NEWS All the latest news from around the building industry
Industry figures in Queen’s honours
A number of leading industry figures were recognised in the Queen’s New Year Honours list. Former CIBSE and HVCA
president Graham Manly received the OBE for his long and outstanding service to the building services industry. As well as his dual
presidencies, Manly has also served as chairman of BSRIA – a unique treble. Formerly managing director of AG Manly, he remains a member of the boards at CIBSE and SummitSkills. Manly served as CIBSE president in 2004-05. Tom Foulkes, formerly director
general at the Institution of Civil Engineers, also received an OBE for services to engineering. Mark Bew, a board director
of URS Scott Wilson, received an MBE for services to the construction industry. Bew is a leading figure in the push for wider adoption of building information modelling (BIM). James Wates, chairman of the
Construction Industry Training Board and deputy chairman of Wates, was appointed CBE for services to construction and the charitable sector. Turn to page 16 to read about Graham Manly’s honour
Planned solar tariff cut deemed illegal by court
l The Appeal Court says the ‘retrospective’ cut to feed-in tariffs for solar panels was not provided for by Parliament
The government’s feed-in tariffs (FiTs) policy was thrown into disarray late last month when its attempt to overturn a High Court ruling against the plans was rejected by the Court of Appeal. In December ministers had announced that, from
1 April 2012, the tariff for domestic photovoltaic installations would be cut by more than half to 21p. They said the change would apply to all installations completed on or before 12 December 2011. Following a legal challenge
against the change mounted by the industry, the High Court ruled that the tariff change was unlawful because it would be implemented before the end of a consultation on the plans. But in January the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) applied to appeal against the High Court ruling.
‘This landmark judgement confirms that devastating government plans to rush through cuts to solar payments are illegal’
However, on 25 January the Appeal Court refused
the government permission to appeal. As the Journal went to press, DECC was considering whether to request permission to appeal against this outcome to the Supreme Court. Appeal Court judge Lord Justice Moses said that the
scheme relied upon people getting paid the rate that was in place at the time their solar electricity panels were installed and registered. He concluded that
any effort by the government to change that without forward notice was retrospective. ‘The question, I respectfully suggest, is […] whether Parliament conferred a power to make a modification with such a retrospective effect,’ he said. ‘It did not.’ Just before the Appeal Court decision was announced, DECC had sought to make a concession by announcing that the 1 April change to a lower tariff would apply to installations completed on or before 2 March, rather than the previous December deadline. Renewable Energy Association (REA) chief executive Gaynor Hartnell said: ‘In reality, government is well aware that it would be incredibly unwise to reduce payments to renewable energy producers after they had commissioned their projects, as it knows what immense damage that would do. ‘The government’s action
and the subsequent court case had together thrown the solar industry into a state of extreme
uncertainty, which was most regrettable. We now want to put this behind us as swiftly as possible, and work with government and supporters to secure a larger budget for small scale renewable energy generation.’ Friends of the Earth, which had opposed the cut
in the High Court, said: ‘This landmark judgement confirms that devastating government plans to rush through cuts to solar payments are illegal – and will prevent ministers from causing industry chaos with similar cuts in future.’
6
CIBSE Journal February 2012
www.cibsejournal.com
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