There are new rules for phase 2 of the CRC – covering the period 2014-19 (following on from transitional rules for 2012-2014).
Welcome simplifications for phase 2 include:
However, bad news includes:
Each organisation should decide now on their policy for operating the CRC Online Account – in liaison with the Senior Officer and Finance – as this helps budgeting for authorised CRC payments – and will allow your CRC contact to meet the various surrender deadlines.
For local authorities all forms of street-lighting will now be chargeable (regardless of passive or active metering) – which hopefully will be more than offset by the good news that schools are not CRC chargeable! DECC is assessing the loss of CRC revenue from excluding schools. This change has helped some authorities escape Phase 2 entirely – or reduced the costs of those who still qualify for Phase 2.
Every participant is promised a CRC audit – whether offsite (requiring submission of evidence by email) and/ or a visit. I recommend you carry out a formal update of your Evidence Pack each year, although it is time consuming and costly to do – together with ongoing updates should you change sites, supplies or meters. When you are selected for audit, collating the Evidence Pack – to include the EA Annual Report and the annual data spreadsheet – is essential.
If, after submission of an Annual Report, you identify a serious error in the data – follow the EA’s formal procedure and send an error report. There are also procedures for claiming a refund.
Common errors include:
TEAM will be launching a new updated version of our CRC software shortly. It is available via the TEAM Sigma Browser Interface – and this will allow multiple users to access and work on CRC.
The TEAM CRC Module software addresses the issues highlighted above.
The TEAM CRC software allows you to:
You need to create sites and supplies to match your asset list /portfolio.
I don’t anticipate any significant changes in the CRC until the Phase 3 qualification year!
As “credit” allowances in the CRC account cannot be carried forward into phase 3, you will need to be cautious in purchasing any forecast allowances for the final 2018-2019 year of Phase 2.
Find out more about TEAM CRC Software and TEAM CRC Consultancy Service.