Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water’s Post

We ❤️ working with municipal governments and educational orgs! Why? Because we get immense satisfaction from delivering value to our customers, and these organizations can see a real uplift from a small investment of our time. Our partnership with hard-working individuals trying to make a difference in their city or school is something we take great pride in. Do you feel like you have a solid direction for your IT? Are you getting value for the IT services you are currently paying for? Our IT Strategy and Assessment will help you make sense of your disparate IT services, modernize where it makes sense, and pull it all together into a comprehensive IT Master Plan and Budget. Check out our recent case study where we saved a small city government 40% on their IT spend! https://lnkd.in/giCB7KaB #McLeanForrester #ITStrategy #municipalIT

The Queensland Government has unveiled the Queensland Small Business Strategy 2024–27, designed to strengthen and diversify our small business sector, drive economic growth, and create new job opportunities. The three-year strategy focuses on: - lowering operating costs for small business - boosting opportunities for small business - building business resilience, capability and workforce, and - growing diversity. Discover more about the strategy and how it can benefit your business at https://lnkd.in/gCaxfUmb #QldSmallBusinessStrategy #PoweringSmallBusiness Image credit: Department of Employment, Small Business and Training

With the announcement of the #generalelection, our FMB manifesto sets out what we believe all parties need to prioritise to deliver Growth from the Ground Up 📈 in construction: ✅Housing ✅Skills ✅Energy efficiency ✅Standards ✅Business resilience https://lnkd.in/gWaNgVpc

Top stories today 📰 Weekend press round-up: Ministers willing to let bills rise to keep Thames afloat https://buff.ly/43Krv6o Ministers are willing to let bills rise to keep Thames Water afloat as it seeks billions of pounds of fresh investment to fund a turnaround. The ailing company featured heavily in the weekend papers, which also reported that Thames has hired experts at Teneo, the advisory firm that managed the collapse of Bulb Energy, to help it avoid a similar fate. The news came after several rowers in the losing Oxford team were struck down with E Coli in the lead up to Saturday’s boat race on the River Thames. 💷 Ofwat promises PR24 will be ‘more generous’ to investors https://buff.ly/4aACbX7 The Ofwat director in charge of assessing water company business plans has reassured the sector that the next price control (PR24) will be “more generous to investors than PR19”. Chris Walters insisted to Utility Week that the regulator would “err on the side of investibility” when it comes to assessing company plans and that the concerns of private equity backers had come through loud and clear. 💧 Thames CEO: Shareholder U-turn does not mean special administration https://buff.ly/49jzRTw Thames Water’s chief executive has played down fears that the firm could be put into special administration after its shareholders withdrew a promised £500 million cash injection due for the end of this month. Speaking after the announcement that shareholders had ruled Thames’ business plan “uninvestable”, chief executive Chris Weston said discussions of special administration remained “in the land of hypothetical outcomes”. ⚡ Former regulator renews call for negotiated network price controls https://buff.ly/4ajmm7w The former head of one of Ofgem's predecessors has repeated his call for network price controls to be negotiated between companies and the customer and challenge groups already set up to scrutinise their business plans. Stephen Littlechild, who led the Office for Electricity Regulation during the 1990s, said this could be an ongoing process, enabling adjustments to be made throughout price control periods.

2024 FM Challenges - Economic Uncertainty - Value and Impact (property values, rental income, occupancy rates) - Operational Costs (labour, supply chain, lead-times, energy) - Investment Decisions (inc. capex) - Workplace Trends - Social Responsibility - Sustainability - Regulations - Government Policy (economic policy, tax incentives, sustainability regulations)

A lot of local government life involves planning but the great separates from the good through careful, collaborative, mission-based, Board-led and staff-effectuated 🔨 implementation 🔨of said plans. Today #TeamLivCo will discuss our legislative agenda (plan) and strategic plan and we are nearly set with our 5-year Capital Improvement Plan. The products of these efforts show up in our innovative and award-winning service provision. #puttingplansintoaction

In the midst of all last week's report excitement, I missed this - sorry David Blackman! Fascinating analysis of DLUHC's proposed 'Accelerated Planning Service' which is currently out for consultation*, featuring Ian Fletcher of the British Property Federation, Lawrence Turner, Peter Canavan MRTPI, Kathryn Hampton, some local authority planners who, understandably, don't want to be named, and me. General consensus: Could be a good idea, if LPAs were properly resourced. But in the current circumstances - you need to get the resourcing right *first* or this could all go quite badly wrong. *consultation closes on May 1st, so there is still time to get involved. https://lnkd.in/eJz_n6Mz

Future Proofing Fund Opens for Eligibility Checks https://ift.tt/jgULdce Businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors can now check if they are eligible for funding to help them reduce their running costs. Grants of between £5,000 and £10,000 will be available through the Welsh Government’s Future Proofing Fund to help micro, small and medium-sized businesses to invest in renewable energy technology, carry out improvements to the fabric of business premises, and upgrades to systems or machinery to reduce energy use. To apply for the funding, the business must: be located in Wales and employ people in Wales; employ between 1 and 249 people; have been trading since before 1 April 2023; operate from a property with a rateable value between £6,001 and £51,000; and either own or are leasing the business premises on a minimum 3-year lease that extends beyond 1 April 2026. Businesses are being invited to check if they are eligible for the funding now, before the applications open in May 2024. Eligibility can be checked by visiting: https://lnkd.in/eUhz_MSF The post Future Proofing Fund Opens for Eligibility Checks appeared first on Business News Wales. Wales sources via Business News Wales https://ift.tt/VdfZ46x April 18, 2024 at 02:10PM

Great to have contributed to this report addressing the public's role in the transition to net zero, particularly on the importance of demystifying net zero information in order to drive decarbonisation. The challenge of behavioural change will not be solved until making the green choice is the clearest and most accessible option for all.

Countries allocate a significant part of their budget to investments in public infrastructure which should be managed to safeguard spending, strengthen efficiency and ensure value for money. CoST does this through its approach, tools and standards that facilitate data disclosure, stakeholder engagement and scrutiny throughout the budgeting process and across relevant actors. https://bit.ly/3v5aWlp