes that will come after 2028 when the chancellor has said she will increase the threshold at which people starting paying tax.
So if wages and profits fall because of increased contributions, then the amount Reeves raises will be lower than expected, because income and corporation tax receipts will be hit.
Another indirect factor affecting incomes is the cost of getting to work. The fuel duty freeze will continue, but the bus fare cap will increase from £2 to £3. Lower-paid workers and jobseekers are much more likely to use the bus than those with higher incomes, who are more likely to drive, but the cost of bus travel increased much more than the cost of train travel or petrol over the last parliament.
The fare cap reversed some of this increase, and some evidence shows that it led to more people travelling by bus. But the new £3 cap will only last until the end of 2025, which may be too soon to see much effect.
A downpayment on growth – but probably not quickly
Linda Yueh, Adjunct Professor of Economics, University of Oxford
The chancellor declared that the government will “invest, invest, invest”. This is an important enabler of economic growth.
But, the country’s creditors need reassuring, so Reeves also announced two new fiscal rules that aim to achieve that balance of allowing the government to borrow to invest (and generate growth), but not to pay for day-to-day spending.
Specifically, the investment rule permits borrowing to invest and the stability rule requires day-to-day spending to be paid for by taxes. Both rules support the government’s growth aims while trying to reassure the country’s creditors that the borrowing will pay off by generating future growth – and also higher tax receipts with which to repay that borrowing.
But spending watchdog the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has downgraded the UK’s GDP growth outlook from 2% to 1.8% in 2026, and to 1.5% in 2027 and 2028. The OBR’s forecast of slower growth highlights the impact of the £40 billion of tax increases, which dampens economic activity.
This underscores the government’s challenge of investing to grow while at the same having to raise taxes to balance the books when it comes to its daily spending. In particular, the OBR’s assessment of slowing growth towards the middle of this parliament raises questions about how long it will take for the investment-fuelled growth to materialise.
It may be that five years is still too short a period. Many physical investments require planning and those reforms could also take a while. Moreover, getting investment projects under way requires scoping, and private investors will want time to assess before joining the government in energy projects.
But this budget is certainly a start on a much-needed growth strategy.
Good news on public investment – emerging industries could benefit
Phil Tomlinson, Professor of Industrial Strategy, University of Bath
The key budget change related to the chancellor’s fiscal rules. By redefining how public debt is calculated, Reeves has been able to increase public investment by around £100 billion. The new fiscal rules have gone not as far as some economists have advocated – but they are a welcome step in the right direction.
Investment was the core focus of the budget. For decades, the UK has suffered from low investment and weak productivity compared to other leading economies. Since 1990, the UK’s investment gap with the average across rich countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has been around £35 billion a year – the UK now ranks 28th of 31 OECD countries on business investment. British workers are using outdated kit and so are less productive. This has meant a stagnant economy and lower living standards.
So, the budget’s plans to boost investment in the UK’s crumbling infrastructure and public services and to support the new industrial strategy are a positive move. The latter should see additional funding to support emerging tech industries, such as artificial intelligence, cyber and clean energy. And this public investment should “crowd in” additional private investment.
In the long run, these investments should pay for themselves. For instance, the Office for Budget Responsibility estimates that a sustained increase in public investment of 1% of GDP increases that GDP by 0.5% after five years and more than 2% after ten to 15 years.
The rise in employer national insurance contributions will increase business’s operating costs, especially those in the care and hospitality sectors. But paradoxically, in the long run, it may encourage some businesses (in sectors where it is feasible) to invest in new labour-saving capital equipment.
The NHS gets a cash injection – but it may not go that far
Karen Bloor, Professor of Health Economics and Policy, University of York
Amid all the gloomy pre-budget talk of tough choices and economic problems, would the government’s plans to improve the NHS cheer up the country (England, at least)? Not entirely.
On the plus side, the chancellor promised a generous spending increase of £22.6 billion in the year 2025 to 2026, with £3.1 billion on capital investment. But solving the problems of the NHS is not just about money, and there will be difficult decisions to come.
Meanwhile, increases in employers’ national insurance contributions, while raising funds, will also have a big impact on the NHS, which employs over 1.5 million people. So the additional spending may be less than it appears.
The new government has said it has three main priorities for healthcare in England: moving care from hospitals to the community, moving resources from treatment to prevention, and changing systems from analogue to digital. None of these ideas are new, and there are good reasons why they haven’t happened already.
Expanding primary and community care often does not translate into reduced demand for hospital services – in fact, it can do the opposite, by uncovering previously unmet needs. And successive governments have failed to address long-standing problems in social care, which is crucial to addressing pressures on the NHS. A successful NHS means people living longer, but often with long-term health problems.
Returns on investment in preventing illness can be substantial, but they vary widely, and can be difficult to achieve. This is particularly true when it comes to interventions needing individual behaviour change, such as increasing exercise or cutting down on alcohol. Even when clearly positive, they take a very long time to generate cost savings.
And there are other aspects of the chancellor’s plans which could arguably harm public health. Abolition of winter fuel payments for example, could affect the health of older people on low incomes.
Rising bus fares could affect people’s ability to attend appointments, and the controversial two-child benefit cap, which can affect child health remains in place.
Finally, while technology should improve the efficiency of services, people need care from people. Capital investment – in scanners, radiotherapy machines and diagnostics – will need to be matched by the cost of the professionals who operate them and interpret their findings.
More reaction to be published soon.
Karen Bloor receives funding from the NIHR policy research programme to conduct responsive analysis for the Department of Health and Social Care,
Phil Tomlinson receives funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) for Made Smarter Innovation: Centre for People-Led Digitalisation.
Rachel Scarfe is a member of the Labour Party.
Jonquil Lowe, Linda Yueh, and Shampa Roy-Mukherjee do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Chancellor takes long-term decisions to restore stability, rebuild Britain and protect working people across Wales.
HM Treasury
Chancellor takes long-term decisions to restore stability, rebuild Britain and protect working people across Wales.
No change to working people’s payslips as employee national insurance and VAT stay the same, but businesses and the wealthiest asked to pay their fair share.
Record £21 billion for the Welsh Government in 2025/26 includes £1.7 billion through the Barnett formula.
Funding for freeports, City and Growth Deals and coal tips to fire up growth and deliver good jobs across Wales.
The Chancellor has delivered a Budget to fix the foundations to deliver on the promise of change after a decade and a half of stagnation. She set out plans to rebuild Britain, while ensuring working people across Wales don’t face higher taxes in their payslips. The UK Government was handed a challenging inheritance; £22 billion of unfunded in-year spending pressures, debt at its highest since the 1960s, an unrealistic forecast for departmental spending, and stagnating living standards.
This Budget takes difficult decisions to restore economic and fiscal stability, so that the UK Government can invest in the economic future of Wales and lay the foundations for growth across the UK as its number one mission.
The Chancellor announced that the Welsh Government will be provided with a £21 billion settlement in 2025/26 – the largest in real terms in the history of devolution. This includes a £1.7 billion top-up through the Barnett formula, with £1.5 billion for day-to-day spending and £250 million for capital investment.
Secretary of State for Wales Jo Stevens said:
This Budget has delivered for Wales for the first time in a generation.
The biggest settlement since devolution will provide a record boost to spending for the Welsh Government to support public services like the NHS while thousands of working people across Wales will benefit from today’s increases to their wages.
Little more than a week after the anniversary of Aberfan disaster it is fitting that we have committed £25m to make coal tips safe. It is testament to the new relationship between the UK and Welsh government, based on cooperation, respect and delivery.
We will also drive economic growth and support our world-leading Welsh industries with Investment Zones, Freeports and funding for communities across Wales.
We have prioritised money to support our steel communities, with nearly £100m to support workers and businesses.
This Budget delivers on what’s important to the people of Wales, and shows the difference we can make when two governments work together for the benefit of all.
Protecting working people and living standards
While fixing the inheritance requires tough decisions, the Chancellor has committed to protecting the living standards of working people. The decisions taken by the Chancellor to rebuild public finances enable the UK Government to deliver on its pledge to not increase National Insurance or VAT on working people in Wales, meaning they will not see higher taxes in their payslip.
The National Living Wage will increase from £11.44 to £12.21 an hour from April 2025. The 6.7% increase – worth £1,400 a year for a full-time worker – is a significant move towards delivering a genuine living wage.
The National Minimum Wage for 18 to 20-year-olds will also see a record rise from £8.60 to £10 an hour.
Working people will benefit from these increases, with there estimated to be over 70,000 minimum wage workers in Wales in 2023.
The Chancellor has made the decision to protect working people in Wales from being dragged into higher tax brackets by confirming that National Insurance Contributions thresholds will be unfrozen from 2028-29 onwards.
The Chancellor is also protecting motorists by freezing fuel duty for one year – a tax cut worth £3 billion, with the temporary 5p cut extended to 22 March 2026. This will benefit an estimated 2.1 million people in Wales, saving the average car driver £59, vans £126 and Heavy Goods Vehicles £1,079 next year.
To support Welsh pubs and smaller brewers in Wales, the UK Government is cutting duty on qualifying draught products by 1p, which represent approximately 3 in 5 alcoholic drinks sold in pubs. This measure reduces duty bills by over £70 million a year, cutting duty on an average strength pint in a pub by a penny. The relief available to small producers will be updated to help smaller brewers and cidermakers.
Over 600,000 Welsh pensioners will benefit from a 4.1% increase to their new or basic State Pension in April 2025. This is an additional £470 a year for those on the new State Pension and an additional £360 a year for those on the basic State Pension.
Households eligible for Pension Credit will get £465 a year more for single pensioners and up to £710 a year more for couples due to a 4.1% increase in the Pension Credit Standard Minimum Guarantee, benefitting 80,000 pensioners in Wales.
Around 1.1 million families in in Wales will see their working-age benefits uprated in line with inflation – a £150 gain on average in 2025-26.
Reducing the maximum level of debt repayments that can be deducted from a household’s Universal Credit payment each month from 25% to 15% will benefit a Welsh family by over £420 a year on average.
The weekly earnings limit for Carer’s Allowance will be increased by £45 a week from April next year, expanding support to more carers in Wales and helping them balance work and caring responsibilities. This is the largest ever increase to the earnings limit and provides certainty for carers with a commitment that the earnings limit will increase with the National Living Wage in the future.
Rebuilding Britain
This UK Government will not make a return to austerity and will instead boost investment to rebuild Britain and lay the foundations for growth in Wales. This includes £160 million of targeted funding for the Welsh Government, of which £150 million is in capital investment.
The UK Government will deliver £88 million for City and Growth Deals, unlocking growth and investment across Wales.
The government also confirms £80 million funding for the Port Talbot / Tata Steel Transition Board, with work already underway to support workers and businesses affected by decarbonisation at Tata Steel.
£29 million of funding will be provided to the Welsh Government for the necessary build costs of border facilities in Holyhead and Pembrokeshire.
Essential work being undertaken by the Welsh Government to keep disused coal tips maintained and safe will be supported by £25 million of funding in 2025/26.
The Budget gives certainty to local leaders and investors, confirming funding for the Investment Zones and Freeports programmes across the UK – including the Celtic Freeport where tax sites will be operational from next month.
The Chancellor committed the UK Government to working closely with the Welsh Government on the Industrial Strategy, 10-year infrastructure strategy and the National Wealth Fund – to ensure the benefits of these are felt UK-wide and as part of the relationship reset between governments. These will mobilise billions of pounds of investment in the UK’s world-leading clean energy and growth industries.
Under-served parts of Wales will benefit from the rollout of digital infrastructure enabled by over £500 million of UK-wide investment in Project Gigabit and the Shared Rural Network.
A corporate tax roadmap will provide businesses with the stability and certainty they need to make long-term investment decisions and support our growth mission. It confirms our competitive offer, with the lowest Corporate Tax rate in the G7 and generous support for investment and innovation.
The UK Government will also proceed with implementing the 45%/40% rates of the theatre, orchestra, museum and galleries tax relief from 1 April 2025 to provide certainty to businesses in Wales’ thriving cultural sector.
Repairing public finances
The Chancellor has made clear that, whilst protecting working people with measures to reduce the cost of living, there would be difficult decisions required. The Budget will ask businesses and the wealthiest to pay their fair share while making taxes fairer. This will go directly towards fixing the foundations of the UK economy.
The rate of Employers’ National Insurance will increase by 1.2 percentage points, to 15%. The Secondary Threshold – the level at which employers start paying national insurance on each employee’s salary – will reduce from £9,100 per year to £5,000 per year.
The smallest businesses will be protected as the Employment Allowance will increase to £10,500 from £5,000, allowing Welsh firms to employ four National Living Wage workers full time without paying employer national insurance on their wages.
Capital Gains Tax will increase from 10% to 18% for those paying the lower rate, and 20% to 24% for those paying the higher rate.
To encourage entrepreneurs to invest in their businesses Business Asset Disposal Relief (BADR) will remain at 10% this year, before rising to 14% on 6 April 2025 and 18% from 6 April 2026-27.
The lifetime limit of BADR will be maintained at £1 million. The lifetime limit of Investors’ Relief will be reduced from £10 million to £1 million.
The OBR say changes to CGT will raise over £2.5 billion a year and the UK will continue to have the lowest CGT rate of any European G7 country.
Inheritance Tax thresholds will be fixed at their current levels for a further two years until April 2030. More than 90% of estates each year will be outside of its scope. From April 2027 inherited pensions will be subject to Inheritance Tax. This removes a distortion which has led to pensions being used as a tax planning vehicle to transfer wealth rather than their original purpose to fund retirement.
From April 2026, agricultural property relief and business property relief will be reformed. The highest rate of relief will continue at 100% for the first £1 million of combined business and agricultural assets, fully protecting the majority of businesses and farms. It will reduce to 50% after the first £1 million. Reforms will affect the wealthiest 2,000 estates each year. Inheritance Tax reforms in total are predicted by the OBR to raise £2 billion to support stability.
From 2026-27 Air Passenger Duty (APD) for short and long-haul flights will increase by 13% to the nearest pound, a partial adjustment to account for previous high inflation. For economy passengers, this means a maximum £2 extra per short haul flight and tickets for children under the age of 16 remain exempt from APD. APD for larger private jets will be increased by a further 50%.
The Budget also announced a package of measures that disincentivise activities that cause ill health, by:
Renewing the tobacco duty escalator which increases all tobacco duty rates by RPI+2% plus an above escalator increase to hand rolling tobacco (totalling RPI+12%).
Introducing a new vaping duty at a flat rate of 22p/ml from October 2026, accompanied by a further one-off increase in tobacco duty to maintain financial incentive to choose vaping over smoking.
To help tackle obesity and other harms caused by high sugar intake, the Soft Drinks Industry Levy will increase to account for inflation since it was last updated in 2018, and the duty will rise in line with inflation every year going forward.
The UK Government will also uprate alcohol duty in line with RPI on 1 February 2025, except for most drinks in pubs.
The UK Government has set out the next steps to deliver its tax manifesto commitments in the July Statement. Having consulted on the final policy details where appropriate, this Budget delivers the UK Government’s manifesto commitments to raise revenue to pay for First Steps, with reforms that are underpinned by fairness, and tackle tax avoidance by:
A new residence-based regime will replace the current non-dom regime from April 2025 and will be designed to attract investment and talent to the UK.
Offshore trusts will no longer be able to be used to shelter assets from Inheritance Tax, and there will be transitional arrangement in place for people who have made plans based on current rules.
The planned 50% reduction for foreign income in the first year of the new regime will be removed.
Reforms to the non-dom regime will raise a total of £12.7 billion according to the OBR.
The tax treatment of carried interest will be reformed by first increasing the Capital Gains Tax rates on carried interest to 32% and then, from April 2026, moving to a revised regime – with bespoke rules to reflect the characteristics of the reward.
The UK Government will also introduce 20% VAT on education and boarding services provided for a charge by private schools from 1 January 2025.
The Chancellor also doubled down on fiscal responsibility through two new fiscal rules that put the public finances on a sustainable path and prioritise investment to support long-term growth, and new principles of stability. Spending Reviews will be held every two years, setting plans for at least three years to ensure public services are always planned and improve value for money.
One major fiscal event per year will give families and businesses stability and certainty on tax and spending changes, while giving the Welsh Government greater clarity for in its own budget-setting. A Fiscal Lock will also ensure no future government can sideline the OBR again.
All young people need to have access to high-quality climate education because, when not overwhelming, emotional engagement with the climate crisis can motivate action.
We recently surveyed more than 2,400 school students aged 11-14 in England about their views on climate change and sustainability education. Students from disadvantaged backgrounds were less likely to experience negative emotions related to climate change. Children from more advantaged backgrounds were more likely to want to learn about climate change and sustainability, to want to do more to look after the environment and to believe that adults are doing enough to look after the planet.
The variation in climate literacy and educational opportunities demonstrated through our survey is highly concerning. These inequalities are particularly concerning as children from disadvantaged backgrounds are more vulnerable to the effects of climate change. But these children’s limited capacity to engage with climate issues is also understandable considering the state of child poverty in the UK and the more immediate challenges they are probably facing.
Much has been written about young people’s fears about the climate crisis and the associated mental health effects. We know far less about how to introduce these challenging topics to children who are less engaged. How can we reach these young people so they’re not isolated or sent into a panic, but empowered to act? Our research suggests that schools are a critical place to start.
In our survey, students of all socio-economic backgrounds told us that they learned about climate change and sustainability in secondary school. Conversely, children from disadvantaged backgrounds were less likely to have learned about these topics in the news and media, from their families and from extracurricular activities.
These findings are somewhat unsurprising given the algorithms limiting engagement with online content that challenges our existing perspectives. Children from disadvantaged backgrounds also experience many barriers to participating in nature-based activities outside school. These include lack of availability, cultural exclusion and safety concerns.
A chance for change
Based on our survey and earlier research (for example, the pioneering work of psychology professor Maria Ojala), we have identified three ways that schools can address inequalities to reach and connect with all children to deliver quality climate and sustainability education.
First, the education sector should include climate and sustainability learning within a broader range of subjects. Climate change intersects with nearly all aspects of our lives. Therefore, all school subjects offer unique learning opportunities.
If climate and sustainability education was integrated throughout the formal and informal curriculum, children could learn about the issues as part of the subjects that most interest them.
A hybrid nature craft tree incorporating nature products, paper leaves, and circuitry. Andrea Gauthier, CC BY-NC-ND
For example, our colleagues at UCL are developing a new type of crafting activity in schools. It involves combining materials from nature and paper circuits which bring nature to life through light. Through integrating nature, technology and art, these hybrid nature crafts align with many subjects and could appeal to children of all ages.
We must also develop emotionally responsive teaching practices. Building climate awareness is emotionally challenging, particularly for children with little prior knowledge of the issues. It can also be emotionally draining for teachers.
Time for emotional reflection should be included in lesson plans. Students should be encouraged to share their emotions, be it sadness, anxiety or anger. These are valid and natural responses when learning about climate change.
Creative practices can encourage emotional engagement with climate learning. For example, arts-based activities and storytelling. Our research found that students felt happier with their life, spent more time outdoors and were more optimistic about the future after taking part in arts-in-nature experiences.
Schools should also give students opportunities to combat the climate crisis and other environmental issues. This supports their sense of agency which is critical to motivating action. Engaging students in collective action can be particularly effective for empowering them and instilling hope.
In our survey, one student highlighted the benefits of whole-school projects for climate and sustainability education. She said that “a whole community feels more empowered when they know everyone is working towards a goal and therefore, it helps [us] understand the depth of global warming and the long-term and short-term changes we can make.”
However, a word of caution. Limiting climate action to activities that don’t challenge existing power structures (through recycling or buying eco-friendly products, for example) does not go far enough. Instead, we advocate for transformative actions that encourage students to critically evaluate the norms and practices around them. This could include partnerships with local organisations, student-driven whole-school approaches and political activism.
It is essential that schools provide high-quality climate and sustainability education that engages all students and avoids causing disengagement and despair. The strategies we’ve outlined here will help schools do so, thereby equipping the next generation with the skills, knowledge and agency to tackle climate change.
Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Linda Yueh, Fellow in Economics/Adjunct Professor of Economics, University of Oxford
For the first time in 14 years, it was a Labour chancellor who delivered the UK budget. And for the first time ever, that chancellor was a woman. But Rachel Reeves faces an almighty task: plugging a £40 billion spending gap in the knowledge that pre-election promises not to raise the main taxes are still fresh in people’s memories.
Growth was the buzzword of the election campaign – Reeves now had to lay her cards on the table. So here’s what our panel of experts made of the plans:
More challenges for employers and small businesses
Shampa Roy-Mukherjee, Associate Professor in Economics, University of East London
The budget introduces £40 billion in tax hikes and, in some areas, spending cuts that will put pressure on the economy and business in particular. But it also reflects the government’s focus on economic growth, with policies intended to stabilise finances while addressing some of the concerns of small businesses.
The chancellor has retained her commitment to preserve the rates of income tax, employee national insurance and VAT. But a notable change is the increase in employers’ national insurance contributions (NICs) from 13.8% to 15%.
There was also a reduction in the secondary threshold, which is the amount at which the employer starts paying NI on each employee, from £9,100 to £5,000. Altogether this will raise £25 billion annually but will significantly impact many businesses that will now face higher wage bills.
The national living wage is also rising by 6.7% to £12.21 per hour in April 2025, boosting incomes for about three million workers but again increasing costs for many businesses. These rising taxes and wage increases, alongside incoming employment regulations, will strain businesses, particularly in sectors with high labour demands.
To offset some of these pressures, the employment allowance, which allows some smaller employers to reduce their NICs, has been raised from £5,000 to £10,500. The chancellor said that over 1 million employers will not see their NICs bill rise as a result.
Small businesses in retail, hospitality and leisure, where profits have been hit as consumers struggle with the cost of living, will benefit from a 40% business rate relief on properties up to £110,000. Other supportive measures include a continued freeze on fuel duty, which will aid logistics and transport costs. Corporation tax remains fixed at 25%.
Higher wages for three million, but it could cost more to get the bus to work
Rachel Scarfe, Lecturer in Economics, University of Stirling
The biggest change for those on low incomes was an increase in the national minimum wage (for 18 to 20-year-olds) of 16.3%, from £8.60 to £10 an hour, and an increase in the national living wage (for employees aged 21 and over) of 6.7%, from £11.44 to £12.21, from April 2025. This will lead to a pay rise for more than 3 million workers.
Business associations warn that this will cause job losses, particularly in hospitality and the care sector, where many employees earn the minimum wage. But a large body of research has not found a negative effect of minimum wages on employment.
There is some evidence that earlier minimum wage rises caused an increase in the number of zero-hours contracts in social care, as firms tried other ways to reduce wages. However, the new employment rights bill introduced earlier in October would limit the use of zero-hours contracts in this scenario.
The budget could have an indirect effect on pay packets though. The effect of the change to employer NICs will be greater in sectors with more low-paid workers, such as hospitality, and employer associations have warned that it will risk jobs. There is also some evidence that in the long term, firms pass some of these costs on to employees by reducing their wages.
However, the minimum wage increase will reduce the capacity for firms to reduce wages. And any long-term effect would also be offset by lower income taxes that will come after 2028 when the chancellor has said she will increase the threshold at which people starting paying tax.
So if wages and profits fall because of increased contributions, then the amount Reeves raises will be lower than expected, because income and corporation tax receipts will be hit.
Another indirect factor affecting incomes is the cost of getting to work. The fuel duty freeze will continue, but the bus fare cap will increase from £2 to £3. Lower-paid workers and jobseekers are much more likely to use the bus than those with higher incomes, who are more likely to drive, but the cost of bus travel increased much more than the cost of train travel or petrol over the last parliament.
The fare cap reversed some of this increase, and some evidence shows that it led to more people travelling by bus. But the new £3 cap will only last until the end of 2025, which may be too soon to see much effect.
Jonquil Lowe, Senior Lecturer in Economics and Personal Finance, The Open University
As expected, the budget targeted several wealth taxes, including capital gains tax (CGT), which is charged on profits you make when you “dispose of” (sell or give away) an asset. The first slice of such profits (£3,000 in 2024-25) is tax-free. Profit above that is added to your income to determine what rate will apply: a lower rate for profit covered by the basic income tax rate band and a higher rate on anything more.
Reeves announced that CGT rates on financial assets – things like shares – will immediately increase from 10% to 18% (for the lower rate) and from 18% to 24% (for the higher rate). Financial assets account for around 85% of all disposals within the scope of CGT, but only around 350,000 people a year pay the tax.
This brings the rates on financial assets into line with residential property, such as a second home. (There is no CGT when you sell or give away your only or main home.) But this still leaves wealth taxed less heavily than income.
The government says it is committed to tackling the UK’s housing shortage. So to deter multiple home ownership, it has raised stamp duty for people buying a second (or third or fourth) home. Purchases completed will now incur an extra 5% tax (currently 3%) over and above the normal stamp duty rates.
There were also changes to inheritance tax (IHT). Pension savings left unused at death have in recent years been passed on tax free. But from April 2027, the savings will count as part of the estate and be subject to IHT at a rate of up to 40%.
The first slice of the estate a person leaves, called the nil-rate band, is IHT-free, and that band has been frozen at £325,000 since 2010. Reeves extended the freeze until April 2030.
As a result of these changes, the government expects almost 6% of estates to pay IHT this year, up from fewer than 5% in recent years. People in London and the south east are more likely to be IHT-payers, largely due to higher property values in those areas.
A downpayment on growth – but probably not quickly
Linda Yueh, Adjunct Professor of Economics, University of Oxford
The chancellor declared that the government will “invest, invest, invest”. This is an important enabler of economic growth.
But, the country’s creditors need reassuring, so Reeves also announced two new fiscal rules that aim to achieve that balance of allowing the government to borrow to invest (and generate growth), but not to pay for day-to-day spending.
Specifically, the investment rule permits borrowing to invest and the stability rule requires day-to-day spending to be paid for by taxes. Both rules support the government’s growth aims while trying to reassure the country’s creditors that the borrowing will pay off by generating future growth – and also higher tax receipts with which to repay that borrowing.
But spending watchdog the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has downgraded the UK’s GDP growth outlook from 2% to 1.8% in 2026, and to 1.5% in 2027 and 2028. The OBR’s forecast of slower growth highlights the impact of the £40 billion of tax increases, which dampens economic activity.
This underscores the government’s challenge of investing to grow while at the same having to raise taxes to balance the books when it comes to its daily spending. In particular, the OBR’s assessment of slowing growth towards the middle of this parliament raises questions about how long it will take for the investment-fuelled growth to materialise.
It may be that five years is still too short a period. Many physical investments require planning and those reforms could also take a while. Moreover, getting investment projects under way requires scoping, and private investors will want time to assess before joining the government in energy projects.
But this budget is certainly a start on a much-needed growth strategy.
Good news on public investment – emerging industries could benefit
Phil Tomlinson, Professor of Industrial Strategy, University of Bath
The key budget change related to the chancellor’s fiscal rules. By redefining how public debt is calculated, Reeves has been able to increase public investment by around £100 billion. The new fiscal rules have gone not as far as some economists have advocated – but they are a welcome step in the right direction.
Investment was the core focus of the budget. For decades, the UK has suffered from low investment and weak productivity compared to other leading economies. Since 1990, the UK’s investment gap with the average across rich countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has been around £35 billion a year – the UK now ranks 28th of 31 OECD countries on business investment. British workers are using outdated kit and so are less productive. This has meant a stagnant economy and lower living standards.
So, the budget’s plans to boost investment in the UK’s crumbling infrastructure and public services and to support the new industrial strategy are a positive move. The latter should see additional funding to support emerging tech industries, such as artificial intelligence, cyber and clean energy. And this public investment should “crowd in” additional private investment.
In the long run, these investments should pay for themselves. For instance, the Office for Budget Responsibility estimates that a sustained increase in public investment of 1% of GDP increases that GDP by 0.5% after five years and more than 2% after ten to 15 years.
The rise in employer national insurance contributions will increase business’s operating costs, especially those in the care and hospitality sectors. But paradoxically, in the long run, it may encourage some businesses (in sectors where it is feasible) to invest in new labour-saving capital equipment.
The NHS gets a cash injection – but it may not go that far
Karen Bloor, Professor of Health Economics and Policy, University of York
Amid all the gloomy pre-budget talk of tough choices and economic problems, would the government’s plans to improve the NHS cheer up the country (England, at least)? Not entirely.
On the plus side, the chancellor promised a generous spending increase of £22.6 billion in the year 2025 to 2026, with £3.1 billion on capital investment. But solving the problems of the NHS is not just about money, and there will be difficult decisions to come.
Meanwhile, increases in employers’ national insurance contributions, while raising funds, will also have a big impact on the NHS, which employs over 1.5 million people. So the additional spending may be less than it appears.
The new government has said it has three main priorities for healthcare in England: moving care from hospitals to the community, moving resources from treatment to prevention, and changing systems from analogue to digital. None of these ideas are new, and there are good reasons why they haven’t happened already.
Expanding primary and community care often does not translate into reduced demand for hospital services – in fact, it can do the opposite, by uncovering previously unmet needs. And successive governments have failed to address long-standing problems in social care, which is crucial to addressing pressures on the NHS. A successful NHS means people living longer, but often with long-term health problems.
Returns on investment in preventing illness can be substantial, but they vary widely, and can be difficult to achieve. This is particularly true when it comes to interventions needing individual behaviour change, such as increasing exercise or cutting down on alcohol. Even when clearly positive, they take a very long time to generate cost savings.
And there are other aspects of the chancellor’s plans which could arguably harm public health. Abolition of winter fuel payments for example, could affect the health of older people on low incomes.
Rising bus fares could affect people’s ability to attend appointments, and the controversial two-child benefit cap, which can affect child health remains in place.
Finally, while technology should improve the efficiency of services, people need care from people. Capital investment – in scanners, radiotherapy machines and diagnostics – will need to be matched by the cost of the professionals who operate them and interpret their findings.
Karen Bloor receives funding from the NIHR policy research programme to conduct responsive analysis for the Department of Health and Social Care,
Phil Tomlinson receives funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) for Made Smarter Innovation: Centre for People-Led Digitalisation.
Rachel Scarfe is a member of the Labour Party.
Jonquil Lowe, Linda Yueh, and Shampa Roy-Mukherjee do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
News reports of so-called forever chemicals in drinking water have left people worried about the safety of tap and bottled water. But recent research has shown there are ways to significantly reduce the levels of these harmful chemicals in our water.
Per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a wide range of synthetic chemicals that are used in many everyday products such as cosmetics, fabrics and food packaging (where they are used to make products resistant to water and grease), as well as in fire-fighting foams.
Unusually in the chemical universe, the structures of PFAS include groups of atoms within the same molecule that imbue them with both water-hating and water-loving properties. They are also resistant to degradation.
While this latter characteristic can improve the quality of the products we buy, it also means it is nearly impossible to break these chemicals down once they escape into the environment. Some PFAS chemicals are are also toxic. For example, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) has been classified as carcinogenic to humans, and has been found to lower immune response to common childhood vaccines.
Concerns about their safety has led numerous jurisdictions to set limits on levels of some PFAS in drinking water. Nevertheless, many news stories have reported on research finding dangerous levels of PFAS chemicals in drinking water sources in England.
With this in mind, my colleagues and I measured concentrations of ten key PFAS in 41 samples of tap water from the West Midlands of the UK and 14 samples from Shenzhen, China. We also measured the same PFAS in 112 samples of bottled water.
We sampled 87 different brands from 15 countries that we bought either from shops or online in the UK and China. The PFAS we tested included many of those regulated in drinking water as well as some others we have found previously in indoor air and dust.
We compared concentrations of PFAS in plastic and glass bottled water, as well as in sparkling versus still water. In neither case did we find significant differences in concentrations of PFAS. In contrast however, in China we found significantly higher concentrations of PFAS in natural mineral water than in bottled purified water.
Crucially, while we found PFAS in every sample analysed, the maximum concentration limits set recently by the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) for some PFAS were only exceeded for PFOA in some samples of tap water from Shenzhen.
Concentrations of PFAS were lower in bottled water than in tap water from the same locality. This finding is in line with studies conducted in other countries like Spain.
It may be reassuring to some extent but our study only examined a relatively small number of tap water samples from two municipalities and cannot be taken as representative of the UK or China overall. There is no room for complacency as the USEPA’s target concentration limits for two of the PFAS we measured are zero.
So, taking note of the lower concentrations we saw in bottled purified water, we examined the effectiveness of boiling and filtration using activated carbon jug filters.
Boiling in a regular kettle reduced concentrations of all ten of the PFAS we tested. The level of reduction varied between different PFAS though. For PFOA and the three other PFAS that we measured for which there are USEPA concentration limits, concentrations reduced by 11%−14% but were much greater (61%-86%) for the more volatile and non-regulated PFAS we examined that are more easily evaporated.
Reductions were greater for all the PFAS we tested (81%−96%) when we passed the water through an activated carbon jug filter. Boiling the water after activated carbon filtration, as sometimes happens in China, reduced concentrations a little further to between 81 and 99.6%.
These results suggest that using a jug water filter can substantially reduce concentrations of some regulated PFAS in our tap water. Boiling water before drinking also reduces PFAS concentrations but is less effective.
Our findings add to those of a 2024 study in Montreal, which suggested that using a filter fitted to the kitchen tap reduced concentrations of 75 PFAS in tap water.
Our findings are a small first step towards reducing our exposure to PFAS. But we should not lose sight of the need to reduce and eliminate such forever chemicals. There’s still a lot we don’t understand about these chemicals but what we’ve learned so far shows that some of them present an urgent threat to the health of both humans and wildlife.
Stuart Harrad has received funding from the Environmental Protection Agency of Ireland and the European Union.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has pledged £1.4 billion to meet a target of rebuilding 50 schools in England a year. The funding boost follows the news of slow progress on the government’s school rebuilding programme. This effort began in 2020 but has been under particular scrutiny since the closure of school buildings made with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) in 2023.
A 2023 report from the National Audit Office estimated that 700,000 students in England are learning in schools that the Department for Education believes require major rebuilding or refurbishment.
These rebuilding programmes have promised to produce state-of-the-art schools. But I believe that the focus in the UK is still too much on the condition of the building, rather than the approach in countries like Finland where the focus is on the relationship between school design and teaching and learning practice.
In Scotland, recent figures highlight that 91.7% of school buildings are in a “good/satisfactory” condition, and 92.0% of pupils are now educated in school environments rated as “good/satisfactory” condition. Here, condition refers to the state of the school fabric – such as state of, the appropriateness of the design, and the health-and-safety requirements.
In the past, researchers have questioned whether there is any need to go beyond this minimum standard and suggested that schools might not need to be any more than adequate.
I believe there should be higher aspirations for the UK’s school estate. To understand why, we need to think about the role of the school environment. It is much more than simply providing a safe, weatherproof building for teaching children and young people.
However, there is disappointingly little research that explores the whole school environment, how it is experienced by students and how it relates to important outcomes, such as exam results.
There are some notable exceptions. A report on primary schools in England, conducted by researchers from the University of Salford in 2015, showed that well-designed classrooms can boost children’s academic performance in reading, writing and maths.
A few aspects were of particular importance. They included naturalness (the light, temperature and air quality), individualisation (classrooms with varied floor plan shapes and breakout spaces, along with elements that pupils can personalise such as coat pegs) and stimulation (appropriate levels of complexity in use of colour and wall displays).
Student experience
My own research with colleagues on secondary schools in Scotland showed that there were substantial improvements in students’ feelings of security and small improvements in behaviour and motivation for learning in newly built schools.
We found that these improvements were long lasting and were not due simply to the effect of their novelty. The improvements in feelings of safety and security seem to be linked to features such as more spacious corridors and staircases with natural daylight and good locker facilities.
We also found that how students experience and evaluate their school environment is related to their academic performance. Students with more positive perceptions of their school environment have better academic performance. This is especially true where pupils feel positive about the physical comfort of the social and teaching spaces in the school.
School rebuilding programmes provide a unique opportunity for educational experts, environmental psychologists and design professionals to collaborate to find out what works and why.
The need to recognise and learn about the role of school buildings in the education process is only likely to increase as we accommodate more students with additional support needs in mainstream schools and strive to create inclusive schools that respond to needs of neurodiverse students.
The government’s ambition for school rebuilding should go beyond simply fixing crumbling schools. As well as supporting learning and teaching, schools should provide an environment that encourages young people in their social development and aims to give them the best start in life possible.
Edward Edgerton received funding from East Dunbartonshire Council for a research project evaluating
its secondary school rebuilding programme (2006-2010).
Source: US Department of Health and Human Services – 3
Department of Justice U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Massachusetts
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Two individuals also pleaded guilty to misbranding N95 masks and conspiracy to commit price gouging
BOSTON – A Florida company, and two individuals associated with the company, have pleaded guilty to charges associated with shipping facemasks that were misbranded as N95 respirators, and price gouging hospitals, during the earliest phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.
JDM Supply LLC (JDM) pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to introduce misbranded devices into interstate commerce with intent to defraud or mislead, in violation of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. Daniel Motha, 40, of Miami, Fla., and Jeffrey Motha, 36, of Norfolk, Mass., also pleaded guilty to one count of introduction of misbranded devices into interstate commerce and one count of conspiracy to commit price gouging in violation of the Defense Production Act. U.S. District Court Judge Myong J. Joun scheduled sentencing for Daniel Motha and Jeffrey Motha on March 4, 2025 and JDM on March 25, 2025. In August 2023, a third individual, Jason Colantuoni of Norfolk, Mass, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit price gouging in connection with this investigation.
In the spring of 2020, during the earliest phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, JDM and a company identified as “Company 1” conspired to ship facemasks that were misbranded as National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)-approved, N95 respirators. One hospital accepted and paid for hundreds of thousands of purported N95 masks that were manufactured by Company 1 and sold by JDM. Ultimately, the hospital did not use the masks, which were eventually returned to Company 1. JDM misled the hospital into believing that the Company 1 masks were NIOSH-approved N95s, when in fact they were not.
In August 2020, a NIOSH lab tested a sample of the Company 1 masks that had been shipped to the hospital. The masks tested between 83.94% and 93.24% filtration efficiency, thus falling below the 95% minimum level of filtration efficiency required for N95 respirators.
Daniel Motha and Jeff Motha conspired to use JDM to exploit and profit off of the critical need of hospitals and healthcare workers for scarce N95 masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. They accumulated N95 masks from various sources and then sold the N95 masks through JDM to hospitals in Massachusetts, and elsewhere, at prices in excess of the prevailing market price.
The charge of conspiracy to introduce or deliver for introduction into interstate commerce a misbranded device with intent to defraud or mislead, brought against JDM, provides for a fine of $500,000 or twice the pecuniary gain or loss of the offense, whichever is greater and up to five years of probation. The charge of introduction or delivery for introduction into interstate commerce a misbranded device provides for a sentence of up to one year in prison; up to one year of supervised release; and a fine of $100,000. The charge of conspiracy to commit price gouging in violation of the Defense Production Act provides for a sentence of up to one year in prison; up to one year of supervised release; and a fine of up to $10,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division; Fernando McMillan, Special Agent in Charge of the Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations; Christopher Algieri, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, Northeast Field Office; Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; and Michael J. Krol, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bill Brady and Howard Locker of the Health Care Fraud Unit are prosecuting the case.
On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus and https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus/combatingfraud.
Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline via the NCDF Web Complaint Form.
The formal recognition of the Council’s support for the sanctuary-seeking population follows a comprehensive evaluation by UK City of Sanctuary.
Perth and Kinross has been a place of sanctuary for people for many years, and since at least the outbreak of World War I in 1914 when a group of Belgian refugees came to Perth. In more recent times, people of all ages from countries around the world, including the Ukraine, Syria and Afghanistan, have received vital help and multi-agency support for positive integration and resettlement within the community.
Leader of Perth and Kinross Council, Councillor Grant Laing said: “Our vision is for Perth and Kinross as a place where ‘everyone can live well free from poverty and inequalities’. For refugees and people seeking asylum this can be a challenge, however we will continue to work creatively across our services and with our public sector and community partners to make the area as safe and welcoming as possible.”
Equalities Lead, Councillor Peter Barrett said: “Our sanctuary seeking population have come from wide-ranging and difficult circumstances in their own countries from war to persecution. This national recognition of what we have done to make a difference to their lives, from families to unaccompanied children and young people, is something we all warmly welcome at the Council and the link with the UK City of Sanctuary organisation also opens up new avenues of support, advice and good practice we can access for the benefit of those most in need.”
The world’s first superstar hippo lives in a zoo in Thailand. Moo Deng shot to fame soon after she was born in July this year, thanks to viral videos that showed off her cute expressions and chirpy demeanour. Yet the story of her species is less happy, and reveals the close links between the extinction and climate change crises.
Moo Deng is a pygmy hippo, a species native to the forests of west Africa. Unlike their bigger and significantly scarier cousins (regular hippos), the pygmys are secretive creatures, who like to conceal themselves in swamps and dense vegetation.
Today, pygmy hippos are officially listed as endangered. Huanyuan Zhang-Zheng and Sulemana Bawa, conservationists at the University of Oxford, point out that 80% of their native forests have been lost. Just 2,500 remain in the wild.
“Cocoa production is probably the biggest cause of forest loss,” they write, “then gold mining and unsustainable logging. These activities now encroach on forest reserves and other supposedly protected areas.”
You probably didn’t want to hear this (I certainly didn’t) but it seems chocolate is helping wipe out the pygmy hippo. This pressure is unlikely to let up any time soon: the Ivory Coast, home of most of these hippos, is also the world’s number one cocoa exporter.
But it was another passage in their article which really caught my eye. Zhang-Zheng and Bawa wrote: “West Africa’s forest loss is particularly heartbreaking as research shows that a remaining patch may be the most productive on Earth, surpassing even the Amazon rainforest.” (Productive, in this context, refers to how much plant growth there is).
Before extensive fieldwork beginning in 2016, researchers had underestimated the value of west African forests, particularly their capacity to store carbon and thereby offset global warming. This oversight was partly the result of these forests being hidden by clouds, which makes satellite observation difficult, and their relative neglect by western researchers compared with other ecosystems elsewhere.
This made me wince. Has The Conversation been part of this neglect? After all, Jack and I have edited dozens of articles on the Amazon and its role in the climate system, but relatively few on forests in Africa.
Researchers are doing their best to highlight how important these forests are for the climate. Here’s one of them, Michele Francis of Stellenbosch University in South Africa, writing about her research on a “sacred forest” in Togo, west Africa: “My calculations showed that one hectare of forest [about two and a half football pitches] is able to permanently remove as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as is released by a power station burning nearly 16 tonnes of coal.”
African forest elephants, like this one in the Republic of Congo, are smaller than their cousins on the savanna. Roger de la Harpe / shutterstock
But Africa’s biggest forest by far is found a thousand miles to the south east, in the Congo Basin. The world’s second largest rainforest is almost half the size of the Amazon yet has only a small portion of its global fame.
As the forest is underresearched, there are still huge discoveries to be made. Back in 2017, Simon Lewis and Greta Dargie of the University of Leeds lead a UK-Congolese team who first mapped out an England-sized tropical peatland – the world’s largest – under marshy wetlands deep in the jungles of Congo. They wrote about this for The Conversation at the time:
After 17 days, covering just 1.5km a day, we finally reached the centre of the swamp between two of the major rivers. Our reward was not only the knowledge that these peatlands are indeed vast. We also found ever-deeper peat, reaching up to 5.9m, roughly the height of a two-storey building.
Peat is made of partially-decomposed plant matter and can store extraordinary amounts of carbon. Lewis and Dargie “found 30 billion metric tonnes of carbon stored in this new ecosystem that nobody knew existed. That’s equivalent to 20 years of current US fossil fuel emissions.”
This rainforest, and its huge carbon stores, are under threat. In 2022, Lewis, writing with his Leeds colleague Bart Crezee, warned that plans to drill for oil in the Democratic Republic of Congo could be “the beginning of the end for these peatlands”.
They updated their map of Congolese peatlands and overlayed it on a map of proposed oil concessions. They discovered:
The upcoming sale of rights to explore for fossil fuels includes close to 1 million hectares of peat swamp forest. If destroyed by the construction of roads, pipelines and other infrastructure needed to extract the oil, we estimate that up to 6 billion tonnes of CO₂ could be released, equivalent to 14 years’ worth of current UK greenhouse gas emissions.
In late 2023, DR Congo postponed its plans to drill for oil. It seems the scientists really were listened to – for the time being at least.
Yet oil drilling is only one threat, in one corner of a vast forest. Researchers lead by Judith Verweijen of the University of Antwerp have written about the armed conflicts and industrial mining affecting the eastern end of the same Congo Basin.
The mines, for instance, degrade the soil and pollute the water, and trees must be cleared to make way for them.
But Verweijen and colleagues say there are also indirect effects that “stem from the construction of new roads to make mining sites accessible, and population growth in the vicinity of mines. This leads to further natural resource exploitation, such as fuel and construction wood extraction, bushmeat hunting and shifting agriculture.”
None of this has caused the same global outcry as fires in the Amazon or palm oil deforestation in Indonesia. What might fix that?
Back to Moo Deng. Many conservation academics will tell you that a single well-known species can be the key to saving an entire ecosystem and its often boring-but-crucial biodiversity. Protect the tigers, pandas or pygmy hippos, and you’ll also ensure the survival of the worms, ants and peat bogs.
If it takes a viral hippo to at least cast some attention on the disappearing rainforests of Africa, then so be it.
Source: Traditional Unionist Voice – Northern Ireland
Statement by TUV vice chairman and East Londonderry representative Councillor Allister Kyle:
“Every agricultural business with assets, in buildings and land, over £1m will be hit further with 20% inheritance tax. Livestock and equipment were already taken into account for inheritance tax.
“£1m sounds like a lot of money, which it is, but with the Northern Ireland average farm size being 41 hectares (101 acres), if ground was valued at £12k per acre and a farmyard and house valued at £400k, this would leave a tax bill of around £100k, on top of the livestock and equipment values.
“One needs to remember that land is not tax deductible when being purchased. Therefore, if a farmer purchases land he pays tax. When his son or daughter inherits the farm, tax will be paid on the same land again. That is perverse.
“Many farmers will be forced to sell ground to clear this new tax bill which will then also trigger possible capital gains tax to be paid on the level that ground may have increased in value since the time it was bought.
“Currently 36% of farmers in Northern Ireland are 65 or over.
“When will the nation and its politicians start to respect those who put food on our tables?
“The agricultural sector isn’t generally a cash rich business, most profits are usually re-invested in ground, farmyards or equipment to have a lasting legacy for future generations to keep on stewarding the land, caring for livestock and keeping us fed.”
The Highland Council’s Employability team has announced details of the first Highland-wide virtual jobs fair to highlight new job opportunities that will run from the 11 to the 15 November during Scottish Careers Week 2024.
The week-long virtual event is being delivered by the Local Employability Partnership for the West – The Highland Council, Skills Development Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Department for Work and Pensions , Developing the Young Workforce and UHI North West and Hebrides.
Anyone interested in finding out more about career opportunities, looking to change careers or to return to work after a break will be able to log onto sessions hosted by a number of businesses from the comfort of their own home.
Employers taking part include Torbhaig Distillary, Carr Gomm, Dounreay, CalMac, Sheil Buses, BEAR Scotland, Balfour Beatty and The Highland Council.
They will host sessions to provide information about the full-time and part-time opportunities their businesses have, along with apprenticeship schemes and initiatives to attract seasonal and year-round workers
Chair of Highland Council’s Economy and Infrastructure Committee, Cllr Ken Gowans, said: “This Highland-wide virtual jobs fair will provide a fantastic platform to showcase the wide range of opportunities there are for people to develop and learn new skills while in employment. Employers taking part will be on hand to answer questions and explain what opportunities they have for training and up-skilling people.
“We hope that by being held online people can be flexible and attend without the need for travelling. The sessions are designed for people to drop in and out of throughout the week. It will be accessible to everyone no matter their location or circumstances and will directly connect potential employees with the businesses providing information about work opportunities.
He added: “The Highland Council’s Employability team will be on hand throughout the week to provide support to attendees.”
Gilliam Unger, Skills Development Scotland Team Leader said: “SDS are excited to collaborate with partners of the West Highland Local Employability Partnership to put together this event. As it is a virtual event it is accessible for everyone across Highland and is a great opportunity for the people of Highland to find out more about employers and career opportunities locally and further afield.”
If you would like to attend the event, please email employ.ability@highland.gov.uk to register your interest and receive further information.
The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) is reminding Rhode Islanders about Halloween safety precautions.
Halloween street smarts
Talk with kids about the risks of distracted walking. This includes texting, talking on or looking at a phone, and listening to music.
Always accompany young children on their trick-or-treating rounds. Research shows that evenings from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. are the riskiest times of day for child pedestrians.
If your older children are trick-or-treating without you, plan and review a route that is acceptable to you. Agree on a specific time when they should return home.
Older children should travel in groups and create a “buddy system.”
Cross the street as a group at crosswalks.
Stay on well-lit streets and always use the sidewalk. If no sidewalk is available, walk at the far edge of the roadway facing traffic.
Caution kids to never enter a home or a car for a treat.
Costume safety tips
Plan costumes that are bright and reflective. Consider adding reflective tape or striping to costumes and trick-or-treat bags for greater visibility.
Look for “flame resistant” on the costume labels. Wigs and accessories should also clearly indicate this.
Hats should fit properly to prevent them from sliding over eyes and blocking vision.
Consider non-toxic makeup and decorative hats as safer alternatives to masks.
Do not use decorative contact lenses without an eye exam and a prescription from an eye care professional.
Healthy Halloween tips
Consider offering non-edible goodies to trick-or-treaters (such as spider rings, vampire fangs, pencils, or bubbles). Halloween is one of the trickiest days of the year for children with food allergies.
Wait until children are home to sort and check treats before eating them.
Enjoy sweets in moderation.
Driving
Drive slowly in residential neighborhoods.
Watch for trick-or-treaters at intersections, medians, and on curbs.
Watch for trick-or-treaters darting from between parked cars.
Enter and exit driveways carefully.
If a teen driver is in your household, consider not allowing that person to drive after dark on Halloween. If you have a teen driver who will be driving, talk about precautions and set specific rules.
Continue to take measures to prevent mosquito bites
This has been a higher-than-average risk year for mosquito-borne diseases, including Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), in Southeastern New England. Due to seasonably low mosquito populations, the risk of mosquito-borne disease has significantly decreased. However, mosquito biting can still occur during unusually warm weather, with Southeastern New England experiencing warm temperatures late this week, including on Halloween. Mosquitoes become less active at temperatures below 58 degrees and become largely inactive when temperatures fall below 50 degrees. Until the entire state experiences a true hard frost (defined as three consecutive hours below 32 degrees) which kills adult mosquitoes, the risk of mosquito-borne disease remains. For that reason, Rhode Islanders who will be outdoors on Halloween should continue to take mosquito bite prevention measures. These prevention measures are most important at sundown (and sunrise).
Wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants.
Use EPA-approved bug spray with at least 20% DEET. Alternatively, people can use a bug spray with one of the following active ingredients: Picaridin, IR3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus (OLE), para-menthane-diol (PMD), or 2-undecanone. People should not use bug spray with DEET on infants under two months of age.
Put mosquito netting over baby carriages.
Visit www.health.ri.gov/mosquito for additional mosquito prevention tips.
Modelling good manners around the home and in your own interaction with others is obviously crucial.
But there’s a clear uniting theme when it comes to manners in Australia: in Australian English, good manners centre on honouring personal autonomy, egalitarianism and not appearing to tell people what to do.
Which manners matter most in Australia?
Some of the most important manners in Australian English are behavioural edicts that focus on particular speech acts: greeting, requesting, thanking and apologising.
These speech acts have a set of words associated with them:
hello
hi
may I please…?
could I please…?
thank you
ta
sorry
excuse me.
Good manners make people feel comfortable in social situations by adding predictability and reassurance.
They can act as signposts in interactions. Anglo cultures place a lot of weight on egalitarianism, personal autonomy and ensuring we don’t tell people what to do.
If you want to get someone to do something for you – pass you a pen, for example – you frame the request as a question to signal that you’re not telling them what to do.
You’ll also add one of the main characters in Anglo politeness: the magic word, “please”.
This framing recognises you don’t expect or demand compliance. You’re acknowledging the other person as an autonomous individual who can do what they want.
If the person does the thing you’ve asked, the next step is to say “thank you” to recognise the other person’s autonomy. You’re acknowledging they didn’t have to help just because you asked.
The words “please” and “thank you” are such heavy hitters in Australian English good manners, they’re two of the words that language learners and migrants learn first.
They can help soften the impact of your words. Think, for example, of the difference between “no” and “no, thank you”.
Of course, there are times when “no” is a full sentence. But what if someone offered you a cup of tea and you replied “no” without its concomitant “thank you” to soften your rejection and acknowledge this offer didn’t have to be made? Don’t be surprised if they think you sound a bit rude.
The other big players in Australian English good manners are “sorry” and “excuse me”. Much like in British English, the Australian “sorry” means many things.
These can preface an intrusion on someone’s personal space, like before squeezing past someone in the cinema, or on someone’s speaking turn.
Interrupting or talking over someone else is often heavily frowned on in Australian English because it is often interpreted as disregarding what the other person has to say.
But in some cultures, such as French, this conversational style is actively encouraged. And some languages and cultures have different conventions around what good manners look like around strangers versus with family.
Good manners involve saying certain words in predictable contexts.
But knowing what these are and when to use them demonstrates a deeper cultural awareness of what behaviours are valued.
Talking over someone else is often heavily frowned on in Australian English. MDV Edwards/Shutterstock
How do children learn manners?
As part of my research, I’ve analysed parenting forum posts about “good manners”. Some believe good manners should be effortless; one parent said:
Good manners shouldn’t be something that a child has to think about […] teach them correctly at home from day one, manners become an integral part of the way they view things.
Another forum user posited good modelling was the key, saying:
the parent has to lead by example, rather than forcing a child to say one or the other.
One study, which involved analysis of more than 20 hours of videorecorded family dinner interactions collected in Italy, found mealtimes are also sites where parents control their children’s conduct “through the micro-politics of good manners.”
By participating in mealtime interactions, children witness and have the chance to acquire the specific cultural principles governing bodily conduct at the table, such as ‘sitting properly’, ‘eating with cutlery’, and ‘chewing with mouth closed’.
Yet, they are also socialised to a foundational principle of human sociality: one’s own behavior must be self-monitored according to the perspective of the generalised Other.
In Australian English, that means regulating your behaviour to make sure you don’t do something that could be seen as “rude”. As I argued in a 2012 paper:
While child socialisation in Anglo culture involves heavy discouragement of rudeness, French does not have a direct equivalent feature […] French children are taught ça ne se fait pas, ‘that is not done’. Where the French proscribe the behaviours outright, the Anglos […] appeal to the image one has of oneself in interpersonal interactions.
In Anglo English, the penalties for breaches could be other people’s disapproval and hurting their feelings.
Good manners form part of the bedrock for human sociality. Shutterstock
Why are good manners important?
Good manners affect our interactions with others and help us build positive relationships.
Fourteenth century English bishop and educator, William of Wykeham, declared that “manners maketh the man”.
John Hopkins University Professor Pier Forni called them a “precious life-improvement tool.”
The “Good Manners” chart, based on a set of rules devised by the Children’s National guild of Courtesy in UK primary schools in 1889, was issued to Queensland primary schools until the 1960s.
It tells kids to remember the golden rule to “always do to others as you would wish them to do to you if you were in their place.”
Good manners form part of the bedrock for human sociality. Childhood is when we give kids foundational training on interacting with others and help them learn how to be a culturally competent member of a society.
Sophia Waters does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02)
WASHINGTON — Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02) today sent a letter to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) questioning the methodology regulators used as the basis for a nearly 90 percent reduction to the Atlantic herring fishery quota for the next three years. The fishery supplies the primary bait used in the lobster fishery.
“Once again, Maine fishermen find themselves on the verge of economic ruin due to federal regulations based on incomplete and inadequate data. In my conversations with fishermen, it has always been clear that their top concerns are the sustainability of the stock and the ability for it to be harvested by future generations,” Golden wrote. “That is why these decisions must always be based on scientifically sound, comprehensive data that incorporates the invaluable input of those most impacted — the harvesters themselves.”
A July assessment by NOAAclaims that the population of herring capable of reproducing is at 26 percent of the agency’s target. Thissparked a proposal from NEFMCto reduce the species’ annual catch limit by 89 percent from 2025-2027 — the lowest level in the history of the Council’s Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan. However, Maine fishermen have expressed concern that the research vessel used to measure the herring stock is unable to operate in the areas fishermen actually target the species, instead trawling at depths fishermen avoid due to the low concentration of herring.
According to the Maine Department of Marine Resources, Atlantic herring landings in Maine during 2019 totaled an estimated 13 million pounds and $5.8 million in ex-vessel value.
“NEFSA is thankful that Congressman Golden is drawing criticism to the massive, 90 percent cut to the herring quota for the next two years. Very little attention has been given to this action which will eliminate more commercial fishermen from their livelihoods,” commercial fishermenJerry LeemanandDustin Delano, CEO and COO of the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association, respectively, said. “We thank Congressman Golden for his efforts and hope the council will reconsider its egregious decision to further decimate the commercial fishing fleet.”
“We’re grateful to Rep. Golden for speaking out against this misinformed change to the herring quota. Moving forward with a near total cut would be absolutely devastating for fishermen, the lobster industry, and the coastal communities that depend on them,” Virginia Olsen, commercial lobsterman and director of the Maine Lobstering Union said. “It’s more proof that he is not afraid to work across party lines to support fishermen and that matters to me.”
Golden’s letter pressed the agencies on whether they also include industry-based surveys like those considered by Canadian regulators, how spawning data is collected if both regulators and fishermen avoid operating in herrings’ spawning waters, and why there was not an economic impact study conducted during the process.
“My main concern with this seemingly unreasonable quota reduction is that these fishermen will be forced to switch over to a less desirable species of fish. Next season, when everyone has to substitute herring with something else, the increased demand in these alternative baits will make the already rising cost of doing business hard for these fishermen hard to justify fishing in the spring, early summer, and late fall…” Alex Poke, general manager at the Winter Harbor co-op said. “…I expect there to be more frequent and longer periods where I can’t find any bait for the lobster fishermen here at the co-op.”
“Thank you to Rep. Golden for highlighting these ill-informed quota reductions. These reductions will have crushing economic impacts on my family and our community,” Branden Loveyjoy, a herring fisherman and bait dealer from Columbia said. “I, too, am concerned about the sustainability of the fishery and the next generation, but these reductions go too far without the data to inform them.”
Full text of Golden’s letter can be found here, and is included below in full:
+++
October 30, 2024
Michael Pentony Regional Administrator Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office NOAA Fisheries 55 Great Republic Drive Gloucester, MA 01930
Jon Hare, PhD Science and Research Director Northeast Fisheries Science Center NOAA Fisheries 166 Water Street Woods Hole, MA 02543
Cate O’Keefe, PhD Executive Director New England Fishery Management Council 50 Water Street, Mill 2 Newburyport, MA 01950
Dear Administrator Pentony, Dr. Hare, and Dr. O’Keefe:
I am writing to seek additional information regarding the action the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) recently took to reduce the Atlantic herring fishery quota by nearly 90 percent for fishing year 2025-2027. Based on conversations I have had with Maine fishermen, I am concerned that this decision by the NEFMC was predicated on inaccurate and incomplete surveys and estimates of spawning stock biomass data that also fails to account for the potential economic impacts on fishing communities.
As you know, the Atlantic herring fishery is an essential part of Maine’s marine economy and is the most important pelagic fishery resource in the state. According to the Maine Department of Marine Resources, in 2019 Atlantic herring landings in Maine were around 13 million pounds, valued at an estimated $5.8 million ex-vessel. This fishery also supplies the primary bait used in our lobster fishery, one of the most valuable in the nation at $464 million. Together, these fisheries employ thousands of Mainers through dealers and seafood processors, vessel and trap manufacturers, restaurants, and other coastal businesses..
That is why I was alarmed when the NEFMC passed new specifications for the Atlantic herring fishery that will result in the lowest catch limits in the history of the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan. This is despite the fact that for some time, I have heard from fishermen who have expressed their concerns about the Henry B. Bigelow (Bigelow), the sole survey vessel used by the federal government to determine the abundance and health of the inshore Atlantic herring stock. While the Bigelow may be a capable vessel – when operational – for conducting trawling operations in depths of 600 feet or greater, due to potential gear conflicts and bottom conditions closer to the coast, it is unable to tow in the areas that Maine’s herring fishermen utilize most.
This is particularly true in the interior of area 1A, which is between one and 20 nautical miles from shore. It is here where fishermen are telling me that they are observing herring in volumes they have not seen in recent years, while the Bigelow trawls areas in which they would never consider fishing. Moreover, due to major mechanical issues in the Spring of 2023, the vessel was prevented from conducting tows for the three-year stock assessments for any of the fisheries it samples – including Atlantic herring. The discrepancy between the experience of harvesters and the practical limitations of the Bigelow raises legitimate questions as to whether or not federal regulators are capturing accurate and complete data of the herring stock that is then being used to inform fishing quotas.
In order to better understand the methodology behind the NEFMC’s decision-making for setting a 90 percent quota reduction for Atlantic herring, I would appreciate your answers to the following questions:
The Canadian herring fishery utilizes industry boats and fishermen who know how to operate the vessels and the gear required to target a particular fish species effectively. Has the NEFMC considered industry-based surveys that utilize the observations of experienced herring fishermen when making quota decisions or to validate assessments conducted by the Bigelow?
2. Fishermen intentionally avoid spawning areas; if they catch spawned herring, they risk being shut down by federal regulators. If the Bigelow is not operating during these spawning seasons or in these areas, and fishermen are prohibited from catching spawned fish, how is this data collected?
3. Based on the Atlantic herring quotas in the motion the NEFMC voted to approve for 2025-2027, we are certain to see crippling economic conditions for those fishermen and other fisheries that are dependent on herring. Why was no shore-side economic impact study conducted to understand the socioeconomic harm these proposed reductions would cause?
Once again, Maine fishermen find themselves on the verge of economic ruin due to federal regulations based on incomplete and inadequate data. In my conversations with fishermen, it has always been clear that their top concerns are the sustainability of the stock and the ability for it to be harvested by future generations. That is why these decisions must always be based on scientifically sound, comprehensive data that incorporates the invaluable input of those most impacted – the harvesters themselves.
I will continue to monitor this situation closely and appreciate your attention to this important matter.
Dominic Barbosa stole mail from across New England and used identities to open accounts
PORTLAND, Maine: A Manchester, New Hampshire man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Portland for committing wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
U.S. District Judge Nancy Torresen sentenced Dominic Barbosa (aka Christopher Barnhart), 29, to 12 months imprisonment on the wire fraud charge and 24 months on the aggravated identity theft charge, to be served consecutively, followed by two years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $51,804.40 in restitution. Barbosa pleaded guilty on May 13, 2024.
According to court records, from at least March 2019 through March 2022, Barbosa obtained the identifications of individuals without their knowledge or consent. Barbosa stole mail in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine, including bank account statements, tax returns, and other documents containing others’ means of identification. He kept records of that information to use in the scheme. As part of the scheme, Barbosa would apply for duplicate licenses for others, often changing the address, and then use the stolen identification information and duplicate driver’s licenses to open bank accounts, credit card accounts and lines of credit in others’ names. He also used the stolen identifications to make purchases or enter into contracts. When questioned by a U.S. Postal Inspector, Barbosa stated he had a cloud database with stolen identities, and investigators in Massachusetts found bins of mail and photocopies of identifying information in a storage unit Barbosa rented.
The Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles, South Berwick Police Department, Litchfield Police Department (NH), North Reading Police Department (MA), Salem Police Department (NH), and U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case.
Let’s talk competition in farming in Australia. A member of the federal government has identified farming as an area in dire need of competition reform in Australia. Andrew Leigh is the Assistant Minister for Competition in the Labor government. He says this country’s small‑scale farmers are getting hammered at both ends by concentrated markets and at numerous points along the agricultural supply chain. I had a chat to him about improving the improving the competition playing field for farmers after he made a speech on such a topic to ABARES in Canberra.
ANDREW LEIGH:
Well, farmers are the meat in the sandwich when it comes to problems of competition in the Australian economy. We see too many farmers buying seed and fertiliser from concentrated markets and then getting squeezed by having to sell into concentrated markets for processors or in freight. And the effect is that farmers aren’t getting a fair deal. I’m talking about a lot of what we’re doing in the competition space through the lens of farming. Farming is a critical industry to the Australian economy, but it also illustrates some of the big competition problems that the Australian economy faces right now.
LONG:
Why is farming such an easy example to grasp about the lack of competition and what it does to markets?
LEIGH:
Compared to many industries, small‑scale farming is pretty easy to enter. It is not as easy to set up a tractor manufacturing business or to set up a freight distribution network. The result is that you get a lot of competition in farming across many commodities but not so much upstream and downstream. So if you’re looking at fertiliser, the big 4 fertiliser manufacturers in Australia have 62 per cent of the market between them. And then if you’re looking downstream, fruit and vegie processing, the big 4 have 34 per cent of the market. Meat processing, the big 4 have 44 per cent of the market. So there’s these really concentrated markets, and that’s before we’ve even gotten to the supermarkets where the supermarket duopoly does have the effect of squeezing farmers. Which, of course, is why, Warwick, we’re moving to make the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct a mandatory code.
LONG:
What has failed in the past? So the meat industry is one of those that you’re using, particularly you cite its effect on small‑scale beef producers, for example, because there’s such market concentration. Now, I’ve been around for quite a long time, Assistant Minister, and I remember when the ACCC didn’t oppose JBS’s taking over of Primo, for example, because even though it meant a highly concentrated market in areas like New South Wales and Queensland. So what’s gone wrong in the past to lead us down this road of concentration now?
LEIGH:
Our merger law system just hasn’t been up to what it needs for a modern economy. Australia’s competition watchdog doesn’t get to see about 3 out of every 4 mergers because there’s no requirement on big firms to notify them. You can’t block what you can’t see. So the merger reforms we’ve got in parliament right now are the biggest merger shake‑up in half a century. We’d hope they’d get support right across the parliament. And they’ll have 2 results, Warwick, one will be that low‑risk mergers get approved quicker, and the other is that high‑risk mergers can have the scrutiny that they deserve applied to them by the competition watchdog.
LONG:
What other rules and changes are you proposing?
LEIGH:
We’ve got the banning of unfair contract terms. We did that as soon as we came into office. And that’s mattered for areas such as fertiliser contracts and potato processing where those unfair contract terms have been used. For consumers we’ve got the CHOICE quarterly price monitoring to make sure that consumers are seeing where they can get their best deal across the grocery sector. And we’re giving the competition watchdog more resources in order to check up on unit pricing, make sure that the prices on the supermarket shelf really are a fair reflection of what Australians will pay.
LONG:
You’ve also cited in your speech today about the right to repair laws affecting the motor vehicle industry. You and I spoke a lot in the past about trying to extend that to tractor and machinery sales. Why hasn’t that happened yet?
LEIGH:
Well, we’re encouraging parties to first look at a voluntary agreement here which can often have a more tailored approach. But we recognise that there’s a squeeze on and it can particularly affect farmers where you’re working off short timeframes. You’ve got to get a crop harvested. Your machine breaks down and you just can’t afford to take a week for the authorised dealer to fix it. So we understand the squeeze. We understand that the farm machinery industry is heavily concentrated. This one is not as straightforward as what we did for the motor vehicle scheme –
LONG:
Why not?
LEIGH:
Well, because in motor vehicles you’ve got a greater diversity of independent repairers. There’s some 20,000 independent repairers across the country. You just don’t have that network of independent repairers in the area of farm machinery. Most of the repair is being done at the moment by the big firms. And what we’re looking at is a discussion where people say we could have a vibrant independent repair industry if only there was a right to repair laws for farm machinery.
LONG:
Yeah, so as opposed to what you had to do in the motor vehicle sector where there was already an existing network there effectively you need to look if your law changes for the farm machinery sector would effectively almost create a new category of business?
LEIGH:
Yes, that’s right. Whereas independent mechanics, we were seeing them being crushed by a lack of access to data. But data is a big thing. John Deere has got more software development engineers than mechanical design engineers. Farm machines are becoming increasingly computerised, and that means that access to the data is fundamental to allowing a third‑party repairer to fix a fault.
LONG:
This is your passion, isn’t it? Competition and how markets work.
LEIGH:
I’m glad you detected that passion, Warwick. Absolutely. For economists this goes back to Adam Smith in 1776. There’s really good work about the benefits of competition for consumers, for workers and just for innovation. More competitive markets see higher productivity growth. And so this is one of the key things we need to do if we’re going to kickstart more growth in the Australian economy.
LONG:
And obviously more competition, more buyers for products is important. Your government is restricting that in the world of agriculture, particularly for the WA sheep industry right now with the phase out of live sheep exports. Have you looked at what that will do to the market there?
LEIGH:
Look, we’re providing support to the industry – over $100 million there – and also encouraging the boxed meat industry. And as you well know, Warwick, the volume of live sheep exports has been steadily declining. We’re very keen to see that local processing industry increasing, the value‑adding, and also working hard to open up new markets. So if you look at the resumption of the rock lobster trade with China, with the trade deal with the United Arab Emirates, all of that opening up of the international markets gives more options to our farmers. It means that they’re not as constrained at just selling to a couple of local processors.
LONG:
A sheep farmer can hardly jump into the world of rock lobster farming, though, can they?
LEIGH:
No, that’s right. I’m just giving you an illustration of what we’re doing across the markets, recognising the importance of international trade to Australian farmers.
LONG:
I suppose you and I are talking about the same thing here, right, aren’t we, Andrew Leigh? We’re talking about how government decisions or actions, whether it be the closure of key international markets or whether it be phase‑outs of industry, that does affect markets and it’s on government to pull the levers to decide the future of these industries, isn’t it?
LEIGH:
The government plays a significant role. And what you’re talking about with live sheep really is an issue of animal welfare, which I think is broadly supported across the Australian community. But what we’ve been doing in opening up international markets really is very much in the traditions of the Whitlam, Hawke and Keating governments – that international engagement often led by farmers because we export the vast majority of our agricultural produce in Australia to the benefit of farmers and the broader economy.
LONG:
So, this is part of your discussion with ABARES. Do you have a plan to sort of update on whether your levers and work in competition areas will be working in, say, 12 months’ time?
LEIGH:
Yeah, it’s a great question, and one of the things we haven’t done very well in government is evaluating what we do. And so we’re now just thinking through the best ways of evaluating the impact of the competition reforms, making sure that as we move to a mandatory code of conduct for food and grocery that we are seeing those better deals coming through for farmers, ensuring that as we go into the new merger regime that we see better competition across Australian industries. So, tracking performance is absolutely the best practice in government. That’s what I want to do more of.
LONG:
That’s the Assistant Minister for Competition, Andrew Leigh, speaking there about improving competition rules, the playing field essentially for farmers.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs （Taiwan) expresses gratitude to the NSW Parliament for passing a bipartisan motion supporting Taiwan’s international participation. On October 23, the New South Wales Legislative Council unanimously passed PMB No. 1414 motion, stating that UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 does not assert the People’s Republic of China’s sovereignty over Taiwan, nor does it determine Taiwan’s future status or restrict Taiwan’s rights to participate in UN agencies or other international organizations. The Ministry highly appreciates and sincerely thanks the NSW Parliament for its firm support of Taiwan’s international participation In June 2024, the NSW Parliament was the first to pass a motion in the Legislative Council condemning China for bullying elected Australian officials, affirming Taiwan’s democracy, and rejecting any foreign government interference in Australian politics. Subsequently, in August, the Australian Senate passed an urgent motion based on the IPAC model resolution regarding UNGA Resolution 2758, making Australia the first country to adopt such a model. NSW then became the first state parliament in Australia to pass this motion. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs thanks the NSW Parliament for raising a voice of justice for Taiwan and calls on the international community to jointly counter China’s misinterpretation of UNGA Resolution 2758 and its attempts to falsely link it with the so-called “One China Principle.” Taiwan will continue to collaborate with Australia and other like-minded partners to defend the rules-based international order and promote regional democracy, peace, and prosperity.
Boston, MA, Oct. 30, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Catapult (ASX: CAT), the global leader in sports technology solutions for professional teams, today announced a new deal with the Rugby Football Union, Premiership Rugby, and Premiership Women’s Rugby that will bring Catapult’s innovative athlete monitoring technology and video integration to rugby union in England. The strategic partnership marks a significant milestone in advancing athlete performance with the national England men’s and women’s rugby teams, Premiership Rugby, and Premiership Women’s Rugby.
As the preferred provider of athlete monitoring technology, Catapult will make available to the men’s and women’s national teams, Premiership Rugby, and Premiership Women’s Rugby teams its full performance analysis suite, including the Catapult Vector System, offering a comprehensive understanding of both team and individual performance. The integration of Catapult Vector with MatchTracker gives coaches a detailed visualization of on-field dynamics, allowing them to sort, filter, and rapidly access insights enabling practitioners and coaching staff to identify patterns and trends in player performance. Additionally, Focus captures multi-angle video and data during games and practices, enhancing decision-making and tactical adjustments. Together, these tools will empower the Rugby Football Union, Premiership Rugby, and Premiership Women’s Rugby practitioners and coaches to make informed choices on strategy, athlete performance, and injury management.
The agreement also includes the Catapult Vector Rugby Analytics Suite, Elite Vests with integrated heart rate, and ClearSky Local Positioning System (LPS) to further enhance player performance tracking and analysis. The Catapult Vector Rugby Analytics Suite is specifically designed for rugby, employing advanced algorithms to monitor key actions such as scrums, kicks, lineout jumps, and contact involvements. The Elite Vest for women athletes optimizes sensor placement for improved heart rate signal quality, while the Elite Vest for men athletes enhances fit and data accuracy with an inlaid chest band that stabilizes sensors during intense movement. ClearSky LPS will be installed in national team venues including the Allianz Stadium and Honda England Rugby Performance Centre in addition to a number of domestic training venues including for teams such as Bristol Bears and Gloucester Rugby providing low-latency, real-time data during training and matches.
“We are excited to begin this new partnership with three of the world’s most respected rugby organizations, the Rugby Football Union, Premiership Rugby, and Premiership Women’s Rugby,” said Kieran Dannatt, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Development of Catapult. “By investing in Catapult’s technology, the Rugby Football Union, Premiership Rugby, and Premiership Women’s Rugby are building a sustainable model for the future of rugby. This partnership ensures that the Rugby Football Union, Premiership Rugby, and Premiership Women’s Rugby teams have cutting-edge technology that enhances both team and individual athlete performance and player care, further solidifying English rugby’s position as a leader in rugby innovation.”
With Catapult, the Rugby Football Union, Premiership Rugby, and Premiership Women’s Rugby will gain significant advantages in data management and sharing across club, league, and game levels. Each national and domestic team using Catapult will establish its own performance thresholds and operational zones, enabling tailored training strategies throughout the season. This data will seamlessly synchronize with the league’s and domestic team’s overall data architecture, enhancing information flow and improving insights across all levels of rugby. Additionally, Rugby Football Union, Premiership Rugby, and Premiership Women’s Rugby players will benefit from consolidating their performance data directly to Catapult OpenField Cloud. This integration will enable enhanced performance analysis, strategic planning, and collaboration across teams, leagues and the National Governing Body.
“It has been a long-time objective to align player tracking technology across all areas of the professional game,” said Duncan Locke, Head of Technical Performance at the Rugby Football Union. “The partnership between the Rugby Football Union, Premiership Rugby, Premiership Women’s Rugby and Catapult will provide players and practitioners access to a range of best in class products to optimize how players are managed and drive game-wide insights through standardized data capture and integrated data and video analysis. Utilizing Catapult ClearSky technology we can now monitor performance with unprecedented precision. This not only elevates individual and team performance understanding, but also supports player management through consistently and efficiently capturing and monitoring player workloads and movement patterns across all club and international environments, aligning with the Rugby Football Union’s commitment to player welfare and safety.”
”Premiership Rugby is excited to partner with Catapult Sports, making available the latest player tracking technology to our teams,” said Matt Cross, Head of Science and Medical Operations at Premiership Rugby. “By providing practitioners with comprehensive and individualized data using Catapult technology, we empower them to make informed decisions to prioritize player performance and safety. It has been a long-term ambition to align player-tracking technology across the elite game in England, and this partnership provides the opportunity to make this technology available to clubs, allowing for seamless data sharing to support players transitioning across different environments from both a performance and welfare perspective.”
“As a player, having access to detailed performance insights like this is a game-changer for us and ensures every player in Premiership Women’s Rugby can operate at the highest level,” said Marlie Packer, Co-Captain for the Saracens Women. “Catapult athlete monitoring technology will allow us to track our progress, manage our workload, and refine our skills in ways we couldn’t before as we play in the best women’s league in the world. It’s exciting to know that we’re supported by tools designed to prioritize both our performance and our long-term health. This partnership is helping us elevate our game and align with the highest standards in rugby.”
Catapult exists to unleash the potential of every athlete and team on earth. Operating at the intersection of sports science and analytics, Catapult products are designed to optimize performance, avoid injury, and improve return to play. Catapult works with more than 4,200 elite teams in over 40 sports across more than 100 countries globally. To learn more about Catapult or to inquire about accessing performance analytics for a team or athlete, visit us at catapult.com. Follow us at @CatapultSports on social media for daily updates.
About Rugby Football Union The RFU is the national governing body for rugby union in England. The organisation aims to enrich lives, introduce more people to rugby union and develop the sport for future generations. The goal is to achieve this by strengthening and uniting rugby union in England and producing consistently winning England teams.
The RFU is a members’ organisation of professional and amateur rugby clubs, referee societies and Constituent Bodies (geographic or national unions of clubs) that reinvests all profits back into the sport.
About Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby is the organisation that manages the top league in English club rugby – Gallagher Premiership Rugby.
It acts for its shareholder clubs in all major commercial and strategic negotiations with media and sponsorship partners of the league, as well as with other rugby governing bodies.
About Premiership Women’s Rugby Premiership Women’s Rugby has been established to deliver a ten-year strategy for women’s rugby in England. As part of that strategy a new, nine-team, Premiership Women’s Rugby league has been launched as a partnership with the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and the clubs.
The ambition for Premiership Women’s Rugby is built on a new vision and mission to carry the organisation through the next decade and create a generation of players and fans inspired by world-class club competition.
In the first, historic, season Gloucester-Hartpury were crowned champions, beating Bristol Bears 36-24 in an unforgettable Final at Sandy Park.
Brainstorm is excited to welcome Steve Nadin as its Functional Consultant. With a diverse background in supply chain management and consulting, Steve brings a wealth of experience to the team.
Steve grew up in Nottingham, England, before making the move to Australia in 1991. Family is a big part of his life—he and his ex-wife have 4 children and 11 grandchildren, with one more on the way in February 2025. Steve recently celebrated another exciting milestone, marrying his partner of 9 years, who also has 4 grown-up children and 4 grandchildren. Together, they have built a rich, blended family.
Reflecting on this chapter of his life, Steve shares, “My family means the world to me, and it’s been a beautiful journey blending our lives together. We have a large, vibrant family, and I’m excited about welcoming our newest grandchild next year.”
Steve’s career began at Boots the Chemists, a major UK manufacturing and pharmaceutical retailer, where he spent 14 years in various roles across Accounting, Logistics, and Supply Chain. After relocating to Australia, Steve continued to excel in operational and supply chain management roles, eventually launching his own business improvement consultancy in 2011. Unfortunately, the business was impacted by COVID-19 restrictions, leading Steve to shift gears.
In 2021, he joined SMC as a Senior Consultant, where he helped businesses enhance their operations and navigate digital transformation. His success at SMC led to his promotion to Consulting Manager in 2023, where he played a key role in driving innovation and efficiency for a variety of clients.
Steve first connected with Brainstorm at the CEMAT exhibition in 2024, where he was drawn to the company’s dynamic growth and future potential. “Meeting with Evelyn at the CEMAT exhibition was a turning point for me,” he explains. “Brainstorm’s vision and the direction it’s headed in really sparked my interest. It’s a company that’s truly on the rise, and I knew I wanted to be a part of that.”
Now, as Brainstorm’s Functional Consultant, Steve is eager to contribute his wealth of experience in supply chain management and operational improvement. While his role is still evolving, he is excited about the journey ahead and looks forward to helping Brainstorm continue its impressive trajectory.
Reflecting on Career Milestones, two standout moments in Steve’s career include developing a distribution network in the U.S. for an Australian celebrity chef and managing the setup of a large 28,000m² greenfield warehouse in Melbourne. From board approval to go-live, Steve ensured the project was delivered on time and within budget—a feat that he still looks back on with pride.
“I’m particularly proud of the Melbourne warehouse project,” he recalls. “It was a massive undertaking, but it came together seamlessly. To see everything work out exactly as planned was incredibly rewarding.”
Steve is looking forward to making a significant impact at Brainstorm, and the team is equally excited to have him on board.
BrainStorm is a software company that specialises in two areas. They help distribution and manufacturing businesses get their ERP technology in order, and help scaling businesses implement and integrate their software systems.
They do what they do because there’s too much off the shelf software that doesn’t actually solve the business problems that they’re intended to. BrainStorm has saved their customers over $150million dollars in the past year.
Weight-loss injectables don’t address the many core reasons for why weight gain and unemployment occur in the first place.oleschwander/ Shutterstock
Prime Minister Keir Starmer and health secretary Wes Streeting have recently discussed plans to trial weight-loss injections for around 250,000 people with obesity who are unemployed in a bid to get them back into work, ease pressure on the NHS and boost the economy.
Obesity is estimated to cost UK society around £35 billion annually. This is due to lower productivity and higher NHS treatment costs.
Around 26% of the English adult population (approximately 15 million) are considered obese. However, it’s not known what proportion of unemployed people are obese.
While weight-loss injections have proven to be very effective in helping people who are obese to lose weight and lower their risk of certain chronic diseases, there are many reasons why these drugs alone won’t help tackle obesity and unemployment rates in the UK.
1. Lack of capacity
The majority of UK people who are obese are likely to meet the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s eligibility criteria for weight-loss injections.
But prescribing these drugs is just one part of the equation. Eligible patients will require support from specialist services who provide guidance in making the appropriate lifestyle changes (such as to their diet) to successfully lose weight while on these drugs. This is crucial, as all of the weight-loss injection trials to date have involved a behaviour change component. This may potentially be key to the successful weight losses observed in these studies.
However, current demand for weight-loss services is already outstripping capacity. Nearly half of eligible patients in England are unable to get an appointment with a specialist team. Weight-loss injections can only be prescribed through such services currently. If the government is to roll out the proposed programme, they will need to rethink the way weight-loss services are delivered so all eligible patients can access support.
2. Won’t work for everyone
Weight-loss jabs don’t necessarily work for everyone. One study found that 9-15% of participants who took the drug tirzepatide (Mounjaro) did not lose clinically significant amounts of weight.
Weight-loss jabs may also cause intolerable side-effects for some. Trials have shown between 4-8% of participants couldn’t tolerate the side-effects, causing them to drop out of the study. Constipation, diarrhoea and nausea are some of the most commonly reported.
People with certain health conditions may be unable to use weight-loss injections – such as those with inflammatory bowel disease and pancreatitis. In such cases, weight-loss jabs may worsen symptoms or interact with the prescription drugs used to manage these conditions, increasing risk of harm.
Additionally, some people may not want to take an injection – whether that’s simply due to personal preference or even fear of needles.
3. Obesity is a complex issue
There are many complex factors that contribute to weight gain – such as opportunities for physical activity, access to healthy foods and levels of deprivation in a community. Prescribing weight-loss jabs to help people lose weight may not be effective long-term if the rest of these factors are not also addressed.
A more effective way of seeing significant, sustainable reductions in obesity levels across a population is by using a “whole systems approach”. This would address to the multiple environmental, social and economic factors that contribute to obesity.
Where whole systems approaches have been embedded in healthcare design and delivery, they have led to improvements in services and patient outcomes – including obesity-related metrics (such as patients making healthier food choices and being more active).
However, one limitation to whole systems approaches is challenges in measuring impact. This can reduce political will to implement these approaches.
4. Obesity stigma
Obesity stigma in the workplace is a huge barrier to satisfactory employment and leads to poor wellbeing and burnout.
Obesity stigma in the workplace perpetuates harmful weight-based stereotypes that overweight and obese people are lazy, unsuccessful, unintelligent and lack willpower. As a result, people with obesity are more likely to be in insecure and lower-paid jobs than those who may be considered of a healthy weight.
It’s also well-evidenced that regular exposure to stigmatising, isolating and degrading prejudices has long-term consequences on physical and mental health – and may lead to problems such as binge eating and depression.This can lead to a loss of productivity, absenteeism and loneliness.
Prescribing weight-loss jabs to help a person lose weight doesn’t address the core reasons for why they may have been absent from work or unemployed in the first place. Nor does it help to address the mental health struggles they may still harbour as a result of discrimination they might have experienced.
Current prescribing restrictions also limit some injections to a maximum of 24 months (although further trials are ongoing). This means that even if a person has successfully lost weight, they may regain that weight again when they stop using the drug. This could mean any health problems they experienced prior to losing weight (and which may have prevented them from being in employment) could reemerge.
There are better ways of getting people back into work than prescribing weight-loss jabs. Flexible working approaches, for instance, may make it easier for someone who is unemployed due to caring responsibilities or health problems to transition back into employment. Supportive policies and workplace wellbeing programmes may be a more cost-effective way of helping people to overcome barriers, improve their health and transition back into work.
Lucie Nield has received funding from The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) for evaluation of children’s weight management services.
Lucie Nield sits on the Board of Trustees for Darnall Wellbeing (a local community service organisation).
The Scottish Government today published the Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2023. The publication details statistics on the employment and production from Scottish fish farms. It is structured to follow industry trends within the farmed Atlantic salmon, rainbow trout and other species sectors.
Some key figures from this publication are:
In 2023, production of Atlantic salmon decreased by 18,245 tonnes (11%) to 150,949 tonnes.
The total number of smolts produced in 2023 decreased by 3.6 million (7%) to 51.5 million.
Production tonnage of rainbow trout increased by 6% in 2023 to 9,258 tonnes. This is the highest level of rainbow trout production recorded in Scotland.
Brown and sea trout production decreased to 16 tonnes in 2023.
In 2023, the total number of staff directly employed in salmon production was 1,480 staff, a decrease of 28 staff compared with 2022. The staffing figures refer to production of Atlantic salmon in seawater and do not include staff involved with processing or marketing activities.
An Official Statistics in Development publication for Scotland.
Scotland’s onshore GDP contracted by 0.3% in August 2024, according to statistics announced by the Chief Statistician. This follows revised growth of 0.5% in July 2024.
In the three months to August, GDP is estimated to have grown by 0.1% compared to the previous three month period. This indicates an decrease in growth relative to the growth of 0.4% (revised from 0.6%) in 2024 Quarter 2 (April to June).
In August, the largest contribution to headline GDP was made by the Information & Communications sector which contracted by 3.2%, contributing -0.2 percentage points to the overall contraction. The largest positive contribution was made by the Education sector which grew by 1.4%, contributing 0.1 percentage points towards GDP.
All results are seasonally adjusted and presented in real terms (adjusted to remove inflation). GDP growth relates to Scotland’s onshore economy, which means it does not include the output of offshore oil and gas extraction.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) measures the output of the economy in Scotland and are designated as official statistics in development. This means that they are still in development but have been released to enable their use at an early stage. All results are provisional and subject to relatively high levels of uncertainty.
LONDON, UK – October 30, 2024 – Samsung Electronics Co. (UK) Ltd has unveiled that Northern Ireland is set to become the ‘Silicon Valley’ of the United Kingdom, with a staggering 77% of young people in the country looking to pursue a career in technology. The findings align with data from the Intellectual Property Office, which shows that patent applications have increased by 33% in Northern Ireland between 2022-23, compared to an increase of just 11% in London.
Whilst a high proportion of young people living in the Capital are considering working in technology (69%), other potential hotbeds for future innovators include the West Midlands (63%), North-East (63%), East of England (62%), East Midlands (61%) and Yorkshire and The Humber (57%).
In terms of cities, Coventry scored highly (79%), with Cambridge (76%) and Birmingham (71%) also being seen as future hotbeds for inventions and tech.
When it comes to motivation, almost half (48%) of young people polled were confident that they could invent or develop a technology product that would positively impact society. This desire for ‘tech for good’ can also be seen amongst the 85% of young people who believe that a career in technology would allow them to positively contribute to society, and the 20% who would be interested in working in tech start-ups with societal purpose. Other key areas of technology young people aspire to have a career in include app development (41%), cybersecurity (35%), AI for Good (31%) and health-based technology (30%).
The findings have been released as Samsung launches its fifth Solve for Tomorrow competition, which aims to find and support young innovators across the UK.
The research revealed that although young people are particularly ambitious when it comes to their ability to make positive change to the world through tech, they are facing challenges in making this a reality. In fact, the study found 39 per cent of those polled believe there are too few resources for them to make a change in society through technology. This is despite a third (33%) believing they have what it takes to create the next big tech invention.
Breaking Barriers To Entry
Despite the ambition of young people across the country, there’s still a strong sense that making a change in the world through tech isn’t an option for everyone. When asked, 96% of young people believed there are barriers to entering the tech industry, and 65% believe that their personal background impacts their ability to harness their creativity through tech.
A lack of education (40%), practical experience (36%) and lack of contacts or mentors in the industry (31%) were listed as the top barriers to entry for young people.
Samsung’s Solve for Tomorrow competition asks 16–25-year-olds to come up with ideas that help solve societal challenges, then help bring them to life through offering free educational workshops, mentoring, funding and support.
Commenting on the competition launch, Soohyun Jessie Park, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at Samsung Electronics UK, said: “We’re beyond excited to kick-off our fifth year of Solve for Tomorrow. Innovation is for everyone and no young person should ever feel discouraged to pursue a good idea. This is why we’re proud to be working with our partners Social Mobility Foundation and InnovateHer again this year. Our research shows the UK is full of young people with confidence and potential, but they still feel like they don’t have the support they need to make a difference through tech. That’s what the Solve for Tomorrow programme aims to address.”
Applications to the competition are now open, following a panel discussion launch event held at Samsung KX to inspire future changemakers, and featuring rapper and entrepreneur, Krept. The competition offers two age categories – 16-18 and 18-25. Winning teams in both categories receive £10,000 cash prize in funding, and three months expert mentoring with a personalised action plan, to help bring their ideas to life. Young people across the country can visit the Solve For Tomorrow website for more information, and enter here.
About his role as a Solve for Tomorrow ambassador, British musician, broadcaster and entrepreneur, Krept. said: “As an entrepreneur, I’ve been in the position where you have an idea but you don’t know how to make it a reality. It’s a struggle everyone faces, but unfortunately, it’s easier for some to get around that than others. Programmes like Solve for Tomorrow from Samsung are great – they help remove the barriers young people face, whether it’s not having a degree or not knowing the right person – I’m thrilled to be involved in this initiative.”
Talking at the panel event at KX, Sarah Atkinson, CEO of Social Mobility Foundation, said of the programme partnership: “Talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not. At The Social Mobility Foundation, we work towards creating a culture where young people from all social backgrounds can thrive, leading to more representation and innovation. Solve for Tomorrow equips and empowers young minds to create solutions to real-world issues and we are proud to be partnering again with Samsung on this exciting initiative.”
Chelsea Slater, CEO at InnovateHer, also commented: “We’re thrilled to partner with Samsung on the Solve for Tomorrow initiative, which aligns perfectly with InnovateHer’s mission to empower the next generation of diverse innovators. This programme gives young people, especially girls, the opportunity to tackle real-world problems using technology, while building essential skills for the future. By working together, we’re ensuring that more young women are inspired, included, and equipped to lead in the tech industry—helping to create a more inclusive and innovative future for everyone.”
To enter this year’s competition, go to: www.samsung.com/uk/solvefortomorrow/competition/
Methodology Consumer research was commissioned to 1,000 UK teenagers aged 13-19 between the 4th and 10th October 2024 by OnePoll. Onepoll are members of ESOMAR and comply with the ESOMAR guidelines for online research.
Patent information was obtained via the Intellectual Property Office.
Jake Molloy (left) and Colin Shepherd (right)A trade unionist and offshore health and safety campaigner and a community archaeologist and will be recognised with honorary degrees from the University of Aberdeen.
Jake Molloy and Colin Shepherd will receive Master of the University (MUniv) awards during the 2024 Winter graduations.
Jake Molloy is a trade unionist and offshore health and safety campaigner. Jake spent almost two decades working offshore in the North Sea’s oil and gas industry, an experience which led him to actively campaign for improvements to health and safety in the offshore industry.
In 1997, he assumed the role of General Secretary of the Offshore Industry Liaison Committee (OILC), an independent trade union for offshore workers. OILC was founded in 1989 in response to a series of high-profile incidents, including the Piper Alpha disaster.
After merging with the RMT Union in 2008, he became the RMT Regional Organiser with responsibility for all offshore energy activity and has served on a number of industry forums including the Oil Spill Prevention Recovery Advisory Group (OSPRAG) which reviewed the impact of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the Helicopter Safety Steering Group (HSSG) looking into helicopter safety in the sector after a number of fatal accidents, the Step Change Leadership Group which engages workers in offshore health, safety and environmental matters, and the Energy Jobs Task Force, and the Strategic Leadership Group, for Scottish Government as well as the UK Government’s North Sea Transition group.
Since 2022, he has served as a Commissioner on the Scottish Government’s Just Transition Commission, an independent advisory body which provides advice and scrutiny on how to deliver Scotland’s just transition to a low carbon economy. In 2023, Jake retired from the RMT Union after a twenty-five-year career as a senior trade union official but continues to participate in the climate change debate, with a particular interest in how to deliver a just transition for workers and society.
Colin, who is also an honorary research fellow at the University, has been a leading figure in the Bennachie Landscapes Project, jointly developed by the Bailies of Bennachie, a community group dedicated to the conservation and interpretation of the hill of Bennachie, and the University of Aberdeen, across a twelve-year period.
He holds a PhD from the University of Exeter which examined the role of iconography in the development of early medieval kingship in North-west Europe, and his research interests focus on landscape and the changing patterns of ideological thought and its effects upon socio-economic change in the later middle ages.
Colin has authored, co-authored and edited numerous publications on the history and archaeology of North-east Scotland and his work has helped to extend our understanding of the history and archaeology of North-east Scotland.
His work has also nurtured a team of community researchers working on the historic and current management of the landscape of North-east Scotland.
Professor George Boyne, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen said: “Master of the University degrees are awarded to those who have made important contributions to the success of the University, to the local community, and to the region.
“Both Jake Molloy and Colin Shepherd exemplify this, and their achievements will inspire our graduands as they begin their own career journeys.
“We look forward to presenting them with their honorary degrees at our Winter Graduation ceremonies.”
Jake Molloy will receive his award on Monday November 25 at 10.30am while Colin Shepherd’s will be presented during the morning ceremony on Tuesday November 26.
Raise taxes on the very wealthiest to help fund a better future for everyone
Avoid more austerity by another name
Ahead of today’s Budget, co-leader Carla Denyer said:
“We need to see Labour use this opportunity to make some bold decisions.
“Fourteen years of Tory underinvestment in our NHS, our schools, care for our elderly loved ones have left our public services crumbling around us and in a state of crisis. We deserve better. We demand better.
“It’s clear that the country just can’t afford more austerity under a different name. Labour campaigned on a manifesto of change – so now it’s time to deliver.
“Real change that people will see around them in a tangible way – in the hospitals they visit when they’re ill, in their kids’ education, in affordable and reliable bus services to get around.
“Real change is a political choice. The money to fund our public services is available. By taxing the very wealthiest a little more we can fund a better future for everyone.
A multi-disciplinary team of researchers at UConn has received a five-year $10 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to lead a New England regional center focused on environmental justice.
On Wednesday, Oct. 30, UConn launched the Environmental Justice Thriving Community Technical Assistance Center (EJ-TCTAC). In close partnership with the EPA, the University will provide critical support to communities throughout New England.
The center will benefit cities, towns, and recognized Tribes throughout Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine, offering assistance with navigating the federal grant process, engagement efforts, and identifying funding opportunities as the region embraces evolving environmental challenges.
“As Connecticut’s flagship university, UConn takes pride in service to our communities and helping to prepare them for the environmental challenges they face in the present and the future,” says Pamir Alpay, UConn Vice President for Research, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship. “With the EPA’s generous support, we are proud to extend our expertise and resourcefulness to support environmental justice throughout the cities, towns, and Tribes of New England.”
UConn won the grant through a competitive process among other universities in the region. UConn is well-positioned to lead the Center thanks to the expertise of faculty working in various areas related to environmental justice and existing connections with community organizations.
“Too often, communities with the most pressing environmental justice concerns have been left behind due to barriers in accessing federal funding,” says EPA New England Regional Administrator David W. Cash. “UConn’s technical assistance center is a game-changer for New England and will provide greater access to services to ensure overburdened and underserved communities and our Tribal nations can access historic investments to address generational environmental and health disparities.”
The center became operational with the launch of its website, environmental-justice.program.uconn.edu.
Carolyn A. Lin, professor in the Department of Communication, leads the team as the director of the EJ-TCTAC. The team includes associate directors Rupal Parekh, assistant professor in the School of Social Work; David Chacon-Hurtado, assistant research professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering; Diego Cerrai, assistant professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering; and Chris Newell, the director of Native American Cultural Programs as the tribal liaison.
“We have a very large group of talented faculty and researchers who have been working on environment-related projects and a lot of them have an environmental justice focus as well,” Lin says. “We hope to excel and do even more than is anticipated successfully.”
Environmental justice highlights that certain communities, typically lower-income and communities of color, are more likely to be at risk of suffering from environmental harms like pollution and vulnerability to climate change-related impacts like flooding.
“The need for environmental justice work is very high,” Lin says. “Climate change does not wait for us. The problems are here, and the consequences are obvious. They may not all manifest all at once, but people who live in those communities understand those consequences and they have suffered from them.”
The Center will support urban, rural, and Tribal communities throughout New England, helping organizations access funding from federal and state agencies to complete environmental justice projects.
Community organizations will be able to submit requests for free support with tasks like needs assessment, identifying funding sources, grant preparation, grant applications, and grant management. The team will engage partners directly and create digital informational resources, including webinars, podcasts and videos.
Through this technical assistance, the Center will support projects aimed at improving the quality of life and economic development of communities most affected by environmental injustices.
“My hope for the Center is that we can use our combined talent and resources, not to mention our passion for this line of work, to truly make a difference in the New England region across urban, rural, and tribal communities,” Lin says.
The Center is partnering with the EPA; the Institute for New England Native American Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Boston; the New England Environmental Finance Center at the University of Southern Maine; the New England Rural Health Association; Groundwork USA, and the Environmental Protection Network. These partnerships will help the team strengthen its connection with communities and better understand their needs.
“The only purpose of our Center is to serve the needs of communities across New England,” Lin says. “We have a very strong commitment to pulling together any kind of resources we can and building coalitions with communities and state governments and tribal nations. Because if you unite you are much bigger and much stronger in what you can do.”
For example, one environmental justice concern in Connecticut is transportation equity. Expanding public transit networks is not only good for the environment, as it cuts carbon emissions by reducing dependence on cars, but it also increases mobility for people who do not own a car.
“How do we improve our transportation system so that disadvantaged communities who don’t have good access to public transportation will be able to travel more efficiently in terms of time and cost to actually have better educational and economic opportunities,” asks Lin.
Other initiatives may tackle health disparities related to pollution exposure and toxic infrastructures, helping community organizations combat sources of pollution, develop educational resources, or connect community residents to healthcare services.
“Environmental issues are directly relevant to our health,” Lin says. “The air we breathe, the water we drink, and the soil beneath us all affect our well-being.”
North Berwick witchesThe University of Aberdeen is introducing people around the world to the history of witch-hunting and the witch trials in Scotland.
With wide-brimmed hats, black cats, broomsticks and crooked noses, witches in popular culture are instantly recognisable a staple of Halloween events.
But in previous centuries changes in attitudes and approaches to magic led to suspicion and accusations which spread through Scottish communities as paranoid hunts sought to root out those thought to derive powers from the Devil.
The University has created an online short course ‘Scottish Witch-Hunting and the Rise of a Protestant Culture 1590-1690’ which provides an opportunity for anyone with a professional or personal interest in the history of Scottish witchcraft to take an in-depth look at Scottish attitudes and approaches to magic, the preternatural and the supernatural.
Professor Bill Naphy, Emeritus Professor of History, said: “Witches may been seen by guisers today as a bit of fun but in the middle of the 16th century, they were seen as conspirators trying to destroy society.
“This wasn’t unique to Scotland but the ripples of panic it caused were far reaching with Scotland’s execution rate per head of population about five times the European average.
“It means this is a really important area for study, not just in understanding about witchcraft and the brutal investigations, trials and often executions of those accused but in piecing together the wider issues and changes facing society at this time.”
The course explores the involvement of King James VI and I who in 1591 became convinced that a group of North Berwick witches tried to kill him and his wife when their vessel was caught in storms as they attempted to travel to Denmark.
As a result he becomes the only reigning monarch to ever serve as a judge in a witch trial and writes a book about witchcraft titled ‘Daemonologie’. This originally circulates in manuscript form and Professor Naphy says it was ‘clearly aimed at his sons so they will know when they become powerful how to find witches’ but is published widely following a panic which begins in Aberdeen in January 1597.
Professor Naphy explains: “The North Berwick witch trials of 1591 are notorious because of the sheer number of ‘witches’, widely agreed to be around 70 most of whom were women, executed in one hunt in a small Scottish town.
“But the lesser-known Aberdeen witch hunt in 1597 demonstrates how far panic swept across Scottish society, even prompting the demand for the publication of the King’s book.
“City leaders in Aberdeen became convinced that they had such a serious problem on their hands that they were able to secure a five-year commission to find and try all witches in the north-east.
“Once the idea took root that there was a witch plot or ‘cell’ the threshold for evidence necessary to prove guilt decreased and investigators become increasingly concerned with finding wider connections.
“In Aberdeen this saw accusations levied against the Leys family and at his trail Thomas Leys confessed, undoubtedly under coercion, to having led a coven of witches in a dance at the fish cross the previous Halloween – a satanic party right in front of the tollbooth.”
This soon led to extensive witch hunts across not only the north-east but many parts of Scotland.
“Thomas implicated a number of women that took the commissioners from Aberdeen to the tiny village of Lumphanan in their hunt for conspiratorial cells,” Professor Naphy added.
“In total 24 ‘witches’ were executed in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, including a significant proportion of the adult female population of Lumphanan and this little known 1597 hunt triggered panic across many regions of Scotland that resulted in many more deaths through execution.
“This is an important period to highlight dangers of a moral panic and study of these events serves as a timely reminder that while today witches are seen as part of the fun of Halloween, we should not forget brutal treatment and execution of those accused of so-called crimes of dark magic.”
Up to 900,000 viewers across GB will see the Derry Halloween festivities today (30th October) on ITV’s daytime TV show This Morning, with filming supported by Tourism Ireland.
The segment is fronted by celebrity chef Donal Skehan, who travels along the Awakening the Walled City Trail, bringing to life the rich folklore, history, and heritage of the city’s Halloween celebrations. The segment will include spooky stories with Charlene McCrossan from McCrossan Walking Tours, an interview with Jacqueline Whoriskey, the Festival and Events Manager with Derry City and Strabane District Council, and a special appearance from the city’s very own Winifred the Witch!
Alice Mansergh, Chief Executive of Tourism Ireland, said: “Tourism Ireland was delighted to work with Donal Skehan, bringing the magic of Derry Halloween to hundreds of thousands of GB viewers on ITV’s This Morning. Halloween is one of the world’s favourite festivals but not everyone knows that it originated on these shores around 2,000 years ago.At Tourism Ireland, we’re excited to invite visitors to experience Halloween where it all started, taking in our world-class festivals, spectacular scenery and warm hospitality.”
A healthy seasonal spread of overseas tourism business supports quality jobs in tourism, by creating a longer or year-round season. Tourism Ireland markets Halloween as an iconic reason to visit in autumn. Its ‘Home of Halloween’ multi-market campaign, celebrating the island of Ireland as the birthplace of Halloween around 2,000 years ago, is under way. The organisation’s aim is to raise awareness at scale and target consideration and bookings for this autumn, with Derry Halloween (the largest festival of its type in Europe), in particular, adding to the appeal of autumn scenery and heritage. Since it was launched, the campaign video has achieved results reflecting a strong audience response: 14 million views on English language YouTube; and over 100 million views across languages and channels (TV, cinema, online). Among those who’ve seen the campaign, there is now twice the level of recognition that Halloween began in Ireland and seven out of ten said they’re more likely to want to visit.
Two people were taken to hospital after a “significant fire” broke out on Wednesday at the BAE Systems nuclear submarine shipyard in northwestern England, police said.
Local police said there was “no nuclear risk” and two people were sent to hospital after suffering suspected smoke inhalation.
Images circulating on social media showed large flames and thick smoke coming from a tall white building, purportedly at the shipyard.
Emergency services were called at about 0044 GMT to the site, located in the coast city of Barrow-in-Furness, where Britain’s nuclear submarines are built.
Local residents are being advised to remain inside with their doors and windows closed while the incident is ongoing, said police.
The craft that have been built here include the four Vanguard Class submarines that make up Britain’s Trident nuclear program, according to the BBC.
Four new nuclear submarines from the Dreadnought Class and the last of the Royal Navy’s seven new nuclear-powered submarines, part of the Astute Class, are also being built at the site.
