LJLA and Ryanair give young
Alder Hey patients a Christmas flight to remember
A number of young patients from Alder Hey came to
Liverpool John Lennon Airport (LJLA) on Saturday for their very own Christmas
experience and all finished off with a 40 minute flight out towards the Isle of
Man and back.
LJLA recently announced that it is now a fundraising partner with Alder Hey
Children's Charity working with them on various initiatives over the next 12
months and using its #LJLALoves charity branding. As a consequence, the Airport
partnered with one of its largest airline customers Ryanair, who brought over
one of its Boeing 737-800 aircraft from Dublin to Liverpool and made it
available for the Airport to take a number of young patients and their families
on a pleasure flight.
Helping to put everyone in a festive mood, the Airport created a Christmas
grotto especially for the occasion in 1 of its hangars with a variety of
entertainment provided for all the passengers including:- games and prizes and of
course a visit by Santa himself. The VIP guests then ended their visit by
boarding their special flight which took them out over the Irish Sea towards the
Isle of Man and back.
Liverpool based retailer Matalan very kindly donated a number of gifts as did
Everton FC that were given to each child before boarding their flight.
In addition, bus operator Arriva, kindly helped out too by taking visiting
Ryanair employees and their families who travelled over on the flight from
Dublin into the City Centre for a Christmas day out in Liverpool, which included
a visit to the:- 'Dream Works Lights Lantern Experience,' at St George's Hall.
LJLA aims to raise around £100,000 over the next 12 months for the Alder Hey
Children's Charity with various events planned including a world record wheel
barrow pushing attempt to be held, on the Airport runway, on an evening in March
2017.
Letter to the Editor:– "Southport Scouts"
"2016 has been Cubs100, the centenary of the Cub Scout
movement, and I’m lucky and proud to be ambassador for their monumental birthday
party. The 16 December 2016 will be the 100th Birthday and like the Cubs from
Southport, I will be renewing my Cub Scout promise. It’s been an incredible year
so far with trips, fundays and camp outs, but the best is yet to come with Cubs
100 Birthday parties taking place across the country. For 100 years Cub Scouts
have been helping in their communities and this year has not been any different.
Through our “A Million Hands” project Cubs in Southport have been helping to
make their community a better place to live and work. I would also like to shout
out to the volunteers in Southport for their dedication each week to giving Cubs
the chance to experience big adventures and take part in activities that could
be life changing. Volunteers... We salute you! During this special week, I would
just like to say a big happy birthday to cubs past and present as we look
forward to another 100 years of endeavour; learning new skills, having fun and
making lifelong friends. Yours in Scouting..." Steve Backshall, Cubs100
Ambassador. |
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Professional Body welcomes
increased focus of government action on 'enablers' of Tax avoidance
TAX advisers have welcomed the
government's announcement that proposals to penalise 'enablers'
of Tax
avoidance schemes will be focussed on abusive arrangements that:- "no 1 could
mistake for a reasonable commercial arrangement."
The Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) was responding to the draft
provisions for Finance Bill 2017, that was published by the Government, on 5 December
2016.
The Institute had been concerned that the original proposals, consulted on
in 2016, were too widely drawn and could have resulted in some Taxpayers and businesses being unable to get expert advice on complicated and
often unclear areas of Tax Law.
The CIOT had argued that the original proposals could have penalised advisers
who gave perfectly reasonable and legitimate advice to clients on commercial
transactions.
The government has also announced proposals for a change to the existing penalty
legislation which applies to those who use avoidance which is exposed and
defeated by the Tax authority.
The key elements of the new enabling penalty are that
it will:-
► Apply to abusive schemes defeated by HMRC.
► Impose a fixed 100% fee based penalty on everyone in the supply chain.
► Apply to advice provided after the Finance Bill 2017 receives Royal Asset
in 2017.
Commenting on the draft legislation, John Cullinane, CIOT's Tax Policy Director,
said:- "It is pleasing to see that after a wide ranging consultation with
the CIOT and other stakeholders, the government has taken on board our concerns
and recognises that the vast majority of Tax professionals providing advice on
commercial arrangements are in no sense 'enabling Tax avoidance,' but are
simply helping their clients to understand as well as comply with their Tax
obligations. It is crucial that they can continue to do so without being exposed
to this new penalty. The moves outlined in the draft legislation presents a
measured and balanced approach towards tackling those who enable Tax avoidance
while ensuring that the interests of the overwhelming majority of agents who
provide genuine professional advice to their clients are protected. By defining
'abusive Tax arrangements' around the principles of the
General Anti Abuse Rule (GAAR); which asks whether entering into or carrying
out the Tax arrangements could have been a reasonable course of action; the
proposals are better focussed on the small minority of advisers who profit from
devising, marketing and facilitating aggressive Tax avoidance schemes.
We are also encouraged that in proposing these changes, the government has
welcomed the progress made by the 7 leading Tax and accountancy professional
bodies in revising the code of conduct for our members, the Professional Conduct
in Relation to Taxation (PCRT)
In particular, it is heartening to note that by adhering to and upholding the
standards set out in the PCRT, the government does not expect members to be
affected by this policy."
John Cullinane continued:- "It is essential that the penalties contained
within the legislation for the minority of Tax promoters who choose not to play
by the rules act as a deterrent for others while remaining proportionate to the
nature of the offence
In this respect therefore, plans to impose a penalty based on the amount of
consideration received by the enabler for their role in the arrangements, rather
than as had been proposed, the amount of Tax avoided, are a much more
proportionate approach.
We also welcome clarification that the penalty will apply to enabling that takes
place only after the date that this legislation comes into force.
We look forward to continuing our engagement with the government in advance of
the implementation of these measures."
Warning - Lost medication...
MERSEYSIDE Police are
appealing for the public to be cautious following the loss of medication within
the Bootle area of Sefton. It is believed that the medication, which
consisted of 28 Diazepam tablets, may have been left in a taxi, in the Bootle
area, on Thursday, 8 December 2016. It was reported to Police at around 4.15pm.
Officers are reminding people that taking any medication which has not been
prescribed for them can be dangerous and, in some circumstances, can prove
fatal. Anyone who finds any of the medication is asked to hand it into any
pharmacy or Police Station or call Officers on the:- 101 number. |