POLICY

UK’s green economy reacts with disappointment to UK mini-Budget

Thought leaders among the UK’s green economy have voiced disappointment that Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has not used the mini-Budget to announce new energy efficiency measures. The focus of the mini-Budget is on cutting taxes and streamlining planning regulations with claims of fostering economic growth. A spokesperson for the Association for Decentralised Energy expressed disappointment at just an increase of £1 billion assigned to energy efficiency, adding to the £2.1 billion already pledged, in a time of fuel crisis. Friends of the Earth’s head of policy argued that the budget’s planned expenditure on road and North Sea oil and gas developments is not in line with the UK’s legal obligation to cut carbon emissions. Meanwhile, the Building Research Establishment said it was disappointed to see the mini-Budget contain no measures to improve the energy efficiency of homes and buildings. (edie)

HUMAN RIGHTS

Indonesians out of UK jobs despite deposits of up to £2,500

Indonesians dreaming of working in Britain are understood to have paid deposits of up to £2,500 to a Jakarta agency to “guarantee” jobs on UK farms that have not yet materialised. Labour experts say a deposit is considered a work-finding fee, which is illegal in the UK and Indonesia. One worker said he made a £1,000 down payment to a Jakarta agency to guarantee an agricultural job with a British recruiter but has yet to have a job interview. He said he was one of several people left unemployed and out of pocket. Official Indonesian government documents suggest around 170 workers were stranded in Indonesia having been assigned jobs on 19 farms across the UK. Investigations from an Indonesian presidential taskforce into the risk of debt bondage leading into forced labour are ongoing. (The Guardian)

EMPLOYEES

Lidl GB becomes the best-paying UK supermarket for staff

Supermarket Lidl is increasing staff wages for the second time in the UK in 2022 with a £39.5 million investment that propels it to the top of the supermarket pay league table. Entry-level hourly rates will increase from £10.10 to £10.90 outside London and from £11.30 to £11.95 inside London. Lidl said the latest pay rise for all store and warehouse workers represents an increase of 10% and 14.5% in hourly wages since 2021, benefiting 23,500 employees with a full-time worker set to earn about £2,000 more annually. Lidl’s investment in staff rates puts it at the top of the pay league among the UK’s supermarkets with its top competitor Aldi paying £10.50 per hour and Marks & Spencer recently announcing a minimum wage increase to £10.20. (The Guardian)

DIGITAL ETHICS

Twitch announces partial ban on slots and roulette gambling

Live streaming video platform Twitch has announced a partial gambling ban, targeting slots, roulette and dice games. The Amazon-owned livestreaming platform will bar videos of gambling sites not licenced in the US or “other jurisdictions that provide sufficient consumer protection”. The ban includes cryptocurrency gambling sites such as Stake.com. It stated that the ban would not target sports betting, fantasy sports such as fantasy football, or poker. In a statement, Twitch said: “while we prohibit sharing links or referral codes to all sites that include slots, roulette or dice games, we’ve seen some people circumvent those rules and expose our community to potential harm”. Gambling videos have proved contentious on Twitch since they first appeared with prominent streamers, in recent months, threating to organise a strike over gambling streams. (BBC News)

WASTE

Philippines approves first large-scale waste-to-energy plant

City officials of the Philippines’ second most populous metropolis have signed a joint venture with local incinerator Net Sky Energy (NSEI) for a waste-to-energy (WTE) facility to be built by 2025. Under the agreement, NSEI will invest close to US$82 million to construct the incinerator.. This is the first large-scale WTE facility in the country, after a proposal for a $423 million facility in Quezon City stalled in 2019. The signing of the joint venture went forward despite protests from green watchdogs Ecowaste Coalition and Healthcare Without Harm. The green groups argue that WTE facilities still emit toxic pollutants such as dioxin, lead and mercury into the environment and negatively impact the health of citizens. City officials stressed that the WTE technology will remain compliant with the ‘Clean Air Act’. (Eco-Business)

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