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Employees are entitled to a minimum floor of rights, and to rights of voice through collective bargaining or occasionally votes at work in their enterprise. Third, competition law, which is closely coordinated with EU law aims to protect consumers' and the public interest in choice in markets, particularly where enterp... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Companies Act 2006 ss 21, 112, 168 and 284, company constitutions, amendment, voting rights and removal of directors Model Articles, Sch 3, paras 3 and 34, model articles for public companies Companies Act 2006 ss 170–177, 260–263 and 419 (directors’ duties, derivative claims, report) Pensions Act 2004 ss 241–243, righ... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Autoclenz Ltd v Belcher UKSC 41, minimum wage and working time claims Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 ss 179, 219, 224, 244 (collective agreements not legally binding, immunity from damages for collective action in contemplation or furtherance of a trade dispute, no secondary action, meaning ... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
TFEU arts 101 and 102 Competition Act 1998 ss 2–3, 18–19 and Sch 3, prohibition of abuse of a dominant position and collusion TFEU arts 106(2) and 345, state aid and neutrality to public ownership Albany International BV v Stichting Bedrijfspensioenfonds Textielindustrie (1999) C-67/96 Public procurement State aid Cons... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Insolvency Act 1986 ss 175-176A and Sch 6, preferential rights in insolvency for employees and pensions Re Spectrum Plus Ltd UKHL 41, interpretation of a ‘floating charge’ Insolvency Act 1986 Sch B1, paras 3, 14, 22 and 36, governance in administering insolvent companies | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
While many sectors of the economy function under general rules of enterprises alone, specific enterprise laws developed where "free markets" were seen as inadequate to protect consumer or public interests. In enterprises that concerned central social and economic rights, were "network" or "natural monopolies", for "pub... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
The Universal Declaration, the International Bill of Human Rights and the European Social Charter say that "everyone" has the right to education, and that primary, secondary and higher education should be made "free", in particular "by reducing or abolishing any fees or charges" and "granting financial assistance". His... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Although the evidence suggests that fees deter and disadvantage poorer people, university fees were raised to £9250 a year from 2017 in England and Wales. Scotland remained tuition free. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
University and school finance and governance remains a patchwork system across the UK, without any coherent approach. Universities have three main sources of finance. First, universities may generate income through endowment trust funds, accumulated over generations of donations and investment. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Second, under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 there are funding councils paid for through general taxation for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. For England and Wales, the Secretary of State appoints twelve to fifteen members and the chair, of which six to nine should be academics and the remaind... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Further, there are seven research councils (AHRC, ESRC, MRC, etc.) which distribute funds after peer review of applications by academics conducting research. Third, and most controversially, most funding comes from charging students fees. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
After the Second World War, tuition fees in the UK were effectively abolished and local authorities paid maintenance grants. The Education Act 1962 formally required this position for all UK residents, and this continued through the expansion of university places recommended by the Robbins Report of 1963. However, over... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Further, appointed in 1996, the Dearing Report argued for the introduction of tuition fees because it said graduates had "improved employment prospects and pay." Instead of funding university through progressive tax, the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998 permitted £1,000 fees for home students. In England, this ro... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
In 2017, the limit on fees was £9,250 for students in England, £9,000 in Wales, and £3,805 in Northern Ireland. Until "Brexit", the same rates applied for EU students, who could be discriminated against under EU law, but after 2020 EU students were charged at international fee rates. By contrast, the Scottish governmen... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
For English universities, the Higher Education Act 2004 enables the Secretary of State to set fee limits, while universities are meant to ensure "fair access" by drafting a "plan" for "equality of opportunity". There is no limit on international students fees, which are often double or triple home student fee rates, an... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Means-tested grants were also available, but abolished for students who began university after August 2016. Students typically qualify for loans (or previously grants) if they have been resident for three years in the UK. As the UK is in a minority of countries to still charge tuition fees, increasing demands have been... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Governance of universities is set by each university's constitution, typically deriving from an Act of Parliament, a royal charter or an Order in Council issued by the Privy Council. The most progressive models support a high degree of voice for staff and students. Reforms were first put into law after the Oxford Unive... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
For example, since the Cambridge University Act 1856 set its rules in law, Cambridge University's statutes require that its Regent House (mostly full-time university members) elects its governing body, the 23 member council. Four members are elected by heads of colleges, four by professors and readers, eight by other a... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
This says that university governing bodies with constitutions issued by the Privy Council should have between 12 and 24 members, with up to thirteen lay members, up to two teachers, up to two students, and between one and nine members co-opted by the others. Universities are subject to both judicial review and students... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
The Court of Appeal held that her application for both breach of contract and judicial review should not be struck out because there could be a good case to hear, so long as it did seek to overturn "issues of academic or pastoral judgment" where "any judgment of the courts would be jejune and inappropriate". However, t... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
In Buckland v Bournemouth University, where the university management interfered with the academic assessment of student grades, this founded a right for a professor to claim he was constructively and unfairly dismissed. All access to education must be free from unlawful discrimination under the Equality Act 2010. Scho... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Like education, there is a universal right to "health and well-being" including "medical care and necessary social services". The National Health Service, founded in 1946, has consistently been seen as one of the most important aspects of the UK's constitution, and goes considerably beyond international human rights st... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
The UK has among the world's highest life expectancy (82.8 years in 2015), but spends a relatively low amount of money on its service (9.7 per cent of GDP in 2016). Since the Health and Social Care Act 2012 changed its governance, health care expenditure rose dramatically without visible health gains. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
The National Health Service is funded directly by the UK Treasury from general taxation, which requires no citizen to buy insurance, or pay upfront costs (except for capped, and means tested prescription charges for medicines, dental and optical service in England. Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland scrapped prescript... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Health care is a devolved matter, but each country of the UK organised its health system following the model in the proposals of the landmark Beveridge Report of 1942. The Beveridge model of health provision, common to countries like Denmark, Sweden or Greece, removed the requirement of contributions by workers under t... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
As the UK government bears the cost of health care, and the potential to profit from people being ill is eliminated, the government has a strong incentive to improve public health with measures like the Public Health Act 1961, the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, or the Environmental Protection Act 1990. National He... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
First, and originally, the NHS Act 1946 created a system of 14 regional hospital boards that would pay for staff, buildings and equipment at hospitals, and gave grants to local health authorities in each council which ran health centres overseen by "executive councils". The Minister of Health (with Whitehall civil serv... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Second, from the NHS and Community Care Act 1990 health authorities had to predict and account for their spending, and contract for their purchases of medical services from NHS trusts, which would compete among one another to sell health services. This did not yet mean that private companies could also compete, althoug... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
The executive or department oversaw strategic health authorities (28 reduced to 10), and primary care trusts (303 reduced to 101) which provided health services, and bought or "commissioned" "secondary care" health services (e.g. from a specialist doctor). From 2003, NHS foundation trusts were created, which could borr... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
A trust's constitution is free to enable residents, employees or patients to vote, although the law does not fix rules. Third, instead of enabling NHS Foundation Trusts to take purchasing in-house, the Health and Social Care Act 2012 set up around 200 clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to replace primary care trusts.... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
According to the HSCA 2012, a clinical commissioning group is a "body corporate" that should buy services, with members who can set pay for themselves. A CCG must include at least six members (many came from abolished primary care trusts, general practitioners or private business), with one person qualified in accounti... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
In theory, clinical commissioning groups are meant not to discriminate, seek the best "value for money" and avoid conflicts of interest when buying services. However, the enforcement of the prohibition on conflicts of interest requires costly judicial review, while derivative claims by patients or staff are excluded wi... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
The Care Quality Commission and a subordinate Healthwatch England network is meant to inspect and maintain standards. Although rights to vote are lacking, patients have some rights to bring claims in court over levels of service. First, the Secretary of State for Health is meant to improve the "physical and mental heal... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
These duties, however, are difficult to enforce in practice because the courts give wide discretion to ministers in judicial review. Second, it is possible to sue in tort for medical negligence if operations go wrong. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
This is controversial because (unlike New Zealand's Accident Compensation Corporation) claims require litigation, and substantial sums of money go to lawyers, instead of the person who is harmed and withdraws resources for other NHS patients. Third, challenges can be brought over the refusal to provide treatment, altho... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
For instance, in R (B) v Cambridge Health Authority parents claimed their 11-year-old girl should receive a second bone marrow transplant for myeloid leukemia, even though doctors said success was 20% likely and would cause "considerable suffering". Although Laws J held that refusal was inadequate, Sir Thomas Bingham M... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
By contrast in R (Coughlan) v North and East Devon HA Mrs Coughlan successfully claimed to remain at the "Mardon House" care home after an accident left her tetraplegic and she was promised it was a "home for life". Lord Woolf MR held in judicial review that the promise generated a "legitimate expectation" that was "eq... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
This drug was yet not approved by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, but simply stating Rogers' case was not "exceptional" (as other people were refused the drug) was not a reason in itself, and its decision was therefore irrational. Within the European Union, British residents also have the right t... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
But these rights to move for health and be reimbursed by the NHS may be removed if the UK leaves the EU and the single market. No charges can be applied by the NHS to people who are "ordinarily resident" in the UK, although controversially the Conservative government introduced a "duty" on hospitals and health services... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Another issue of migration, is that a deportation of an illegal migrant is very unlikely to be delayed by ill-health. In N v United Kingdom, the European Court of Human Rights held that a citizen of Uganda had no right under ECHR article 3 to delay deportation, even though health treatment for HIV/AIDS was highly unlik... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
UK banking has two main parts. First, the Bank of England administers monetary policy, influencing interest rates, inflation and employment, and it regulates the banking market with HM Treasury, the Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority. Second, there are private banks, and some non-shareholde... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Every day, banks estimate the prospects of a borrower succeeding or failing, and set interest rates for debt repayments according to their predictions of the risk (or average risk of ventures like it). If all banks together lend more money, this means enterprises will do more, potentially employ more people, and if bus... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Although UK banks, except the Bank of England, are shareholder or mutually owned, many countries operate public retail banks (for consumers) and public investment banks (for business). The UK used to run Girobank for consumers, and there have been many proposals for a "British Investment Bank" (like the Nordic Investme... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
It was originally established as a corporation with private shareholders under the Bank of England Act 1694, to raise money for war with Louis XIV, King of France. After the South Sea Company collapsed in a speculative bubble in 1720, the Bank of England became the dominant financial institution, and acted as a banker ... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
It also acted as a lender through the 19th century in emergencies to finance banks facing collapse. Because of its power, many believed the Bank of England should have more public duties and supervision. The Bank of England Act 1946 nationalised it. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Its current constitution, and guarantees of a degree of operational independence from government, is found in the Bank of England Act 1998. Under section 1, the bank's executive body, the court of directors is "appointed by Her Majesty", which in effect is the prime minister. This includes the governor of the Bank of E... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
The governor may serve for a maximum of eight years, deputy governors for a maximum of ten years, but they may be removed only if they acquire a political position, begin to work for the bank, are absent for over three months, become bankrupt, or "is unable or unfit to discharge his functions as a member". This makes r... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
A sub-committee of directors sets pay for all directors, rather than a non-conflicted body like Parliament. The Bank's most important function is administering monetary policy. Under the Bank of England Act 1998 section 11 its objectives are to (a) "maintain price stability, and (b) subject to that, to support the econ... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Under section 12, HM Treasury issues its interpretation of "price stability" and "economic policy" each year, together with an inflation target. To change inflation, the Bank of England has three main policy options. First, it performs "open market operations", buying and selling banks' bonds at differing rates (i.e. l... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
This will affect the interest rate banks charge by influencing the quantity of money in the economy (more spending by the central bank means more money, and so lower interest) but also may not. Second, the Bank of England may direct banks to keep different higher or lower reserves proportionate to their lending. Third,... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
The Treasury is, however, only meant to give orders to the Bank of England in "extreme economic circumstances". This should ensure that changes to monetary policy are undertaken neutrally, and artificial booms are not manufactured before an election. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Outside the central bank, banks are mostly run as profit-making corporations, without meaningful representation for customers. This means, the standard rules in the Companies Act 2006 apply. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Directors are usually appointed by existing directors in the nomination committee, unless the members of a company (invariably shareholders) remove them by majority vote. Bank directors largely set their own pay, delegating the task to a remuneration committee of the board. Most shareholders are asset managers, exercis... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Asset managers rarely sue for breach of directors' duties (for negligence or conflicts of interest), through derivative claims. However, there is some public oversight through the bank licensing system. Under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 section 19 there is a "general prohibition" on performing a "regula... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
The two main UK regulators are the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority. Once a bank has received authorisation in the UK, or another member state, it may operate throughout the EU under the terms of the host state's rules: it has a "passport" giving it freedom of establishment in the int... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
If the UK had employee representation on boards, there would also be a requirement for at least one employee to sit on the remuneration committee, but this step has not yet been taken. While banks perform an essential economic function, supported by public institutions, the rights of bank customers have generally been ... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
The Consumer Credit Act 1974 sections 140A to 140D prohibit unfair credit relationships, including extortionate interest rates. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 sections 62 to 65 prohibit terms that create contrary to good faith, create a significant imbalance, but the courts have not yet used these rules in a meaningful w... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
If customers did have property rights in their deposits, they would be able to claim their money back upon a bank's insolvency, trace the money if it had been wrongly paid away, and (subject to agreement) claim profits made on the money. However, the courts have denied that bank customers have property rights. The same... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Because insolvent banks do not, governments have found it necessary to publicly guarantee depositors' savings. This follows the model, started in the Great Depression, the US set up the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, to prevent bank runs. In 2017, the UK guaranteed deposits up to £85,000, mirroring an EU-wide m... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Moreover, because of the knock-on consequences of any bank failure, because bank debts are locked into a network of international finance, government has found it practically necessary to prevent banks going insolvent. Under the Banking Act 2009 if a bank is going into insolvency, the government may (and usually will i... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
This will wipe out the shareholders, but will keep creditors' claims intact. One method to prevent bank insolvencies, following the "Basel III" programme of the international banker group, has been to require banks hold more money in reserve based on how risky their lending is. EU-wide rules in the Capital Requirements... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Coal, oil and gas remain part of the UK's energy sources, despite the pollution and climate damage they cause. Before the industrial revolution, energy and heating needs were served mainly by burning timber. The development of the steam engine, particularly after James Watt's patents in 1775, and rail transport led coa... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
In the 21st century, because of critical threat of climate damage caused by human beings burning coal, oil and gas (or any fossil-fuel-released carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases), the UK is trying to shift to energy based on zero-carbon: wind, hydro or solar based power. In 2015, the UK's energy consumption was 47% p... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
A difficulty is that the Kyoto Protocol measures countries' production, rather than final consumption, and fails to account for the UK's consuming greenhouse gas intensive products that are imported from countries with lower standards (e.g. China, Russia, or the US), unless there is a border carbon tax. The elimination... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Although both coal and oil production were publicly owned in the past, coal, oil and gas extraction is performed today by private corporations under government licence. The largest entities include BP, Shell, but also now joined by entirely foreign firms such as Apache, Talisman, CNR, TAQA or Cuadrilla. This means that... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Under the Petroleum Act 1998 section 2, rights of land ownership do not equate to rights to oil and gas (or hydrocarbons) underneath. In Bocardo SA v Star Energy UK Onshore Ltd, the Supreme Court did hold that a landowner may sue a company for trespass if it drills under its land without permission, but a majority held... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Similarly, under the Continental Shelf Act 1964 section 1 rights "outside territorial waters with respect to the sea bed and subsoil and their natural resources" are "vested in Her Majesty." Since 1919, the Crown has prohibited searching and boring for oil and gas without a licence. Under the Energy Act 2016, licensing... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Under section 8, the OGA should hand out licences so as to minimise future public expense, secure the energy supply, ensure storage of carbon dioxide, fully collaborate with the UK government, encourage innovation, and encourage stable regulation to promote investment. Overshadowing this is the duty in Petroleum Act 19... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
The Secretary of State may give directions to the OGA in the interests of national security, or the public in exceptional circumstances, while the OGA is nominally capable of funding itself through fees on licence applicants and holders. In the process of licensing, the Hydrocarbons Licensing Directive Regulations 1995... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Under section 4 of the Petroleum Act 1998, model licence clauses are prescribed by the Secretary of State, for instance in the Petroleum Licensing (Production) (Seaward Areas) Regulations 2008. Schedule 1's model clauses give the OGA discretion over the licence term, the licensee's obligation to submit its work program... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
For fracking, these include negotiating with landowners where a drill site is situated, getting the local mineral planning authority's approval for exploratory wells, consent from the council under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 section 57, getting permission for disposing of hazardous waste and inordinate wate... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Large protests had opposed any steps toward fracking. However, Gilbart J held that the council had not been wrong in refusing to consider public opposition, and took the view would have acted unlawfully if it had considered the opposition. The interests of third parties and the public are partially represented through ... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Under the Petroleum Act 1998 sections 17-17H there is a right of companies that are not owners of pipelines or gas interconnectors to use the infrastructure if there is spare capacity. This is not well used, and it usually left to commercial negotiation. Under the Energy Act 2011 sections 82–83 the Secretary of State c... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Taxation on oil and gas outputs have increasingly been reduced. Initially, the Oil Taxation Act 1975 section 1 required a special Petroleum Revenue Tax, set as high as 75% of profits in 1983, but this ended for new licences after 1993, and then reduced from 50% in 2010, down to 0% in 2016. Under the Corporation Tax Act... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
An additional "supplementary charge" of 10% of profits was introduced in 2002 to ensure a ‘fair return’ to the state, because ‘oil companies generating excess profits’. Finally, under the Petroleum Act 1998 sections 29–45 require responsible decommissioning of oil and gas infrastructure. Under section 29, the Secretar... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Under section 30, notice regarding abandonment can be served on anyone who owns or has an interest in an installation. There are fines and offences for failure to comply. Estimates for the cost of decommissioning the UK's offshore platforms have been £16.9bn in the next decade, and £75bn to £100bn in total. A series of... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
The need to stop climate damage, and create sustainable energy, has driven UK energy policy. The Climate Change Act 2008 section 1 requires an 80% reduction on 1990 greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, but this can always be made more stringent in line with science or international law. Eliminating carbon emissions and fo... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Electricity itself, by 2015, was generated 24% from "renewable" sources, 30% gas, 22% coal, and 21% nuclear. "Renewable" sources were 48% wind, 9% solar (doubling each year to 2016), and 7.5% hydroelectric. But 35% of "renewable" electricity was "bioenergy", that is mostly timber, emitting more carbon than coal as it i... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Under the Energy Act 2013 section 1, the Secretary of State can set legally binding decarbonisation targets in electricity, but the government has not done this yet. Under section 131, the Secretary of State should, however, give Parliament an annual "Strategy and Policy Statement" on its strategic energy priorities, a... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
First, under the Electricity Act 1989 sections 32-32M, the Secretary of State was able to place renewables obligations on energy generating companies. Large electricity generating companies (i.e. the big six, British Gas, EDF, E.ON, nPower, Scottish Power and SSE) had to buy fixed percentages of "Renewable Obligation C... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
In Solar Century Holdings Ltd v SS for Energy and Climate Change a group of solar companies challenged the closure decision by judicial review. Solar Century Ltd claimed they had a legitimate expectation from the government in its previous policy documents for "maintaining support levels". The Court of Appeal rejected ... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
As a replacement, under the Energy Act 2013 sections 6–26 created a "contracts for difference" system to subsidise energy companies' investment in renewables. The government owned "Low Carbon Contracts Co." pays licensed energy generators money under contracts lasting, for example, 15 years, reflecting the difference b... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
The LCCC gets its money from a levy on the energy companies, which pass costs onto consumers. This system was apparently seen by the government as preferable to direct investment by taxing polluters' profits. The second strategy to boost renewables was the Energy Act 2008's "feed-in tariff". | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Electricity produced with renewables has to be paid a certain price by electricity companies: a "generation" rate (even if the producer uses the energy itself) and an "export" rate (when the producer sells to the grid). In PreussenElektra AG v Schleswag AG a large energy company (now part of E.ON) challenged a similar ... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
The Court of Justice rejected the argument, holding that the redistributive effects were inherent in the scheme, as indeed they are in any change to private law. Since then, feed-in tariffs have been considerably successful at promoting small scale electricity production by homes and business, and solar and wind in gen... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
However, in 2015 Robin Hood Energy run by Nottingham City Council, and Bristol Energy run by Bristol City Council became the first new municipally owned energy companies, selling below profit-making company prices and committing to renewable sources. This follows widespread publicly owned energy models around Europe, w... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Nevertheless, in Netherlands v Essent NV a private Dutch energy company, Essent NV, argued that a Dutch law requiring public ownership of all shares in electricity distribution companies violated free movement of capital in TFEU article 63, as in other cases restrictions on golden shares had been struck down. But the C... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
It is up to member states alone, and the Dutch government had shown "overriding reasons in the public interest" for public ownership. Given the international evidence that publicly owned energy companies are cheaper, there has been an increase Europe-wide of "remunicipalisation" of services. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Many local councils also require both employee and citizen representation in their energy companies. For example, the "Communal Ordinance of North Rhine-Westphalia" (which includes cities like Dortmund) §§107–114 gives councils capacity to create energy companies. If they do, one third of board members will ordinarily ... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets, or Ofgem, carries out licensing for electricity generation. Its chair and at least two other board members must be appointed by the Secretary of State for 5 to 7 years, and while ostensibly "independent", they must follow directions of the Minister. Under the Electricity Act 1... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
There are exemptions from getting a licence, for instance, for small generators under 10 MW (or up to 50 MW if net capacity is under 100 MW), or certain offshore generators. Planning permission for non-exempt generators also require Secretary of State consent, and the granting of planning could be challenged. In Trump ... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
He argued the Secretary of State could only give permission to existing licensees or exempt generators, ostensibly, by necessary implication from another provision on natural beauty. The Supreme Court unanimously held that Trump lost: there was to be no implied term. In R (Gerber) v Wiltshire Council, Mr Gerber attempt... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
He had not noticed anything happening until some time after construction began, and then tried to argue that Wiltshire Council's "Statement of Community Involvement" required that he would have been notified about the plans he missed. The Court of Appeal unanimously rejected that any "legitimate expectation" in judicia... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Unless citizens set up their own generation, or own energy companies through their council, they are guaranteed few other rights by law: the idea has been that Ofgem "protect the interests of consumers" by "promoting effective competition" is meant to automatically improve service. In practice, further duties have been... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Originally, the idea was that the regulator would "wither away" as effective market competition replaced any need for a state, but in a transition period prices would be capped through a formula known as "RPI – X". This was supposed to mean that energy companies could only raise their prices by the increase in the reta... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
For example, under condition 27, a consumer cannot be disconnected unless all reasonable steps have been taken to let them pay bills (including a pay as you go meter), and pensioners may not be disconnected at all in the winter. This has not, however, come close to eliminating the extra deaths from cold weather (estima... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
In practice there has been no possibility to abolish government involvement, and in law there has been consistent recognition that whether owned by private shareholders or not, energy remains a public service that is the responsibility of the state. When energy companies go into insolvency, often indebted to the govern... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Water is a universal human right, and basic to survival. While the UK has the fortune of substantial rainfall, climate damage means water resources are under pressure, and less predictable than before. Historically, water for drinking, general use, or sewerage was largely left to private arrangements. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
The recurrence of water poisoning, and large public health crises were a part of people's ordinary existence until scientific advances of the 19th century. After the Broad Street cholera outbreak of 1854, John Snow first identified the cause of cholera as drinking water being polluted by excrement. Following the Great ... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
Starting with the Public Health Act 1848 and its creation of a local board of health in each council, and the Public Health Act 1866, local government built drains, sewers, and began piping clean water to households. The Waterworks Clauses Act 1847 and 1863 provided model constitutions for the dozens of spreading priva... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_enterprise_law |
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