Consultants cash in and dine out on green tax gravy train

Since the launch of the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC), on the 1st of April, publicly very little has proactively happened with the initiative. As the next stage of the CRC is set to begin in September, it is time to reflect on the last three months and what may happen for the rest of the year.

In light of the economics gurus predictions of a possible double dip recession, the imposition of a tax, which will levy an average £38,000 on as many as 4,000 organisations, will put even more unwanted pressure on both the private and public sectors.

According to James Kirkup, political editor at The Daily Telegraph and yesterdays front page story - the CRC, created and implemented by the former Labour government is: “Complex and bureaucratic”.

Daniel Lowe, owner and managing director of leading independent data centre specialist UKSolutions has been critical of the initiative since January and its first airing at the House of Commons: “Essentially the initiative to make UK businesses more sustainable is a good and necessary move, the use of technology to drive this change is unlikely to be a Panacea, but it is reasonable to think it can play a serious role. Only by embracing the idea that technology will use power can this be realised, and therein lies the contradiction of the CRC.”

Daniel has been joined by businessmen from across a variety of sectors who are criticising and calling into question the legitimacy of the whole initiative. Hugh Conway, the chairman of the electricity group of the Major Energy Users Council commented: “It is very bureaucratic, and I’m not sure it is going to work.” And one anonymous businessman went so far as to say that: “The whole process has become a gravy train for consultants.”

“It seems that many companies not just in the in the IT industry have still yet to commit to registration and we may well find that with the sustained criticism from business leaders across the country, especially in the current climate of huge budget cuts, the CRC may simply disappear into the pantheon of unfulfilled Labour initiatives.” Concluded Daniel Lowe.