business plan wales gov

Business plan 2023-24

Introduction.

• We have just published our new corporate plan up to 2030 - ‘Nature and People Thriving Together’, which sets out our vision, mission and well-being objectives to 2030.
• In our corporate plan we identify the importance of measuring our own performance and impact in delivering our well-being objectives and steps to take, so that we can be held to account by Ministers and the people of Wales.
• We set out our commitment to strengthening our performance framework with the development of integrated, outcome focussed indicators aligned to the well-being objectives and steps to take.
• While we take forward this development work, the NRW Board has agreed that the business plan for 2023/24 rolls forward those measures from the 2022/23 business plan that align to the well-being objectives.
• This business plan sets out what we will deliver in the first year of that corporate plan in 2023/24, and the resources (staff and financial) we will use to do this.

Nature and People Thriving together – our new corporate plan to 2030  

• Our new corporate plan is centred around our three Well-being Objectives, which will help us achieve our vision of Nature and People thriving together . Although the corporate plan takes us to 2030, we are viewing this as a stepping stone on the way to 2050.  
• Our Well-being Objectives are:  
• Nature is recovering
• Communities are resilient to climate change
• Pollution is minimised

What we will deliver in 2023/24

The tables below show those work areas where we will be tracking performance in  2023/24:  

Well-being Objective 1: Nature is recovering / Nature's recovery will be secure in 2030

• Nature being protected
• Nature being restored
• Nature being respected and valued in decision making
• Nature, people and communities being re-connected

Well-being Objective 2: Communities are resilient to climate change / Communities resilience to climate change will be secure in 2030

• Nature-based solutions being widely adopted
• The risks of climate change being managed and adapted
• Climate emissions being reduced
• Sustained action on climate change being taken by people, communities and businesses
• NRW being an exemplar organisation for a carbon positive public sector

Well-being Objective 3: Pollution is minimised / Nature and people will be protected from the impacts of pollution in 2030  

• Effective use of regulatory tools and approaches
• Incident response being risk based
• Sustained action to minimise pollution being taken by people, communities and businesses

Service Level Agreements (SLAs)  

• Flood risk management
• NRW Estate (including Woodland Estate)
• Pollution Incident Management
• Enforcement
• Water Quality
• Enabling tree planting
• Freshwater Monitoring
• Terrestrial monitoring
• Control of Agricultural Pollution Regulations
• Marine monitoring

Each SLA identifies the resources required (£ and FTE) to deliver different levels of service. Not all areas of our work are covered by SLAs.  We will be developing these over the next 12-18 months to provide complete coverage cover all areas of the business.

Resources  

• Our funding comes from several sources, with the majority as Grant in Aid from Welsh Government – both revenue and capital, with a proportion ringfenced for our flood and coastal erosion risk management work. Our other funding sources are from our commercial activities (including timber sales), charging, Welsh Government grants and other grants (such as from the Lottery and formerly, EU grants).
• Our expenditure is split between staff costs, non-staff costs and capital and revenue projects.
• We employ approximately 2,400 staff directly throughout Wales and work with a wide range of partners, including providing grant funding ourselves, or on behalf of the Welsh Government.
• The following tables show our financial and staff position for 2023/24:

2023-24 EXPENDITURE BUDGET

Our Performance Framework  

• With the publication of our corporate plan in April 2023 we are at the start of a new business planning cycle. If we are to follow through on the ambition in our corporate plan we need to strengthen and improve our organisational business planning and performance framework to ensure we prioritise delivery of those things that matter most.
• We need to move to a well-defined and robust process that will enable prioritisation, enhance scrutiny, empower and facilitate decision making to ensure we effectively deliver our corporate plan vision. The framework will need to capture and represent the broader multiple benefits that are realised through our work for people, nature, climate and to minimise pollution. This wider, integrated perspective must inform our choices about where we allocate our resources, in line with the sustainable development principle.
• We are developing strategic indicators aligned to the well-being objectives against which we will measure progress over the period 2023-2030. Supporting this will be operational performance metrics and milestones aligned to the annual business plan. We will seek feedback on the proposed strategic indicators in September 2023 with a view to using them from 1 April 2024.
• Performance will be scrutinised by our Executive Team and members of our Board on a regular basis throughout the year, helping to ensure resources are directed to where they can provide the most benefit.

We hope you find our business plan interesting and useful. If you have any queries or comments, please get in touch at [email protected]

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First published: 21/06/2023 Last updated:  19/09/2023

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The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington, DC 20500

FACT SHEET: President   Biden Takes Action to Protect American Workers and Businesses from China’s Unfair Trade   Practices

President Biden’s economic plan is supporting investments and creating good jobs in key sectors that are vital for America’s economic future and national security. China’s unfair trade practices concerning technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation are threatening American businesses and workers. China is also flooding global markets with artificially low-priced exports. In response to China’s unfair trade practices and to counteract the resulting harms, today, President Biden is directing his Trade Representative to increase tariffs under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 on $18 billion of imports from China to protect American workers and businesses.   The Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda has already catalyzed more than $860 billion in business investments through smart, public incentives in industries of the future like electric vehicles (EVs), clean energy, and semiconductors. With support from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act, and Inflation Reduction Act, these investments are creating new American jobs in manufacturing and clean energy and helping communities that have been left behind make a comeback.   As President Biden says, American workers and businesses can outcompete anyone—as long as they have fair competition. But for too long, China’s government has used unfair, non-market practices. China’s forced technology transfers and intellectual property theft have contributed to its control of 70, 80, and even 90 percent of global production for the critical inputs necessary for our technologies, infrastructure, energy, and health care—creating unacceptable risks to America’s supply chains and economic security. Furthermore, these same non-market policies and practices contribute to China’s growing overcapacity and export surges that threaten to significantly harm American workers, businesses, and communities.   Today’s actions to counter China’s unfair trade practices are carefully targeted at strategic sectors—the same sectors where the United States is making historic investments under President Biden to create and sustain good-paying jobs—unlike recent proposals by Congressional Republicans that would threaten jobs and raise costs across the board. The previous administration’s trade deal with China  failed  to increase American exports or boost American manufacturing as it had promised. Under President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, nearly 800,000 manufacturing jobs have been created and new factory construction has doubled after both fell under the previous administration, and the trade deficit with China is the lowest in a decade—lower than any year under the last administration.   We will continue to work with our partners around the world to strengthen cooperation to address shared concerns about China’s unfair practices—rather than undermining our alliances or applying indiscriminate 10 percent tariffs that raise prices on all imports from all countries, regardless whether they are engaged in unfair trade. The Biden-Harris Administration recognizes the benefits for our workers and businesses from strong alliances and a rules-based international trade system based on fair competition.   Following an in-depth review by the United States Trade Representative, President Biden is taking action to protect American workers and American companies from China’s unfair trade practices. To encourage China to eliminate its unfair trade practices regarding technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation, the President is directing increases in tariffs across strategic sectors such as steel and aluminum, semiconductors, electric vehicles, batteries, critical minerals, solar cells, ship-to-shore cranes, and medical products.   Steel and Aluminum   The tariff rate on certain steel and aluminum products under Section 301 will increase from 0–7.5% to 25% in 2024.   Steel is a vital sector for the American economy, and American companies are leading the future of clean steel. Recently, the Biden-Harris Administration announced $6 billion for 33 clean manufacturing projects including for steel and aluminum, including the first new primary aluminum smelter in four decades, made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. These investments will make the United States one of the first nations in the world to convert clean hydrogen into clean steel, bolstering the U.S. steel industry’s competitiveness as the world’s cleanest major steel producer.   American workers continue to face unfair competition from China’s non-market overcapacity in steel and aluminum, which are among the world’s most carbon intensive. China’s policies and subsidies for their domestic steel and aluminum industries mean high-quality, low-emissions U.S. products are undercut by artificially low-priced Chinese alternatives produced with higher emissions. Today’s actions will shield the U.S. steel and aluminum industries from China’s unfair trade practices.   Semiconductors   The tariff rate on semiconductors will increase from 25% to 50% by 2025.   China’s policies in the legacy semiconductor sector have led to growing market share and rapid capacity expansion that risks driving out investment by market-driven firms. Over the next three to five years, China is expected to account for almost half of all new capacity coming online to manufacture certain legacy semiconductor wafers. During the pandemic, disruptions to the supply chain, including legacy chips, led to price spikes in a wide variety of products, including automobiles, consumer appliances, and medical devices, underscoring the risks of overreliance on a few markets.   Through the CHIPS and Science Act, President Biden is making a nearly $53 billion investment in American semiconductor manufacturing capacity, research, innovation, and workforce. This will help counteract decades of disinvestment and offshoring that has reduced the United States’ capacity to manufacture semiconductors domestically. The CHIPS and Science Act includes $39 billion in direct incentives to build, modernize, and expand semiconductor manufacturing fabrication facilities as well as a 25% investment tax credit for semiconductor companies. Raising the tariff rate on semiconductors is an important initial step to promote the sustainability of these investments.   Electric Vehicles (EVs)   The tariff rate on electric vehicles under Section 301 will increase from 25% to 100% in 2024.   With extensive subsidies and non-market practices leading to substantial risks of overcapacity, China’s exports of EVs grew by 70% from 2022 to 2023—jeopardizing productive investments elsewhere. A 100% tariff rate on EVs will protect American manufacturers from China’s unfair trade practices.   This action advances President Biden’s vision of ensuring the future of the auto industry will be made in America by American workers. As part of the President’s Investing in America agenda, the Administration is incentivizing the development of a robust EV market through business tax credits for manufacturing of batteries and production of critical minerals, consumer tax credits for EV adoption, smart standards, federal investments in EV charging infrastructure, and grants to supply EV and battery manufacturing. The increase in the tariff rate on electric vehicles will protect these investments and jobs from unfairly priced Chinese imports.   Batteries, Battery Components and Parts, and Critical Minerals   The tariff rate on lithium-ion EV batteries will increase from 7.5%% to 25% in 2024, while the tariff rate on lithium-ion non-EV batteries will increase from 7.5% to 25% in 2026. The tariff rate on battery parts will increase from 7.5% to 25% in 2024.   The tariff rate on natural graphite and permanent magnets will increase from zero to 25% in 2026. The tariff rate for certain other critical minerals will increase from zero to 25% in 2024.   Despite rapid and recent progress in U.S. onshoring, China currently controls over 80 percent of certain segments of the EV battery supply chain, particularly upstream nodes such as critical minerals mining, processing, and refining. Concentration of critical minerals mining and refining capacity in China leaves our supply chains vulnerable and our national security and clean energy goals at risk. In order to improve U.S. and global resiliency in these supply chains, President Biden has invested across the U.S. battery supply chain to build a sufficient domestic industrial base. Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Defense Production Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act, the Biden-Harris Administration has invested nearly $20 billion in grants and loans to expand domestic production capacity of advanced batteries and battery materials. The Inflation Reduction Act also contains manufacturing tax credits to incentivize investment in battery and battery material production in the United States. The President has also established the American Battery Materials Initiative, which will mobilize an all-of-government approach to secure a dependable, robust supply chain for batteries and their inputs.   Solar Cells   The tariff rate on solar cells (whether or not assembled into modules) will increase from 25% to 50% in 2024.   The tariff increase will protect against China’s policy-driven overcapacity that depresses prices and inhibits the development of solar capacity outside of China. China has used unfair practices to dominate upwards of 80 to 90% of certain parts of the global solar supply chain, and is trying to maintain that status quo. Chinese policies and nonmarket practices are flooding global markets with artificially cheap solar modules and panels, undermining investment in solar manufacturing outside of China.   The Biden-Harris Administration has made historic investments in the U.S. solar supply chain, building on early U.S. government-enabled research and development that helped create solar cell technologies. The Inflation Reduction Act provides supply-side tax incentives for solar components, including polysilicon, wafers, cells, modules, and backsheet material, as well as tax credits and grant and loan programs supporting deployment of utility-scale and residential solar energy projects. As a result of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, solar manufacturers have already announced nearly $17 billion in planned investment under his Administration—an 8-fold increase in U.S. manufacturing capacity, enough to supply panels for millions of homes each year by 2030.   Ship-to-Shore Cranes   The tariff rate on ship-to-shore cranes will increase from 0% to 25% in 2024.   The Administration continues to deliver for the American people by rebuilding the United States’ industrial capacity to produce port cranes with trusted partners. A 25% tariff rate on ship-to-shore cranes will help protect U.S. manufacturers from China’s unfair trade practices that have led to excessive concentration in the market. Port cranes are essential pieces of infrastructure that enable the continuous movement and flow of critical goods to, from, and within the United States, and the Administration is taking action to mitigate risks that could disrupt American supply chains. This action also builds off of ongoing work to invest in U.S. port infrastructure through the President’s Investing in America Agenda. This port security initiative includes bringing port crane manufacturing capabilities back to the United States to support U.S. supply chain security and encourages ports across the country and around the world to use trusted vendors when sourcing cranes or other heavy equipment.   Medical Products   The tariff rates on syringes and needles will increase from 0% to 50% in 2024. For certain personal protective equipment (PPE), including certain respirators and face masks, the tariff rates will increase from 0–7.5% to 25% in 2024. Tariffs on rubber medical and surgical gloves will increase from 7.5% to 25% in 2026.   These tariff rate increases will help support and sustain a strong domestic industrial base for medical supplies that were essential to the COVID-19 pandemic response, and continue to be used daily in every hospital across the country to deliver essential care. The federal government and the private sector have made substantial investments to build domestic manufacturing for these and other medical products to ensure American health care workers and patients have access to critical medical products when they need them. American businesses are now struggling to compete with underpriced Chinese-made supplies dumped on the market, sometimes of such poor quality that they may raise safety concerns for health care workers and patients.   Today’s announcement reflects President Biden’s commitment to always have the back of American workers. When faced with anticompetitive, unfair practices from abroad, the President will deploy any and all tools necessary to protect American workers and industry.  

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New strategy to address psychological risks in the workplace with $5.6m in business assistance

Published: 22 May 2024

Released by: Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Small Business, Minister for Work Health and Safety

The NSW Government launched a plan aimed at helping employers manage psychosocial risks and protect their workers from psychological harms.

The SafeWork NSW Psychological Health and Safety Strategy 2024-2026 outlines how the workplace regulator will support employers to manage risks and comply with their duty to prevent psychological harm in NSW workplaces.

This NSW Government strategy is backed by $5.6 million over the next two years to deliver workplace mental health programs for small and medium businesses through the Black Dog Institute and Transitioning Well.

The programs are targeted at small businesses, which make up the bulk of employers in NSW and generally have less capability and fewer resources to manage mental health and protect psychological health at work.

Workplace mental ill health is estimated to cost Australian businesses up to $39 billion each year due to lost participation and productivity.

Workplace leaders know that if the mental wellbeing of workers is protected, they will want to stay, and these workplaces will keep their top talent.

New initiatives as part of the 2024-2026 strategy include:

• practical tools, resources, and webinars to help businesses.
• the translation of all resources to reach and support culturally and linguistically diverse workers – a high risk worker category for psychological injury.
• building capability across SafeWork NSW’s inspectorate and conduct compliance visits in high-risk workplaces.
• creating industry forums whose role is to identify psychosocial hazards in the relevant industry.

Together we can drive real change and better outcomes for employees and employers in NSW.

SafeWork NSW consulted with many stakeholders during the development of the strategy, including workers, health and safety professionals from government agencies, unions and business.

For more information visit Psychological Health and Safety Strategy 2024-2026 . Minister for Work Health and Safety Sophie Cotsis said:

“It is a fundamental right of every worker to come home safe to their loved ones both physically and mentally.”

“We must all work together to bring about change to make workplaces psychologically safer for workers. If workplaces remain unsafe, I strongly endorse SafeWork’s actions to bring about improvements.”

Minister for Small Business Steve Kamper said:

“NSW is home to roughly 850,000 small businesses which employ 1.7 million people or about 43 per cent of the state’s private sector workforce.”

“The NSW Labor Government is focused on delivering a safer workplace and to do this we must work hand-in-hand with businesses to ensure we are providing the right programs and advice to protect workers and businesses.”

“By addressing psychosocial risks, we are not only protecting the health of our workforce, we are protecting the businesses of NSW from lost participation and productivity.”

Minister for Mental Health Rose Jackson said:

“The last few years have been particularly hard for people. Our workforce has been impacted by increased pressure from the cost-of-living, natural disasters, and COVID-19.”

“We know workers in industries such as emergency services, nursing, and law enforcement have been on the frontline and may be more at risk. Our strategy launching today aims to strengthen mental health support in the workplace. To help take care of people who take care of us.”

“Irrespective of the industry that you work in, everyone deserves to work in a respectful and psychologically safe workplace. It is imperative that our workplaces and employers are doing everything they can to prevent psychological harm in NSW workplaces.”

Acting Deputy Secretary SafeWork NSW Trent Curtin said:

“Large businesses and government agencies at high-risk of psychological injuries can expect compliance checks from SafeWork NSW.”

“SafeWork NSW will issue improvement notices, prohibition notices or formal regulator warnings and may prosecute workplaces who repeatedly do not comply or where they have seriously breached WHS laws.”

“In addition to being an obligation under Work Health and Safety regulations, a psychologically healthy and safe workplace helps reduce business costs. These include costs associated with absenteeism and presenteeism, where staff are away from work and where staff are attending work under stress or experiencing mental health issues. Presenteeism is estimated to have an annual cost of $1680 per employee.”   

Related ministerial media releases

See all ministerial media release, related information.

• Psychological Health and Safety Strategy 2024-2026 – SafeWork

General election latest: Conservatives attack Starmer's 'stamina' as PM shuns football team to campaign; Labour hit back over Tory's pub visit

The home secretary outlined a surprising major Tory proposal to reintroduce National Service on Sky News this morning. Party insiders think the plan has been "under wraps for some time". Elsewhere, the PM will not watch his football team at Wembley as he continues to campaign.

Sunday 26 May 2024 19:30, UK

• General Election 2024

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General election called for 4 July

• PM vows to introduce National Service  | But no threat of jail time  | Pledge 'start of election campaign proper
• Tory defence minister criticised national service last week
• Tories attack Starmer over lack of campaigning
• Labour pledges to reignite Sunak's proposed smoking ban
• Sunak not going to Southampton's playoff final
• Davey launches Lib Dem battle bus
• Farage challenged on 'offensive' comments about British Muslims
• Live reporting by Tim Baker and  Brad Young

Expert analysis

• Tamara Cohen: Farage's incendiary claims a question for Reform
• Adam Boulton: Why PM's big bet on security likely won't pay off
• Deborah Haynes : Next PM will have no time to play politics with defence
• Sam Coates: Gove stepping down shows political winds are shifting

Election essentials

• Trackers: Who's leading polls? | Is PM keeping promises?
• Subscribe to Sky's politics podcasts: Electoral Dysfunction | Politics At Jack And Sam's
• Read more: What happens next? | Which MPs are standing down? | Key seats to watch | How to register to vote | What counts as voter ID? | Check if your constituency's changing | Sky's coverage plans

Five days into the general election campaign, the battle for the right-wing vote is already playing out in full view.

Bringing back a form of National Service is a policy targeted squarely at traditional Tory voters and crucially those who are thinking of backing the party’s right-wing rival – Reform UK.

Broadbrush polling on the concept shows many in this group approve.

That said, dig into the detail and the picture is more complex – as one pollster put it "you wouldn’t bet your house on polling like this, particularly if your house was Number 10 Downing Street".

What’s not in doubt is that this eye-catching announcement has changed the campaign conversation after a bumpy start for Rishi Sunak.

But just as the prime minister starts to get on the front foot, a reminder of the threat he faces from the right.

Entering the election in a characteristically controversial way, Reform president Nigel Farage offended many with suggestions that many Muslims did not agree with “British values”.

The ex-UKIP leader is not chasing a parliamentary seat this time round, but this intervention shows he’s not afraid to roll the pitch for his party colleagues in the most inflammatory fashion. 

There have been numerous responses to the government's National Service pledge - but one minister and Tory MP has been "liking" a series of posts on X which are very critical of it.

Steve Baker, the MP for Wycombe, previously was a member of the RAF.

Among his likes are one post calling the idea of National Service "totally moronic", another highlighting Downing Street previously denying such plans existing, and one about a "devastating takedown" of National Service last week by a defence minister - you can see more in the 3.12pm post.

He also reposted an X post highlighting the same defence minister's words.

Rishi Sunak has posted a TikTok video - the first his party have put on the short-form video platform.

In it, Mr Sunak explains his proposed National Service policy to younger voters, addressing those who tend to use the platform.

However, this comes despite calls within the party to ban the TikTok platform from this UK.

The likes of Sir Iain Duncan Smith, Alicia Kearns, and Tim Loughton have all raised concerns about TikTok due to its association with China and concerns about what is being done with users' data.

It was only last week that a Tory MP and government minister was criticising the concept of National Service.

And yet it is now a policy his party wants to introduce.

Responding to a written question in the House of Commons, defence minister and Conservative MP Andrew Murrison said on Thursday: "If potentially unwilling National Service recruits were to be obliged to serve alongside the professional men and women of our Armed Forces, it could damage morale, recruitment and retention and would consume professional military and naval resources.

"If, on the other hand, National Service recruits were kept in separate units, it would be difficult to find a proper and meaningful role for them, potentially harming motivation and discipline.

"For all these reasons, there are no current plans for the restoration of any form of National Service."

defence and security correspondent Deborah Haynes heard from one Ministry of Defence insider: "This is a policy surprise to me. I haven't seen it discussed in the Ministry of Defence."

It is worth pointing out at this point there is a difference between the Minister of Defence and the government machine, and the political campaign being run by the Conservative Party.

Yesterday, Rishi Sunak came under attack for his lack of campaigning - as he held meetings in his Yorkshire constituency before flying to London and campaigning there.

Today, the Tories have turned fire on Sir Keir Starmer - with the Labour leader not being seen at all in public today.

Rather, shadow cabinet members Liz Kendall and Rachel Reeves were seen out and about.

Mr Sunak was campaigning in North London, meanwhile, although he did not give any interviews.

A senior Conservative party source said: "Yesterday the PM hit the campaign trail two hours before Sir Keir surfaced.

"Today there is no sign of Starmer whatsoever and we are just four days into the campaign. 

"Campaigns are tough, tiring things and it's understandable that he may be weary. But being prime minister is a 24/7 job which requires stamina."

A Labour spokesperson hit back: "Keir and the Labour Party are working round the clock, enjoying taking our message of change to the country. 

"We were out speaking with voters across the country within half an hour of the election being called. 

"Meanwhile the PM has been holed up with his aides at his house, the Tory Party chair spent yesterday afternoon at a pub in Westminster and the cabinet appear to have completely disappeared."

Sky political correspondent Darren McCaffrey is in South Cambridgeshire, covering the Liberal Democrat's election campaign.

He points that the party's battle bus - Yellow Hammer one - is going to be used to "break down the Blue Wall", which is the area in the South of England in which many Conservative MPs currently sit.

Darren says this campaign is very different to 2019, when the Lib Dems claimed they would win 200 seats in the wake of Brexit.

"This is a much more considered campaign, a much more targeted campaign, of trying to win seats like South Cambridgeshire," he says.

It is a seat which has been "rock-solid" Conservative for a long time, but boundary changes mean the Lib Dems reckon they're in with a chance.

Darren says this seat - and similar ones in areas like Surrey - are the ones Sir Ed will be targeting in the next six weeks.

They will do this using a message known as ABC - anyone but the Conservatives - where they will encourage people to vote the Tories out.

This is being done in the hopes that supporters of parties like Labour and the Greens will back them in areas where the Lib Dems are the main challengers.

Sir Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, is launching his party's general election campaign battle bus in Cambridgeshire.

Sir Ed reveals the bus is called "Yellow Hammer 1".

He then tells campaigners that the election is the opportunity to "kick this out of touch Conservative government out of office" - and a chance "to elect great Liberal Democrat MPs".

The Liberal Democrat leader says people "are struggling with the cost of living with high energy bills, with mortgages and high rents with high food bills".

He adds: "And they're fed up of the Conservatives not helping them. 

"They're worried about loved ones waiting for hours for ambulances, days and weeks for a GP appointment, months for urgent cancer treatment. 

"And they're fed up of the Conservatives having plunged our NHS and care into crisis.

"They're angry with the water companies being allowed to pump their filthy sewage into our rivers and onto our beaches. 

"And they're fed up with Conservative MPs voting to allow that to continue. 

"And they want change, and they want the Conservatives out."

Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, has been doing a campaign visit from West Yorkshire this afternoon.

She gives what will shortly become her recognisable stump speech - commenting on how it is "time to turn the page on 14 years of chaos and decline" with the Conservatives.

She adds that economic growth is "on its knees" - but Labour has a plan "to turn things around".

Ms Reeves highlights there have been five prime ministers, seven chancellors and 12 plans for growth since 2010.

The Labour front bencher adds that she will create a national wealth fund to invest in jobs and industry, with a "modern industrial strategy that businesses can get behind".

She pledges to "never play fast and loose with the public finances".

Sky News has been speaking to people from across the political spectrum about the announcement today on National Service plans being proposed by the Conservatives.

Paul Goodman, the former editor of the Conservative Home website, says: "Well, this is the start of the election campaign proper.

"I think we're now getting to the point where the two parties will begin to unveil their policies - and I would expect more from the Conservatives this week."

On the policy itself, Mr Goodman suggests there is a lot of support for some form of National Service, and this was researched by a former thinktank director who is now in government.

This suggests it has been "under wraps for some time" as a plan.

Meanwhile, Tom Belger, the editor of Labour List, says the plan is an "unfunded gimmick". 

He adds that the government has had 14 years to come up with ideas.

But he conceded that Labour should not be ruling out a version of the pledge "per se" - but maybe should be "pushing back" on the "fixation of the armed forces".

Rishi Sunak grew up in Southampton and supports the city's football team.

He went to his team's play-off semi-final as they fight for promotion from the Championship.

But he will not be at Wembley today as the Saints take on Leeds United, with the final slot in the Premier League next season up for grabs.

Instead, it is understood that he will be meeting voters in the South East, the PA news agency has been told.

Sources close to the prime minister said he will still be paying attention to the score of the match, which kicks off at 3pm.

Pictures showed Mr Sunak was campaigning in North West London, within a few miles of Wembley Stadium, on the Sunday. 

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• Business and industry
• Charities and social enterprises

Charity Commission Business Plan 2024 to 2025

Published 24 May 2024

Applies to England and Wales

© Crown copyright 2024

This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: [email protected] .

Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.

This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/charity-commission-business-plan-2024-to-2025/charity-commission-business-plan-2024-to-2025

Introduction

April 2024 marked the start of a new five-year strategic period for the Charity Commission. This business plan sets out what we will do in the first year of that strategy towards achieving our aim to be an expert Charity Commission that is fair, balanced and independent.

Our business plan for 2024-25 is shaped around our five strategic priorities, through which we will:

• be fair and proportionate in our work and clear about our role
• support charities to get it right but take robust action where we see wrongdoing and harm
• speak with authority and credibility, free from the influence of others
• embrace technological innovation and strengthen how we use our data
• be the expert Commission - where our people are empowered and enabled to deliver excellence in regulation

Our Priorities

Priority 1 – we will be clear about our role and fair and proportionate in our work.

We will continue to refine our processes so that we focus on those issues that pose the greatest risk to the sector, ensuring these are handled consistently and that we reach the right outcomes. In parallel, we will pursue opportunities to increase the efficiency, quality and effectiveness of our casework processes and systems.

We will update our Regulatory and Risk Framework to provide clarity to the public on the Commission’s role and remit. We will ensure external understanding of our regulatory process is clear, particularly how we identify and assess risks and how we make fair and accurate decisions on the regulatory action we take.

We will take further steps to improve our communications with customers, ensuring we strike the right balance between being friendly and firm, reflecting the circumstances, while ongoing training and a focus on quality will lead to better customer experiences.

Priority 2 – We will support charities to get it right but take robust action where we see wrongdoing and harm

We will continue to publish improved trustee guidance that is easier to navigate and understand, further encouraging trustees to come to the Charity Commission as a valued source of support. This new guidance will help to improve governance and ultimately reduce problems.

Our programme of improvements to My Charity Commission Account (MCCA) will focus on delivering a better customer journey, as we work to onboard remaining charities onto the system.

We will run a pilot engagement exercise with a sample of new trustees to support them in taking on their responsibilities when joining or establishing a charity. A sample of trustees will receive a series of supportive emails throughout their first 12 months, pointing to our online guidance and support and providing insight to guide planning for future phases of MCCA.

Working closely with relevant stakeholders, we will continue to highlight the benefits a culture of philanthropic giving can deliver for charities, and the role of effective regulation in enabling philanthropists to give with confidence.

We will track and report our use of powers to address serious wrongdoing and harm, providing assurance that the Commission is deploying these effectively in those cases where robust action is required to protect people, assets and the charity. Service delivery will be measured against agreed operational performance standards.

Priority 3 – We will speak with authority and credibility, free from the influence of others

A new Communications Strategy will help bring our work to life and improve the way we engage with trustees, the public and stakeholders. Over time, we will achieve greater awareness and impact amongst our key audiences.

As part of this, our ongoing campaigns will support trustees and the public. Through our campaigns the public will be supported to give with confidence, making safer and more informed choices about the charities they support. This will contribute towards increased trust and confidence both in the wider Charity sector and the Commission Across the sector, trustees’ understanding of their responsiblities will improve, contributing to a longer-term reduction in unintentional harms caused by poor governance.

We will further improve how we measure public and trustee perspectives of charity as well as how we measure the Commission’s impact. This will allow us to better evaluate the effectiveness of our interventions.

The Commission will ensure it is ready for a General Election, to ensure consistent handling of casework and communications and ensure our staff have the information they need. We will also provide guidance to charities as they prepare for and navigate the general election period.

The Commission will share more of the data that it collects routinely, to provide commentary on key regulatory actions and trends, as well as making information about charities more accessible, building on the programme of quarterly releases commenced last year.

Priority 4 - We will embrace technological innovation and strengthen how we use our data

We will develop a five-year Information Strategy that sets out our data, information, technology and digital ambitions, with an underpinning aim of supporting the Commission to deliver its 2024-2029 Strategy.

Supporting this, we will deliver agreed priorities in an IT Roadmap, with the primary focus being on consolidating and driving continuous improvements to our services. This will ensure that our people have the tools they need and that our systems are accessible and reliable for those who engage with us.

We will aim to standardise how we capture information across the organisation, so that we are optimising the operational and strategic value of our data and further strengthening the Commission’s compliance with data protection requirements.   

Following significant changes to the question set for 2023, we will consolidate these in the service for 2024 Annual Returns, , and meanwhile work on improvements to the user experience for the 2025 Return.

We will engage with other parts of government to make further progress towards the future digitalisation of accounts. And we will continue to work on upcoming changes to the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP), expected to take effect in January 2026.

Priority 5 – We will be the expert Commission, where our people are empowered and enabled to deliver excellence in regulation

We will complete a review of our performance management approach ensuring that it is effective at supporting our people to deliver our strategic priorities and values.

We will explore how our people can develop their knowledge, skills and experience as part of a professional framework.

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GIB Sets 2025 Health Insurance Program Rates

The Group Insurance Board (GIB) has set premium rates for 2025, while taking action to stabilize the reserve of the State of Wisconsin Group Health Insurance Program. The Board also approved health plan service areas for the 2025 plan year at its meeting yesterday.

Premium rates will increase next year due to the impact of lower-than-projected reserve balances, increased pharmacy and medical costs, higher administrative fees, and other factors. The Board directed the Department of Employee Trust Funds (ETF) to include a stabilization charge in the premium to return the reserve to the midpoint range by the end of 2027.

ETF presented an initial analysis of the Local Program with the goal of restructuring the program to decrease volatility of rates and improve stability. Based on feedback from health plans and local employers, ETF will continue to explore solutions such as modeling the Local Program design options like the State Program and issuing a request for information on vendor options.

2025 Rates for Employees

The average non-Medicare premium increase will be 7.3% for the State Program. The Department of Administration, Division of Personnel Management sets the premium contribution for state employees and the employer contribution to the Health Savings Account.

For the Local Program, the average non-Medicare premium increase will be 11.0%. The premium contribution for local employees is determined by each individual employer.

These overall rates for the state and local programs include medical, pharmacy, and dental as well as the stabilization charge.

2025 Rates for Retirees

For Medicare-enrolled retirees, the medical premium increases will range from 0.8% to 15% for the State Program and from 1.6% to 30.6% for the Local Program.

The Medicare Advantage medical premium increase for both the state and local programs will be 37.9%. The increase for 2025 is only 40 cents higher than the initial rate offered to members when the plan began in 2019. Medicare Advantage remains the lowest-cost Medicare plan option for members.

The Medicare Plus medical premium increase for both the state and local programs will be 5%.

Historically, the Board has set premium rates at its August meeting. Beginning with the 2025 plan year, the rate setting is earlier to accommodate local employer budgeting cycles and the programming needs of ETF’s new Insurance Administration System.

The actual monthly premium costs for members and benefits information for 2025 will be made available prior to the annual open enrollment period, September 30-October 25.

Other Business

ETF provided an educational overview of the Board’s Pharmacy Benefits Program and industry trends as a prelude to the Board’s ongoing consideration of coverage of anti-obesity medications. ETF plans to present further analysis of costs and coverage alternatives at the Board’s meeting in August.

Following its review of the annual actuarial valuation of the State and Local Income Continuation Insurance (ICI) Program for 2023, the Board approved:

• A 10% reduction in the State ICI Program premium rate for the 2025 and 2026 plan years.
• Continuation of the premium holiday for the Local ICI Program for the 2025 plan year.

The Board also approved several changes for the Wisconsin Public Employers Group Life Insurance Program to allow for an open enrollment and streamline program administration as ETF modernizes its Insurance Administration System. 

Further, the Board suspended its November 2023 motion regarding new vendor information security requirements starting in late 2025. The Board requested that ETF identify options for acceptable alternatives. Current security requirements remain in place. 

The Board’s next regularly scheduled meeting is August 14, 2024.

Living on $25,000: ALICEs who live paycheck to paycheck explain how they scrape together enough food to get by

• Many low-income Americans can't afford groceries despite working full-time jobs.
• Some families rely on food pantries and alternate income sources to get by.
• SNAP benefits are based on the federal poverty threshold, leaving ALICE households without help. 

The discounted employee meal that Cherie Tobias gets at Applebee's is usually the only time she can eat every day .

A resident of Hastings, Michigan, the 48-year-old does her best to make ends meet on her full-time server salary of $25,064 a year. She's the main household income earner for her 19-year-old and her fiancé.

Tobias previously told Business Insider that she hasn't been grocery shopping in over a year because she can't afford it. Typically, she has to rely on Applebee's or the few stand-alone ingredients she occasionally gets at the store to eat. Even then, Tobias said she often is limited to one meal a day.

"I don't want to be rich," she said. "I just want to be able to get by comfortably without the stress. That would be my wish: being able to open the cupboard and know that there's food there for the day."

Tobias is one of over 40 million Americans who are food insecure. She's also what economists call ALICE — asset-limited, income-constrained, and employed. At least 29% of US households live paycheck to paycheck but have an income that is too high for most government assistance, per Census Bureau data and cost-of-living estimates analyzed by the nonprofit United Way. This compares to 13% of Americans who live at or below the federal poverty line, which is $31,200 for a family of four.

Many ALICEs, like Tobias, are also out of reach of America's financial safety nets. SNAP benefits or food stamps, for example, base criteria on the federal poverty threshold, which is not adjusted based on location or cost of living. A family of four must make less than $39,000 to qualify and then would receive a maximum allotment of $973 a month for food.

However, this criteria leaves low-income households who don't qualify relying on thinly stretched grocery budgets, food pantries, or employer meal discounts. Many ALICEs worry their family will go hungry, but they're running out of options to put food on the table.

Tobias said she's tried applying for SNAP — she just needs "a little bit of help with food." But her fiancé receives disability checks and her son is no longer a minor, so she might only receive $18 a month worth of assistance.

"That's not helpful," she said.

Many ALICE families face a 'scary' level of food security

Melinda Binkley, 56, shared a similar experience . The Stillwater, Minnesota, resident previously told BI her household income is usually less than $100 too high to qualify for programs like SNAP. She is sometimes able to buy basic and perishable goods like bread, milk, and fruit from the grocery store but often relies on her local food pantry.

Still, Binkley said she had more food pantry options during the pandemic when "everybody was having issues." Lately, she said there are more limits on how often she can visit pantries and how many canned goods she can take, even if she needs the food. She has even considered traveling to multiple pantries to ensure she can feed herself and her husband.

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Right now, she describes her level of food security as "scary."

"It'll be interesting to see our food situation here in the near future," Binkley said.

Food banks and pantries across the US saw a major rise in demand as millions of Americans experienced financial hardship during the pandemic. And, when emergency SNAP ended in February 2023, millions of families were left without benefits or had their allotments drastically cut. Some local banks and pantries have also reported budget challenges and a decline in donations in recent years.

With limited options, ALICEs have sold plasma and filed for unemployment to afford food

Some ALICEs told BI that they've had to scrape together additional incomes to eat.

With a tight budget and no SNAP support, Cincinnati resident Lisa Kelley, 47, told BI she has started selling her plasma in order to afford food, rent, and utilities for herself and her mother. It takes a toll on her body, but Kelley said she can earn between $65 and $125 each time she donates.

Kelley also said she doesn't live near many food pantries and has to drive long distances to reach a grocery store or Walmart. Her budget is limited when she can shop, even with her extra plasma income.

"It's been rough," she said. "We have to make that stretch as much as possible, and the quality of the food is not the same. We have to get cheaper things and less meat and vegetables."

Melissa Hedden, a 41-year-old living in Wilmington, North Carolina, said she made the decision to quit her job during COVID because her children needed care and support with online school. At the time, she realized she could earn a higher income through filing for pandemic reemployment assistance . Documents reviewed by BI show she took home $15,901 in 2020.

The reemployment money — which she received from summer 2020 to summer 2021 — gave her whole family the extra funds they needed to afford expenses and buy nutritious food. Hedden herself said she felt physically and mentally healthier, was able to better support her family, and she even went back to school.

"I lost over 80 pounds, I went from a pre-diabetic to completely healthy because I was able to change my eating habits," she said. "I didn't have to buy so many processed foods."

But, since Hedden stopped receiving the checks, she said it's become difficult for her to maintain her health in the same way. In addition to facing housing insecurity, she worries about affording groceries again.

She has tried to qualify for SNAP in the past, but isn't currently enrolled. Her household income is now considered too high because her teenage son works a part-time job.

"I went from being approved for $600 a month on food stamps, to 'Oh wait, your son is 17, he makes money, so we're counting that against you,"' she said. "And I'm not taking his money from him."

Do you live paycheck to paycheck? Are you open to sharing how you afford food, housing, and other expenses? If so, reach out to this reporter at [email protected] .

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Government tells Britons to stockpile as part of emergency planning

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Lucy Fisher and Laura Onita in London

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Britons will be urged to stockpile tinned food, batteries and bottled water under a new campaign launched by the UK government to encourage the public to prepare for emergencies.

Oliver Dowden, deputy prime minister, will on Wednesday unveil a new website designed to help households mitigate potential harm from an array of risks, ranging from flooding and power outages to biosecurity crises such as another pandemic .

However, retailers on Wednesday warned the public not to bulk-buy items following the advice.

“While it is sensible to have some additional food at home, most households will find they already have sufficient non-perishables sitting in the cupboard,” said Andrew Opie from the British Retail Consortium, which represents supermarkets and other retailers.

Dowden will insist the measures are “about sensible safeguards, not stockpiling”, and will describe the website as offering “practical information for households to make those preparations” for threats set out in the government’s national risk register.

The “Prepare” website launched on Wednesday calls on households to stock up on bottled water. It suggests a minimum supply of about three litres of drinking water per person per day, but recommends 10 litres per person per day — to aid basic cooking and hygiene needs — as a more comfortable level of supplies.

It also urges people to buy and store non-perishable food that “doesn’t need cooking, such as ready-to-eat tinned meat, fruit or vegetables”, as well as a tin opener, plus baby supplies and pet food where relevant.

Battery or wind-up torches and radios, a first aid kit, and wet wipes are among other emergency supplies detailed on the government checklist.

Speaking at the London Defence Conference, Dowden will say “resilience begins at home” and cite polling by the conference showing that only 15 per cent of people have an emergency supply kit in their homes, while more than 40 per cent of people do not have three days’ supplies of non-perishable food and water.

Government officials said the advice would bring Britain in line with nations such as Finland and Japan, which are regarded as leaders in citizen resilience.

However, retailers are keen to avoid a repetition of the early days of the pandemic, when shoppers descended on UK supermarkets to stockpile everyday essentials from lavatory rolls to canned meat, pasta and rice, leaving shelves empty while grocery chains scrambled to replenish the produce.

This was because supermarkets operate a finely tuned “just in time” supply chain model whereby fresh food cannot be stored for more than a few days and there is not enough warehouse or store space to hold large quantities of non-perishable goods.

The surge in demand prompted supermarket chains to ration items and manufacturers and distributors to find ways to increase supply.

In a wide-ranging speech about bolstering national resilience, Dowden will announce plans for new training for ministers and MPs in crisis management.

He will also unveil plans next year for the largest-ever simulation of a pandemic in the UK, which will involve tens of thousands of people across government and public services.

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