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29/07/2010

Consumer affairs with Shari Vahl. The 'free' solar panel deal that will cost us all in the long run and the pension pot plea to town halls.

A number of companies are gearing up to take advantage of the subsidy the government is paying to people who fit solar panels to generate electricity - the Feed in Tariff or FIT. The idea being they fit the panels for free but take the generous tax free revenues that flow from their use for the next twenty five years. It's been calculated that the revenue from FIT could pay for the installation three times over. Think tank, the Policy Exchange, says FIT should be abolished because it is costs nearly Β£500 to save a tonne of carbon under the scheme and there are more cost effective methods of reducing carbon output.

Tourist authorities in Jersey have complained to the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ because they say that the Channel Islands weather is frequently ignored or inaccurate in national broadcasts. They say this has an impact on tourist revenues because it is well known that people take impulse breaks based on weather reports.

Local authorities have been urged to dip into their pension pots by a local government think tank as a means of combating central government cuts. The New Local Government Initiative say there are millions of pounds in the Local Authority Pensions pot that could be profitably and safely used by town halls battling central government cuts to protect jobs and assets in their areas.

Available now

30 minutes

Last on

Thu 29 Jul 2010 12:00

Chapters

  • Solar Panels

    Suppliers of domestic renewable energy devices are offering to fit solar panels for free in return for the subsidies they attract -but is this a cost effective way of reducing carbon?

    Duration: 06:54

  • Local Authority Cuts

    Greg Wood reports on a proposal by a think tank to encourage local authorities to dip into their pension funds to complete capital projects from which the government has cut funding.

    Duration: 04:04

  • Jersey Weather

    The holiday island compalins that it is ignored by weather forecasters and that's hitting its tourism figures

    Duration: 04:44

  • Canals

    The driest year for almost a century in the north west means from Monday a popular trans-Pennine canal route will close for lack of wate

    Duration: 07:41

Broadcast

  • Thu 29 Jul 2010 12:00

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