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Illustration showing what the new Kettering General Hospital could look like after the rebuild. (Image: KGH) Sign up to our free email newsletter to receive the latest breaking news and daily roundups More Newsletters Subscribe Please enter a valid email Something went wrong, please try again later. More Newsletters We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info Thank you for subscribing! We have more newsletters Show me See Our Privacy Notice See Our Privacy Notice × Group 28 Sign up to our free email newsletter to receive the latest breaking news and daily roundups Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign Up No thanks, close We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info × Group 28 Thank you for subscribing! We have more newsletters Show Me No thanks, close See our Privacy Notice A Northamptonshire councillor has accused the Labour government of holding the New Hospital Programme review as part of a "warm-up exercise" before cutting funding. The local Conservative party passed a motion last Thursday (December 5) asking the leader to write to government for an 'urgent commitment' towards delivering the funding for the Kettering General Hospital (KGH) rebuild. A Labour Paty spokesperson said that hospital building commitments made under the previous Conservative government were "both unfunded and based on an entirely fictional timetable" and that their review is "working at pace". The previous government's 40 New Hospitals Programme was put under review by Labour as part of nationwide cost-saving measures and plans for a total renovation of KGH remain in limbo. So far, funding has only been secured for a new energy centre and the full business case for the North Northants hospital is yet to be approved. Burton and Broughton councillor Alex Evelyn (Cons), called on North Northants Council (NNC) Leader Jason Smithers to write to the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, to ask for confirmation of the hospital's business case and funding so the rebuild can begin. Hospital bosses have already confirmed that the new KGH would not be complete by the previous Government's 2030 deadline . Proposing the motion at a full council, Cllr Evelyn said: " On the 10 June, when the Chancellor came to Kettering, she said that the Tory claim that Labour would shelve KGH is 'a load of rubbish'. It’s interesting how over the space of five or six months the 'load of rubbish' seems to be coming from Labour’s promises. "While I accept that no final decision has been made on whether KGH has been completely cancelled, the dither and delay will inevitably impact the morale of staff and patients. It would be nice to see this evening if local Labour would have the courage to fight for our residents, our community and our much-needed infrastructure investment." During the debate, Labour Group leader Cllr Matt Keane accused the Conservative motion of turning the issue into a "political football match". He asked that the chamber support his amendment, which included a statement on the previous Conservative government's 'failure' to outline spending commitments or a realistic timeline. He said the project had gone "off track" long before Labour took office and that the previous administration should have made more progress. "The one thing the project needs is a realistic timeline and a proper budget- this was not achieved by the previous government. It’s misleading to say the £620m earmarked for Kettering General Hospital because it’s a matter of public record that only £9.5m was allocated. "I’m hoping that the members opposite will support this amendment which will take the political football out of it, ask the leader to write to Wes Streeting to approve the rebuild of Kettering General Hospital, commit the funding required and outline a realistic timeline to deliver the project." Windmill councillor Anne Lee (Lab) said that their proposal removed what she called "factual inaccuracies" in the original motion. She added: "Yes, of course we need a new hospital, but you can’t expect the current government to magic up money that was promised twice by Philip Hollobone, but not delivered by the previous government." Leader of NNC, Cllr Jason Smithers said: "I think probably that a lot of the money and these black holes that keep appearing everywhere is really just a thing of your government paying its paymasters in the unions and looking after the train drivers rather than looking after the residents of North Northamptonshire. "Support us on our motion, we’ll hopefully get our hospital, we’ll all put pressure on the government. If we don’t put that pressure on now, in five years we will get to breaking point at that hospital." Labour councillor Leanne Buckingham responded to his claims, saying that they were paying key workers a fair and decent wage, not so-called "paymasters". She added: "We all want this, we desperately need a hospital that is fit for purpose and that is accessible." The opposition's amendment was voted out 38 to nine, with two members abstaining from voting. Deputy leader of NNC, Cllr Helen Howell stood to address fellow councillors: "What I can’t understand is why anybody thinks that a review needs to take place because all of the due diligence was done previously. "A vote against this motion you are saying that actually all of the work that’s been done before, the fact that we need a new hospital, you disagree with. Our residents deserve a new hospital, stop these ridiculous reviews and get on with the job in hand." Summing up, Cllr Evelyn told the room before the vote: "You only have reviews when you’re going to cut something. This is the warm-up exercise before the cuts come." The original motion passed and Cllr Jason Smithers will write to the Health Secretary with the KGH requests. Story Saved You can find this story in My Bookmarks. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Follow CambridgeLive Facebook Twitter More On Northamptonshire Conservative Party Labour Party
The average investor can easily find new investment ideas by following well-known asset managers. One of those managers is Cathie Wood , who heads up Ark Invest, an investment fund that focuses on disruptive and innovative businesses. In the Ark Innovation ETF , the flagship product that the asset manager offers to clients, fintech enterprise Block ( SQ -0.47% ) is a top holding. As of Nov. 21, it's the eighth largest position. Should you buy this top Cathie Wood stock while it trades below $100 per share? Bullish on fintech Cathie Wood and her team at Ark Invest are bullish on numerous technological trends. One of the areas the investment manager is optimistic about is the fintech industry. In particular, the excitement relates to how companies are offering holistic solutions to customers for all their financial services needs. Block falls squarely into this investment theme. Ark Invest believes that in the future, the business' vertically integrated offerings, like digital wallets, bank accounts, and debit cards for consumers, and payroll, working capital, and bill pay for merchants, will result in a powerful and more widely used closed-loop payments system. Block is at the forefront of this trend. Indicative of how much Ark Invest is bullish on the fintech niche, the firm offers the Ark Fintech Innovation ETF , which primarily focuses on these types of businesses. Block is the third largest holding in that fund, making up 6.3% of the assets. Block's positive traits Investors probably appreciate Block's growth potential. Through the first nine months of 2024, the company reported a 20% year-over-year increase in gross profit . Both of the critical segments, Square and Cash App, saw double-digit gains with this key performance metric. On the merchant side, Square processed $59.9 billion in gross payment volume in the three-month period that ended Sept. 30. The segment continues to attract larger sellers. On the consumer side, Cash App now has 57 million monthly active users. Management continues to drive further adoption of the Cash App Card, which can boost spending activity and, ultimately, the revenue and gross profit that Block generates. Like many other tech-enabled companies in recent years, Block has made an effort to streamline its operations and drive greater efficiencies. We're seeing this play out right before our eyes. The business posted $323 million in operating income in the third quarter. That's a massive reversal from the $10 million operating loss reported in the year-ago period. The leadership team upped their full-year 2024 guidance, which now calls for an adjusted operating margin of 18%. In theory, Block's business model should scale up in a profitable manner. Large expense items, like product development and sales and marketing, should constitute a lower percentage of total revenue over time, showcasing operating leverage. Shareholders must pay close attention to this going forward to ensure the strategy is working. Betting on earnings growth Block shares were once some of the best-performing on Wall Street. From the company's initial public offering in November 2015 to the stock's peak in August 2021, the share price skyrocketed more than 2,000% higher. That gain was hard to beat. It's been a totally different story since then. As of this writing on Nov. 21, the stock trades 67% off that all-time high. The market is adopting a more tempered view of the business and its prospects. Investors looking to buy shares must pay a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 25.9. That's very reasonable. However, the stock should only be purchased by those who believe the company's top- and bottom-line growth are set to continue at a solid clip. Cathie Wood thinks this will be the case. Based on recent trends, I believe this is a likely outcome as well, which makes the stock look like a compelling buy below $100.S&P/TSX composite up on shorter Christmas Eve session, U.S. markets also rise TORONTO — Broad-based gains led Canada's main stock index to close higher in the shortened Christmas Eve trading session while U.S. stock markets also rose. The S&P/TSX composite index ended up 97.84 points at 24,846.82. Canadian Press Dec 24, 2024 10:56 AM Share by Email Share on Facebook Share on X Share on LinkedIn Print Share via Text Message A signboard is displayed at the TMX in Toronto, Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young Listen to this article 00:01:33 TORONTO — Broad-based gains led Canada's main stock index to close higher in the shortened Christmas Eve trading session while U.S. stock markets also rose. The S&P/TSX composite index ended up 97.84 points at 24,846.82. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 390.08 points at 43,297.03. The S&P 500 index was up 65.97 points at 6,040.04, while the Nasdaq composite was up 266.24 points at 20,031.13. The Canadian dollar traded for 69.51 cents US compared with 69.47 cents US on Monday. The February crude oil contract was up 86 cents at US$70.10 per barrel and the February natural gas contract was up 16 cents at US$3.50 per mmBTU. The February gold contract ended up US$7.30 at US$2,635.50 an ounce and the March copper contract was up two cents at US$4.11 a pound. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 24, 2024. Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD) The Canadian Press See a typo/mistake? Have a story/tip? This has been shared 0 times 0 Shares Share by Email Share on Facebook Share on X Share on LinkedIn Print Share via Text Message More National Business Stock market today: Wall Street rallies ahead of Christmas Dec 24, 2024 10:12 AM YVR janitors suspend strike escalation after tentative deal Dec 24, 2024 9:30 AM Border measures aimed at responding to Trump's tariff threat begin to take effect Dec 24, 2024 8:17 AM Featured Flyer
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