The  CITB has been dragged into a legal case against the Government over its levy raising powers. Stephen Radley, Director of Policy & Strategic Planning at CITB said: “A claim for a judicial review against the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills with CITB as an Interested Party was served in June 2015, regarding the Levy Order. “To avoid prejudicing the outcome of the legal process, we are unable to comment further. “While the review proceeds, the Levy and Grant system will continue to operate as usual.” The department for Business Innovation and Skills declined to comment while the case was ongoing. The CITB is facing an uncertain future following Government plans to revamp the way employers pay for training. A planned levy on all large employers to fund training from April 2017 could spell the end for the current CITB system and the proposals are currently out to consultation with the industry. The CITB’s annual report also revealed that staff numbers are still rising at the training body with 1,457 people employed at the organisation in 2014 compared to 1,438 the previous year. The CITB is currently spending £5m of levy cash on a construction careers campaign fronted by fashion designer Wayne Hemingway.

The UK’s energy system loses over half of its generated power from source to end user at a cost of £9.5 billion a year, making it one of the least efficient grids in Europe. The new findings come amid growing calls for the government to address the UK’s ‘energy productivity’ as a more cost-effective way of tackling the energy trilemma of supply, cost and decarbonisation. Although some energy waste is inevitable, the research – led by the Association for Decentralised Energy (ADE) – found that £3 billion of energy could be saved if action is taken, which could cut consumer electricity bills by £116 per year. ADE chief executive Tim Rotheray has urged the government to focus on how it can support investment in cutting energy waste, saying the unnecessary impact on consumer bills is a “national embarrassment”. “Wasted energy reduces our productivity, undermines efforts to create a competitive economy on a global level and causes unnecessary emissions. It does not have to be this way,” he said. Addressing energy waste would require a fresh approach to power generation, transmission and distribution, and energy efficiency in homes and businesses, according to the report. Recovering heat from power stations could save £2 billion a year alone, but currently only 10 per cent of power plants do so. And in terms of network efficiency the UK lags behind competing European economies including Germany and Denmark. While the UK loses almost 8 per cent of its energy through transmission and distribution Denmark loses just over 7 per cent and Germany loses just 3.9 per cent. “If UK transmission and distribution losses were equivalent to those in Germany, the best in Europe, energy users would save £605 million a year, the equivalent of £23 per household,” the report said. The UK’s regulated networks are required to reduce losses by Ofgem which can reward network companies by up to £32 million over the next five years. But the report notes that the UK’s capacity market is funded by almost £1 billion, dwarfing the government’s efforts to tackle energy waste. The government should also show greater ambition in driving energy efficiency in business. Only a third of spending targets business despite government’s own estimates showing that policy support for business and public sector energy use could be cost effectively reduced by 9TWh annually between 2012 and 2020, saving these customers more than £570 million in energy costs, in addition to carbon and competitiveness benefits. Manufacturing association EEF policy director Paul Raynes said “the sinful waste of energy” is laying an unfair surcharge on British firms and consumer. “We should prioritise opportunities to cut carbon emissions in ways that don’t hurt consumers or competitiveness,” he said.

The National Energy Foundation launches its Energy Envoys volunteering opportunity to 300,000 young people as part of the world-famous Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE). The Energy Envoys scheme, created by the National Energy Foundation and supported and endorsed by the UK’s leading professional engineering institutions, is a major new environmental volunteering scheme for young people to help schools and communities use energy more wisely, save money and reduce carbon emissions. Young people across the UK who are working towards their Bronze, Silver or Gold DofE now have the opportunity to volunteer as an Energy Envoy to complete the Volunteering section of their Award. In its first year, the National Energy Foundation expects to support up to 1,000 Energy Envoys delivering between 13,000 and 78,000 hours of volunteering nationwide. Eventually, with a rolling registration of more than 300,000 participants and operating through more than 12,700 centres across the UK, The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award provides huge potential for developing a nationwide network of Energy Envoys. The official launch of the Energy Envoys scheme was held at Denbigh School in Milton Keynes on Wednesday 30 September, before an audience of local dignitaries, energy efficiency leaders, sponsors and supporters of the project, as well as students, parents and teachers from the school. The audience included the Mayor of Milton Keynes (Cllr Keith McLean), Iain Stewart MP and representatives from The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. Andrew Wordsworth, the recently-announced ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ at the Business Green Leaders 2015 Awards, gave a motivational speech, as did Francesca Skelton, the High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, who urged students to get involved in this innovative community energy action scheme. Dr Kerry Mashford, Chief Executive of the National Energy Foundation, commented: “The Energy Envoys scheme is designed to inspire young people across the UK to learn more about energy, to channel their enthusiasm into valuable contributions to society, and to use the experience to develop their own personal skills and prospects. It’s a real honour to have this programme approved by the world-famous Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. “The first Energy Envoys are true environmental pioneers, and will deliver tangible benefits in their communities – saving energy, money and carbon emissions – whilst improving the comfort of homes and community buildings. “The scheme will also introduce young people to the many interesting and diverse opportunities for careers in the built environment and energy efficiency sectors. We also believe it will help to create a more energy literate society for the future, as the young people carry a better understanding of energy efficiency and energy use into their adult lives, whatever career path they choose. “I’m sure Energy Envoys will be a great success and we’re looking forward to helping the volunteers make a significant impact within their communities.” Andy Squires, Headteacher at Denbigh School, added: “As an outstanding school, we constantly seek opportunities to expand pupils’ learning and widen their experiences both inside and outside the classroom. We are very proud to have been chosen as the school to launch this nationwide scheme and to be working with the National Energy Foundation in partnership with The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. “The Energy Envoys scheme provides an exciting challenge for our young learners to develop their passion and understanding for changing the way we view and use energy, as well as ideally placing our pupils to inspire others to learn more about energy.” Young people who volunteer as Energy Envoys will receive an initial energy tutorial and information and advice on setting up energy-related projects via a dedicated website developed by the National Energy Foundation. Volunteers will also be supported by experts from the Foundation as they carry out their projects, and they will be encouraged to share their learning and stories with their communities. In addition, the Foundation will provide opportunities for participants to share their successes and learning through the website, events and the wider media, as well as adding to a body of learning and experiences for future years’ participants to access. Young people can sign up to participate in the Energy Envoys scheme at the Energy Envoys website. For further information on this press release, please contact: David Dean, Communications Manager david.dean@nef.org.uk 01908 256919 The National Energy Foundation is an independent, national charity which has been at the forefront of improving the use of energy in buildings for more than 25 years. We aim to give individuals, organisations, communities and government the knowledge, support and inspiration they need to understand and improve the use of energy in buildings. We do this through: Delivering practical projects – using our experience and technical expertise. Inspiring action – providing building owners and occupiers with the encouragement, advice and real-life examples to achieve better performing buildings. Advancing knowledge – supporting collaboration to drive forward the frontiers of knowledge, innovation and practice. Identifying and addressing market failures using evidence, analysis and ideas.   Everything we do, we do to achieve this aim.

The gas distribution networks (GDNs) will be given an additional £17.6 million expenditure allowance to deliver 18 per cent more fuel-poor connections during the current price control. Ofgem said it will allow the companies the additional expenditure, but as the scheme is self-financing, insisted this will have a neutral impact on wider customer bills. GDNs will now connect more than 90,000 fuel-poor customers to the gas grid by 2021 during RIIO-GD1, the regulator said. The changes to the fuel-poor network extension scheme follow a 13-month review by the regulator, which included a request that the GDNs resubmit their business plans for fuel-poor, and identify ways of increasing the number of households that could be connected. The scheme helps fuel poor and vulnerable households to switch to natural gas by helping towards the cost of connecting to the gas network, where this is the best solution for the eligible household. The companies collectively identified 13,753 eligible households on top of the 77,450 target connections identified in their original business plans at the outset of the current price control. Ofgem senior partner Maxine Frerk said the regulator wants network companies to continue to work more closely with suppliers and fuel poverty groups on improvements works, such as new boilers, radiators and internal pipework, to “ensure consumers get the full benefit from the new connections provided by the scheme”.

SeaPlanner has been selected by E.ON to help manage the operations and maintenance (O&M) phase of the Humber Gateway offshore wind farm through its software system. The SeaPlanner software has been used on the project since April 2013, providing personnel and operations management during the construction phase. This first-hand experience of the Humber Gateway project, combined with SeaPlanner’s extensive industry knowledge that has built up over 8 years in offshore renewables, provided E.ON with the ideal solution for managing the operations and maintenance of the project located off the Holderness coast. SeaPlanner will be providing E.ON’s O&M team with a complete management and monitoring solution, which includes personnel and vessel tracking, certification management and also the latest feature of the software, Induction Manager – which helps minimise cost and administration time for inducting personnel and contractors. Katie Wright, Maintenance Coordinator at E.ON’s Humber Gateway Wind Farm, commented: “SeaPlanner has helped us maintain both safety and efficiency. We’ve been impressed with its capabilities and believe it to be a cost-effective solution, making it the preferred choice for the generation phase of Humber Gateway.” This new contract extends SeaPlanner’s presence on E.ON’s sites, having previously been successful under a framework for Humber construction, Amrumbank and Arkona offshore wind farms, E.ON is also currently using the SeaPlanner Spatial database and SeaRoc GIS services at its Robin Rigg and Scroby Sands offshore wind farms – monitoring seabed movements and facilitating data management with the sites OFTOs. Humber Gateway adds to SeaPlanner’s extensive portfolio of O&M projects which include Thanet, Kentish Flats, Teesside and Dan Tysk offshore wind farms.