Government home energy ‘dithering’ could damage UK housing industry

Plans were supposed to be launched in April but have been delayed until the autumn

Experts have warned that delays to schemes to make new homes in the UK more energy efficient could damage the housing industry in the long run.

A timetable was drawn up to make sure all new homes were ‘zero-carbon’ by 2016, with an ‘uplift’ to current energy efficient was due to be introduced in April. However, those proposals have been delayed until the autumn, leaving workers in the construction industry in the dark over new housing projects. Many companies fear that money used to purchase new equipment and training will be wasted if the government doesn’t confirm its intentions and stick to its home energy efficiency targets.

Housing experts fear Government delays in home energy proposals are damaging the industry

(Image source - Telegraph)

Andrew Warren, director of the Association for the Conservation of Energy said companies and investors were growing increasingly concerned about the silence from government. "Companies have been going to the City to get investment, to enable them to meet the targets, do the training they need and create jobs, and they were doing so based on the timetable set out. If it doesn't happen on time, companies are vulnerable," he said. "This is the real world and I'm getting bored of explaining this to ministers. Business will waste time and money unless government delivers."

This lack of clarity and silence from the Government over the 2016 target, despite still official being dedicated to achieving it, is preventing the construction of new homes, as well as putting off new potential investors in the UK housing industry. A spokesman for the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) said the government's timetable had always been to publish the regulations in spring and introduce them in the autumn, but industry experts said the original timetable had been an April introduction.

Nuclear industry in crisis?

Court action follows critical Commons report on plant 

A Commons committee has released a report criticising the management of Sellafield nuclear plant in Cumbria, just days before court action is due to start against the plant for illegal dumping of waste, in a week that could be devastating the reputation of the nuclear industry.

The report claims that Nuclear Management Partners (NMP), the private consortium that manages Sellafield, has failed in its task to reduce the rising costs and delays in dealing with waste and decommissioning facilities. The report points out that, out of the 14 major projects at Sellafield, 12 were behind schedule, five were over-budget and only two were actually running properly, despite the NMP being given £54m to cover fees.

The plant in Cumbria is facing claims of poor management and illegal dumping of waste

(Image source - www.visitcumbria.com)

Margret Hodge MP, chair of the committee, said ‘Taxpayers are not getting a good deal from the arrangement with Nuclear Management Partners. Furthermore, now that Cumbria county council has ruled out West Cumbria as the site of the proposed geological disposal facility, a solution to the problem of long-term storage of the waste is as far away as ever’.

The report, Nuclear Decommissioning Authority: Managing Risk at Sellafield, points out that about £1.6bn is being spent annually at the site, where a variety of hazardous materials, including 82 tonnes of plutonium, are kept. The total lifetime cost of dealing with this has continued to rise each year and has now reached £67.5bn.

The management at Sellafield will face further criticism when it appears in court this week facing nine charges relating to claims that four bags containing radioactive material were dumped in a landfill at Lillyhall without permission.