Data from Bluesky International's National Tree Map is being used in Ireland by Waterford City and County Council to help benchmark current tree cover across the city and to look at suitable tree planting sites as it progresses with its target to become Ireland's first decarbonised city. Derived from high resolution aerial photography, Bluesky's National Tree Map data is being used to inform policy and budgets at the council and is an integral part of the City and County Development Plan for 2020-2028. HMRC learned key lessons from the initial roll-out of IR35 tax reforms in the public sector, but faces new and challenging risks in implementing the regime more widely, according to the National Audit Office (NAO). HMRC's key tool to help public bodies comply with the reforms, Check Employment Status for Tax (CEST), was launched in March 2017 and 2018 research found that nearly half of all surveyed bodies found the reforms difficult to comply with, and one of the most common reasons given was difficulties using CEST. The 2020-21 financial statements of government departments and agencies include a total of ￡263m paid, owed, or expected to be owed for failing to administer IR35 reforms correctly. In all cases, HMRC found that the public body had not taken reasonable care to prevent errors, including when answering questions in CEST. Gareth Davies, head of the NAO said: "The 2017 reforms to IR35 tax rules have achieved their primary purpose of reducing non-compliance. However, HMRC did not give public bodies sufficient time to prepare for the roll-out, and it was it highly likely that mistakes would be made. While key lessons were applied during the wider roll-out in 2021, inherent differences in labour markets create new challenges that HMRC will need to manage for the reforms to be a success."
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