News

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has published the findings of its implementation review of Directive 1992/43/EEC, on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, and Directive 2009/147/EC, on the conservation of wild birds. The review of the implementation of those Directives was announced in November 2011 because of concerns that the authorisation process for development proposals often resulted in long delays and costs.

The main objective of the implementation review is to improve the interaction between "top 40" infrastructure projects, and other nationally significant infrastructure projects, and the Directives to reduce this delay and cost whilst making sure that the environmental and economic objectives are fulfilled.

Four key areas were identified in the review as areas where change will improve the implementation of the Directives, namely:

• facilitating nationally significant infrastructure projects;
• improving the implementation process and streamlining guidance;
• improving the quality, quantity and sharing of data;
• improving the customer experience.

In order to address these four key areas, DEFRA will be implementing a package of measures, which includes the establishment of a cross-Government Major Infrastructure and Environment Unit to work at the pre-application stage with the so-called "top 40" infrastructure projects and other nationally significant infrastructure projects.

For more information, see the:

• summary of the measures contained in the Habitats and Wild Birds Implementation Review, available at: http://cedr.ec/by;
• Report of the Habitats and Wild Birds Directives Implementation Review, available at: http://cedr.ec/bz;
• Planning Act 2008.

Cedrec have developed many professional relationships since it first began in 1994. However, their latest association with Eco Campus is definitely one to shout about!

Eco Campus is the leading national Environmental Management System (EMS) and award scheme for the higher and further education sectors. The scheme enables universities to systematically identify, evaluate, manage and improve their environmental performance and practices.

Since 2011, Cedrec have been delivering seminars and workshops organised by Eco Campus, in which they helped guide various universities through the raft of legislation relevant to their campus and supported them in developing their own registers of legislation. As a result of this, Cedrec is now used by Universities nationwide.

Cedrec's latest business relationship built through Eco Campus is with Canterbury Christ Church University, who are currently celebrating their 50th anniversary. Since CCCU first opened its doors they have grown into a five campus University, with 20,000 students, hundreds of courses, and a strong reputation. Cedrec are delighted to be adding another prestigious organisation to the impressive list of clients already using the Cedrec product.

Director, Gareth Billinghurst said, "We are delighted to be working with Eco Campus and since 2011 we have been able to build a number of fantastic business relationships, the latest being with CCCU. We look forward to continuing our association with Eco Campus in the future."

Lion Steel Equipment Ltd, which is only the third company in the UK to be convicted under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 since it's entry into force in 2008, has been fined £480,000 at Manchester Crown Court for one offence of Corporate Manslaughter following the death of an employee caused by senior management failure.

The Cheshire-based storage manufacturer had pleaded guilty to the offence in relation to the death of Steven Berry, 45, who died after falling through a fragile roof panel at a site in Hyde, Cheshire in May 2008.

The fine is payable in four instalments up until 30th September 2015. Lion Steel was also ordered to pay costs of £84,000 and a victim surcharge of £15.

Three of the firm's directors had originally faced charges of gross negligence manslaughter and failing to ensure the health and safety of their employees under section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work etc 1974 when the trial began on 12 June. However, at the close of the prosecution's case on 3 July, the judge ruled that the gross negligence manslaughter charges should not proceed as there was no case to answer, and formal not guilty verdicts were entered on these charges.

Under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007, companies and organisations can be found guilty of corporate manslaughter if the way in which their activities are managed or organised causes a death, and this amounts to a gross breach of a duty of care owed to the victim.

Companies convicted of corporate manslaughter are liable to unlimited fines, and the Sentencing Guidelines Council has stated a fine should "seldom be less than £500,000 and may be measured in millions".

Bruce Springsteen, known as "the Boss" in the music world, was silenced at his Hyde Park concert as it ran on for too long! Organisers made the decision to turn off the microphones as Springsteen had over-run the 10.30pm curfew.

To make things worse, the Boss was in the middle of a duet with a pop Royal, Sir Paul McCartney. The decision to turn off the microphones therefore left tens of thousands of fans disappointed and angry.

However, in the aftermath of the event, a spokesman for Live Nation, the organisers, claimed that the concert was stopped because of health and safety reasons; a claim that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have been quick to dismiss.

The Deputy Chief Executive of the HSE Kevin Myers, who was in attendance at the concert, was disappointed that Health and Safety had once again been used as a scapegoat. In a statement on the HSE website, he said,"As a longstanding Bruce Springsteen fan and one of the crowd at Hard Rock Calling, I was doubly disappointed to hear Live Nation give 'health and safety' as the reason for cutting short Saturday's gig.

The fans deserve the truth: there are no health and safety issues involved here. While public events may have licensing conditions dictating when they should end, this is not health and safety and it is disingenuous of Live Nation to say so."

So, if the boss runs on for too long, don't be tempted to pull the plug on the microphones, at least not in the name of health and safety.

We're feeling our age a bit at Cedrec Towers, but celebrating the fact that 2012 will mark our 18th anniversary of legislation made simple!

Back on 24 May 1994, Cedrec Environmental was born in a tiny office in the centre of Sunderland. Offering summaries of legislation. For England and Wales. On floppy disk.

Fast forward 18 years and things have moved on considerably. A Full Text CD version followed, along with legislation for Scotland and Northern Ireland. We expanded to cover health and safety and most recently to an online system. Our ethos has always remained the same - we make legislation simple.

We have grown from a team of only two members and we have created jobs in finance, marketing, health, safety, environment and legal writing and have even taken part in recruitment through apprenticeship schemes.

To celebrate our 18th birthday for the first of our promotions we'll be offering those customers who are considering signing up to Cedrec an 18 day no obligation free trial of the full product!

Try it here.

Some of the Cedrec Team who support you: From left to right: Steven Pearson, Amber Dennis, Steven Armstrong, Gareth Billinghurst, Neil Howe, Julie Greathead, Julia Bradley, Erin Shaw, Dainee Brown, Leanne Burke, and Mark Robinson.

Following on from Mary "the Queen of shops" Portas' review of high streets in May, the Government has announced plans to try and revitalise the UKs high streets.

It is thought that over 11% of high street shops are empty in the UK, with high rents and rates being dubbed as a hurdle to shopkeepers.

As a result of Mary Portas' review, the Government is going to make it easier for people to rent empty premises and set-up temporary businesses. In addition, retailers will have up to two years to apply for planning permission instead of having to submit one immediately.

For more information, see the:

• Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order SI 2010/2184;
• Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (Wales) Order SI 2012/801.