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Green Building Bible, Fourth Edition
Green Building Bible, fourth edition (both books)
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Politics: Cash grab by Government from microgeneration installers

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  1.  
    • CommentAuthordragonbc
    • CommentTimeApr 18th 2007 edited
     
    The present Government has come up with another method of extracting money . At present installers registered to install Micro generation projects for the Low Carbon Building Scheme ( a scheme which gives out grants to consumers to encourage the installation of products such as Solar Thermal and Biomass Heating ) pay nothing to become registered. From April 2007 the suggested cost of joining the new scheme ( the Clear Skies registration scheme finishes 31st March 2007) £1800 per microgeneration technology . I would have to pay out £3600 to be registered for SolarThemal and Biomass installations. As a sole trader this represents a very large sum.
    I have already done and paid for my training and registration with HETAS as a solid fuel installer why is it necessary to double up on the inspection and end up having to pay two sets of fees?

    Why is the fee set so high? I am CORGI registered and they inspect annually and have the ACS assessments every five years ( Cost approx £ 900 for the ACS ) plus annual fee of approx £180
    Is this a TAX on small businesses ? Or do the Government want to ensure that small businesses are unable to take part in the scheme?

    It is ironic that £1800 is required to register for a grant system which runs out of money a few hours or minutes after the tranche for the month is released and then the amount available is very small compared to say Ireland where the grant for a Biomass boiler is 4200 Euros and there the Irish Government have set aside 65million Euros for their low carbon scheme !
    •  
      CommentAuthorfostertom
    • CommentTimeApr 18th 2007
     
    It's a very tired and confused government.
    • CommentAuthorbiffvernon
    • CommentTimeApr 18th 2007 edited
     
    dragonbc, I suggest you post that as a comment on this thread:
    http://www.davidmiliband.defra.gov.uk/blogs/ministerial_blog/archive/2007/04/12/6963.aspx
    on David Miliband's blog. I think he is intelligent enough to realize the madness.
  4.  
    I know how you feel dragonbc. I have recently been hit by the licencing fees for houses in multiple occupation, a sore point amongst landlords. We all have to pay it regardless of whether we provide good standard accomodation or are letting a slum. Thing is the slum landlords don't bother getting a license and the councils are so busy cashing cheques off the rest of us they haven't had time to try and chase them yet. We can't work out how some councils are charging £1800 for a 5 year license per property when others are providing them for free??? What has this achieved? Landlords selling up and getting out of the industry, so less single room accomodation and higher prices. Nice one HMG.

    I don't much care for these accreditation and regulation schemes. They are just a load of red tape to administer and always seem to lead to higher prices for the consumer. For example, why can ZEDFactory offer renewables without a grant cheaper than going through registered installers and claiming the grant? Could it be that they are having to fork out for registration fees to pay for layers of unproductive bureaucracy in Whitehall? It is all just another excuse for the State to control more and more of our affairs. What is wrong with caveat emptor? Why can't people be left to exercise their own judgement and learn from their mistakes?

    Feel better for getting that off my chest...

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