It may have taken 18 months, but the Environment Agency has started cracking down on organisations that have still not complied with Phase 1 of the ESOS scheme; the deadline for which was originally 5th December 2015, but was extended to 29th January 2016.
In a recent email, the Environment Agency revealed that they have identified 500 organisations that should have complied with the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme and have not done so. They are now in the process of issuing those organisations with enforcement notices on non-compliance, which could lead to a fine of up to £50,000.
Who qualifies for ESOS
ESOS applies to large UK undertakings and their corporate groups. A large undertaking is:
- Any UK company that either:
- employs 250 or more people, or
- has an annual turnover in excess of 50 million euro (£38,937,777), and an annual balance sheet total in excess of 43 million euro (£33,486,489)
- An overseas company with a UK registered establishment which has 250 or more UK employees (paying income tax in the UK).
ESOS Phase 2
The compliance period for Phase 2 is underway and qualifying organisations are now able to begin the compliance process.
For those organisations that fall within the ESOS framework, assessments must be conducted every 4 years and the deadline for phase 2 compliance is 5th December 2019.
Although you are not able to submit a completed Phase 2 audit just yet (ESOS compliance requires a 12 month period of total energy consumption data which includes the qualification date of 31 December 2018) It is advisable to begin the process early as there is likely to be a bottleneck of assessments nearer the deadline, and the environment agency is unlikely to be as lenient on submission deadlines for phase 2.
CCS are the leading supplier of contract cleaning and soft Facilities Management services in the Bristol, Bath and wider South West region. For more information on how we can support your organisation, call us today on 0800 4488026.
