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FROM THE DESK OF: GORDON BEST, REGIONAL DIRECTOR, MPANI
COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF AGGREGATES LEVY TO BE WELCOMED Following the news that the British Aggregates Association ( BAA ) had dropped all Aggregates Levy litigation both in Europe and the High Court in London the Government has announced it intends to carry out a comprehensive review of the Levy. The Aggregates Levy has been largely unchanged since its introduction in 2002. The government will now conduct this review of the levy over the next year, working closely with the devolved Governments throughout. The review will be comprehensive, looking at the latest evidence about the objectives of the levy, its effectiveness in meeting that objective, and the design of the levy, including the impact of devolution. The Terms of Reference for the review have been published and an expert working group will be established to inform it. The review will aim to conclude by the end of 2019. An expert working group, comprising of Industry Representatives and other Stakeholders, has been established to work with Government. Treasury has already published a Terms of Reference and set dates for meetings of the Expert Panel later this year. I am delighted that MPANI will be an important participant on the expert panel. Treasury and HMRC officials will be visiting Northern Ireland in May to visit a number of our Members’ operations to hear about the impact of the Aggregates Levy first hand. The BAA withdrawal of its legal action against the Levy is not only good news for our quarrying sector but also for NI and the local construction sector as it removes the threat of retrospective payment should the BAA challenge against the NI Aggregates Levy Credit Scheme (ALCS) been successful. It also gives us an opportunity to change the levy to suit Northern Ireland’s specific needs and ensure a level playing field within our sector by clamping down on tax evaders and unauthorised extraction. MPANI now look forward to playing a full and valuable roll on the expert panel. We have set up a small working group ourselves and have already met with Department of Finance Officials to discuss how we represent the interests of NI PLC in this review.
Health & Safety On the health and safety front we are working with HSENI on plans to hold a series of workshops later this year focusing on Dust, vehicle maintenance and mental
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health. As many of you will be aware HSENI, supported by MPANI, are working with the Industry on promoting and implementing a Managing dust strategy. At our recent H&S Committee meeting Ken Logan reported that HSENI were pleased with the efforts of the industry in working with them on implementing the Dust Strategy. A number of companies have submitted action plans and visits by HSENI are continuing. Ken added that a number of workshops will be held later this year that will focus on the managing dust and where best practice will be shared. The MPA LOTOTO Isolation of Energy A6 handbook was released in June with the sole intention of being used as a prompt for employees in the operational frontline. Members of the Strategic Forum for H&S support the distribution and use of the guide. Work has started on distribution which could see in excess of 20k copies in use. MPA members will be contacted to ensure they play their part. Related work on entrapment training and auditing is being undertaken by IOQ/MPQC and QNJAC. This is seen as being complementary, with minimal overlap. Distribution of the Driver’s Handbook continues, with over 60k copies now distributed, but with only 39 Producer Members procuring, there is still room for improvement. MPANI have promoted the handbook to our local Members. The App complements the Driver’s Handbook and the MPA suite of apps. The Driver’s App is available from iTunes and the Google Play Store and members are strongly encouraged to promote these to their workforce.
Stay Safe The 2019 “Stay Safe” campaign has commenced with the promotion of ‘Managing Safety at Inland Waters’. (click link https://www.agg-net.com/news/ managing-safety-at-inland-waters). This RoSPA-produced publication from the Inland Water Group of the National Water Safety Forum, of which MPA is a part, has been a collaborative exercise involving a wide range of stakeholders who are directly involved with the management of public safety on inland waters. We will promote the document amongst our members and beyond as it will help deliver the objectives of the National Drowning Prevention Strategy. MPANI Members are encouraged to revisit their own strategies for the year.
Gordon Best, MPANI
Planned local activity for this year will continue to follow the MPA strategy. MPANI will again team up with HSENI in our joint letter to all Headmasters of local schools. We will partner NI Water in a joint press statement warning of the dangers of swimming in cold quarry lakes and reservoirs. MPA will support and leverage off the drowning prevention campaigns of other major safety organisations such as RNLI, RoSPA and RLSS.
Roads Funding Two important reports have been published recently in relation to the level of funding allocated to the structural maintenance of our local road network. Jim Barton, a UK highway expert, was commissioned by the Department to carry out a review of the optimum level of funding required to properly maintain the Northern Ireland road network. The report repeats many of the conclusions of the 2010 Snaith Report on Structural Maintenance funding and also much of what our Association has been asking for over the years. It highlights that if the Executive were to move to longer term committed budgets as is the case with Highways England, it is expected that much greater efficiencies could be achieved. Based on evidence from elsewhere efficiency savings of around 20% could be expected with a 5 year committed budget. Mr Barton concludes by suggesting that the figure of £143m is a realistic estimate of the annual requirement for structural maintenance funding. On the 26th March the Northern Ireland Audit Office published its report into value for money aspects of the funding of structural maintenance of the road network. The report acknowledges the fact that the road network is of significant strategic, economic and social importance. The full report can be viewed and downloaded at https:// www.niauditoffice.gov.uk/publications/ structural-maintenance-road-network
Slow Down! The Department for Infrastructure (DFI) and Mineral Products Association (MPANI) are appealing to all road users to respect the safety of road workers by slowing down at road works and abiding by all temporary traffic signs and lights.... you can catch up with the interviews on the DfI website at https://www.infrastructure-ni. gov.uk/news/respect-our-road-workersthey-are-working-improve-your-journey
