Contents

Training Places Available

Training Plans – Your Help Needed

Citb Be Fair Framework ….

Greener Homes, Growing Economy Conference

Fee for Intervention - HSE

Reminder

Advisory Forum at Exeter Racecourse on30 September 2014

Places still available on the courses above. If the course is full, you can be put on a reserve list in case of a cancellation.

£10 Asbestos Awareness Training8 October 2014 a.m.Bridgwater

£10 Asbestos Awareness Training8 October 2014 p.m.Bridgwater

£15 + VAT Employment Law Workshop with Ashfords

Solicitors in Taunton - 13 November 2014

Training Plans are an essential part of your business enabling you to plan your training and budget the finances for this 12 month period.

As you are all busy people the Group would like to help you with this process by sending you a reminder in sufficient time:

At the end of your plan – to remind you to collate all the information and send the spreadsheet to Andy Chapman.

To remind you to create your new plan for the following 12 month period.

To enable me to do this I do need a copy of your current training plan. Email it to me and I will continually check for you.

Every time you renew your plan I will need the most up to date copy every time.

A copy of your current training plan will also help me to plan your training.

If you need help at any time with your training plan email, telephone or even request a visit from me.

I am here to help you.

This is a citb initiative as you can see. I have pasted the pages from the leaflet for you to view. If you find this difficult to read, just increase the view to 200%. If you want to move each page on to a separate page or into a different word document, just drag and drop. I also have a breakdown of the Framework should any of you be interested. If you would like this emailed, just let me know.

Venue: Somerset College, Taunton

Date and time: Wednesday 1 October, 9.00 - 16.00

Cost: Free (funded by Ready for Retrofit)

Hear from industry experts on lessons learnt and future opportunities in the retrofit sector at this free conference. Network with installers, social landlords and local authorities from the region and help shape the sector’s future.

The ‘Greener Homes, Growing Economy’ conference is the culmination of the Ready for Retrofit programme which stimulated £7m of retrofit capital spend and supported over 500 SMEs from the sector. The conference is an opportunity to hear the lessons learnt from these activities and other national programmes as well as be part of a discussion looking into future growth areas and barriers.

Topics covered:

What can we learn from the Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation? Future policy developments and growth markets The economic benefits of housing retrofit Retrofit in Local Enterprise Strategic Economic Plans What is current research telling us about effective retrofit? How do we make retrofit work at scale?

The conference includes sessions where delegates can take part in discussions on the topics raised. These comments will then be used to help design new programmes and aid government and local authority thinking on future policy.

Speakers include:

Dr Richard Holland, lead technologies, Technology Strategy Board Philip Selwood, chief executive, Energy Saving Trust Merlin Hyman, chief executive, Regen SW David Weatherall, housing strategy manager, Energy Saving Trust Jonathan Davis, principal energy consultant, Midas Energy

More speakers to be announced.

The link below will give you an outline of the programme for the day and the opportunity to book a place if you wish.

http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/greener-homes-growing-economy-tickets-12316931273?aff=es2&rank=2

Report produced on 4 September 2014 regarding the Fee for Intervention – stated as being effective and should remain

This scheme designed to shift the cost of regulating workplace health and safety from the public purse to businesses who break the law has proven effective and should stay, an independent report has concluded.

The report recognised that inspectors at the Health and Safety Executive have implemented ‘Fee for Intervention’ consistently and fairly since it started in October 2012, and found no evidence to suggest that enforcement policy decisions had been influenced in any way by its introduction.

The independent panel which conducted the review was chaired by Alan Harding, professor of public policy at Liverpool University. Other participants were representatives of the GMB trade union, the Federation of Small Businesses and the Department for Work and Pensions.

According to the report’s authors, the professional approach adopted by HSE’s inspectors has ensured any challenges raised by the scheme during its first 18 months were minimised. The evidence suggests the concerns voiced about FFI have not manifested themselves to any significant or serious extent and that ‘generally inspectors and dutyholders continue to work together in improving health and safety management’.

Judith Hackitt, Chair of HSE, said:

“Both HSE and the Government believe it is right that those who fail to meet their legal health and safety obligations should pay our costs, and acceptance of this principle is growing. This review gives us confidence that FFI is working effectively and should be retained. We will continue to monitor the performance of Fee for Intervention to ensure it remains consistent and fair.”

The report, published by HSE, along with associated research papers, concludes that “it [FFI] has proven effective in achieving the overarching policy aim of shifting the cost of health and safety regulation from the public purse to those businesses who break health and safety laws.”

It also concludes that:

Fears that FFI would be used to generate revenue have proven to be unfounded. While not popular with some inspectors and dutyholders, it has been embedded effectively and applied consistently. There is no viable alternative that can achieve the same aims.