Author Archive
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Value of Green Infrastructure tools assessed
Local authorities and developers have been given more certainty regarding the value of different green infrastructure tools in a new report from Natural England. The body, which advises the Government on the natural environment, has taken a look at a range of global tools and methods for assessing the value of green infrastructure in terms of ecosystem services and benefits provided, and the financial costs and benefits gained. Carried out by consultants Eftec and Cascade, the study ...
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Proposed Doger Bank offshore wind farm makes progress
An application from Forewind for the proposed Dogger Bank / Creyke Beck offshore wind farm has been accepted for examination, the Government has announced. Dogger Bank is the first stage of Forewind’s proposed offshore wind energy development of the Dogger Bank Zone, comprising two wind farms each with an installed capacity of up to 1.2GW. Located 125 to 290km off the coast of East Yorkshire, both will be connected to the national grid in the East Riding ...
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£6m funding for local authority heat networks
A £6 million grant funding programme has been launched to help Local Authorities in England and Wales develop new heating and cooling networks, and expand existing ones. To collect a share of the funding, applicants need to submit innovative proposals for networks that, as much as possible, draw heat energy from renewable, sustainable or recoverable sources. The bidding process will continue for 18 months through a series of six rounds with winning criteria including: the potential for ...
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Watchdog sets out workplace pensions reforms
Small firms due to embark on auto-enrolment need to be aware of recent reforms regarding defined contribution (DC) workplace pensions set out this week by The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and The Pensions Regulator (TPR). In its recent market study, the OFT found that some employers were failing to assess value for money when choosing a pension scheme for their staff and that some existing old and high-charging contract and bundled-trust schemes may not be ...
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New generation offshore wind turbines up and running
Energy Minister, Greg Barker, has opened a new extension to the Gunfleet Sands offshore wind farm that will see the first demonstration in UK waters of the next generation of offshore wind turbines. The turbines, made by Siemens and installed by DONG Energy, have been designed specifically to be used at sea and have the potential to significantly cut costs. According to the Minister, many turbines currently installed off the UK coastline are variations on turbines designed ...
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Road freight industry encouraged to benefit from trailer trial
Freight operators are being given another chance to join a 10-year trial enabling them to use longer goods vehicles on UK roads, Transport Minister, Stephen Hammond, announced today. When it was launched in 2012, the Government’s longer semi-trailer trial enabled freight operators to bid for a share of 1,800 vehicle allocations, but so far around 1,250 allocations remain unused. However, this is not a vehicle for all sectors and is reckoned to be most beneficial on journeys ...
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Shale gas development won’t be at expense of climate change
Secretary of State, Edward Davey, today made the case for the exploration of shale gas in the UK, in line with the nation's climate change targets. In a speech to the Royal Society, Mr Davey said that if shale gas could be developed in an economically viable and environmentally friendly way, it would benefit the UK - increasing energy security while providing more jobs and tax revenues. The minister was responding to the findings of a new ...
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Specialist planning court to boost UK business
In a move aimed at supporting the recovery of the UK economy, a specialist planning court has been proposed by Justice Secretary, Chris Grayling, to help ensure crucial development projects don't get mired in unnecessary legal delay. The new “planning chamber” is one of a package of proposals designed to speed up the judicial review process and drive out meritless cases which clog up courts and slow the progress of legitimate applications. The “planning chamber” would see ...
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FSA publishes new plan to tackle campylobacter
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has outlined a new strategy to reduce the number of people getting ill from campylobacter. Campylobacter is the most common cause of food poisoning in the UK, thought to be responsible for about 460,000 cases of food poisoning, 22,000 hospitalisations and 110 deaths each year, and a significant proportion of these cases come from poultry. Reducing cases of campylobacter is the FSA’s top food safety priority but monitoring shows there is no ...
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Farm regulations to be simplified
The Government is proposing to make farm inspections better targeted, so that farmers who consistently demonstrate high standards will be inspected less. In efforts to reduce the burden of regulation, ministers are also proposing to introduce a new IT system for all funding under the Common Agricultural Policy in England by 2015. They are also looking at how to make it easier to move livestock by having the same requirements for all livestock, so that people who farm ...
