BUSINESSNEWS
£10 million boost for SME
energy innovation
British entrepreneurs are set to benefit from
a share of £10million to help bring new
and innovative energy efficient products to
market, Minister of Energy and Climate
Change Greg Barker announced today.
Small and medium size enterprises within
the energy efficiency, building technologies,
power generation and energy storage sectors
are invited to bid for funding of up to
£2million under the Government’s Energy
Entrepreneurs Fund.
BRINGING DOWN THE ENERGY BILLS
Support will be given to state of the art
technologies that could bring down the cost of
consumer bills and reduce carbon emissions,
such as ground source heat pumps, and energy
from waste technologies.
In addition to funding, the winning
companies will also receive advice from
commercial experts on how to attract
investment to bring their products to the
market.
Companies Face Clampdown
On Environmental Crime
Big businesses found guilty of environmental offences could face fines of up to
£3 million when the courts implement tough new sentencing guidelines in July.
New rules, announced by the Sentencing
Council recently, are designed to serve as a
more powerful deterrent to those flouting
regulations covering fly-tipping, waste
handling or disposal and environmental
permitting offences. The guideline also
covers nuisance offenders such as those
whose cause noise, smoke, dust or smells.
Environment law specialists at law firm
Pinsent Masons say the new criteria means
large organisations with a turnover of £50
million and over may be fined up to £3million
for a deliberate ‘category one’ serious
environmental crime. Levels of fines for nondeliberate offences by large organisations will
also increase significantly.
Energy and environment lawyer Ellie
Watson, says: “The new framework encourages
the courts to make use of the highest level of
fines for some of the more serious offences. It
is critical that all of these large organisations
with potential environmental impacts - of
which there will be many given the relatively
low threshold of £50 million - understand the
new structure and review internal processes to
limit any potential exposure to enforcement
action.
‘Penalty regime will be more
stringent but also far more
flexible, giving courts the
ability to impose higher fines’
“From July it will be even more important
for businesses to have in place up-to-date
and effective incident management and
environment response procedures. This
will not only help ensure that incidents do
not occur in the first place but also allow
effective mitigation to be put in place at the
earliest opportunity which can also be taken
into account by the courts in arriving at a
proportionate level of fine. Businesses would
also be well-advised to review the contractual
arrangements that they have in place with any
sub-contractors as part and parcel of such a
precautionary approach.
“The penalty regime will be more stringent
but also far more flexible, giving courts the
ability to impose higher fines deemed to be
proportionate to the company’s turnover.
This brings the need for robust control of
procedures and processes into sharp focus as
regulators will come down much harder on
offenders.”
GROWTH IN JOBS COULD SLOW
Growth in jobs could slow down just as the
recovery takes hold, a survey of over 1,000
employers suggests.
Research by the Chartered Institute of
Personnel and Development shows the rate of
recruitment increase has slowed significantly
and most organisations expect to give pay
awards below the current rate of inflation.
Gerwyn Davies, CIPD’s Labour Market
Adviser, explained: “Employment growth,
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‘Employment intentions
are dipping’
normally a lagging indicator of recovery, seems
to have preceded the stronger signs of growth
we’re now seeing.
“So it is unsurprising that employment
intentions are now dipping just as economic
growth seems to be taking hold, with
employers needing to tackle the productivity
hangover affecting the economy.
“Weak productivity partly explains why
most employers expect to continue awarding
below inflation pay rises for their workforce.
Sustainable increases in real wages can only
be delivered if organisations can boost
productivity, for example through smart
investment in the training, development and
management of their staff.”
APR 2014
89