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UTILITY WEEK | 16TH - 22ND SEPTEMBER 2016 | 3 Leader Jane Gray This week 4 | Seven days 6 | People & Opinion 8 | Topic Funding the decarbonisation of the UK economy, including: CfDs and the capacity market; the EIB and GIB; decarbonising the water sector; the case for Hinkley; energy efficiency 17 Policy & Regulation 17 | News ECCC warns: Revise RHI or miss 2020 heat targets 19 Finance & Investment 19 | News Water Plus wins major deal with leisure firm 20 Operations & Assets 20 | High viz 50MW solar park in north Wales receives full accreditation from Ofgem 21 | Pipe up Paul Jackson, chief executive, EngineeringUK 22 | Market view Tracking the supply chain can maximise efficiency of the smart meter rollout 24 | Analysis Why are so many bosses quitting the water market? 27 Customers 27 | News Water entrant aims to shake up retail model 27 | I am the customer Claire Maugham, Smart Energy GB 28 | Market view Water companies cannot afford to ignore the demand for EDI billing 30 Community 31 | Disconnector Utilities should not fear whistleblowing The utilities sector has a pretty clean record when it comes to whistleblowing events in recent years. According to the charity Public Concern at Work, which offers advice and support to whistleblowers, just 2 per cent of the calls it received in 2014/15 related to perceived misdemeanours in the utilities sector – amounting to only 16 calls. Meanwhile, hundreds of calls were made relating to the health sector in the same period. However, is the utilities' record in this department quite the good thing it may at first seem? Whistleblowing expert Wendy Addison says not. Speaking at Utility Week's HR Forum, Addison – who rep- resents the international whistleblowing research unit and lectures at three UK universities on the subject – said the low number of calls could well mask problems with whistleblowing policies in utilities. Her concerns grew when she looked at the published whistle- blowing policies for firms attending the Forum – comprising a broad range of utility types. The vast majority, she said, displayed poor practice in terms of their processes and, more worryingly, in a num- ber of cases displayed policies that had remained unchanged since 2010. Laws on whistleblowing have changed significantly since then, she warned. New rules on employee and employer rights – espe- cially relating to the definition of the term "worker" – undoubtedly leave firms with outdated policies vulnerable, Addison added. Creating cultures and processes that actively encourage and facilitate whistleblowing may go against the grain for a sector work- ing to clean up its public image and restore trust. Any rise in the number of reported requests for whistleblowing advice and support from bodies such as Public Concern at Work would undoubtedly be seized upon by mainstream media outlets as an indication that the sector is rotten at its core, not a reflection of pro-transparency. But, of course, the flipside to this concern is that utilities must be absolutely sure their position on transparency and rooting out unethical practices is unimpeachable. Any suggestion that it is not endangers the sector's fragile progress on rebuilding public trust – something it can ill-afford given the many challenges ahead for both the energy and water markets, which will require close consumer engagement. • A full report on discussions at the HR Forum will feature in next week's issue. Jane Gray, Acting Editor janegray@fav-house.com GAS 27 | I am the customer Claire Maugham, Smart Energy GB WATER 19 | News Water Plus wins major deal with leisure firm 24 | Analysis Why are so many bosses quitting the water market? 27 | News Water entrant aims to shake up retail model 28 | Market view Water companies cannot afford to ignore EDI billing ELECTRICITY 19 | News CfD commissioning period extended 19 | News South Korea's Kepco in nuclear plant talks 20 | High viz 50MW solar park in north Wales receives full accreditation from Ofgem 27 | News DSR hampered by fear of disruption 27 | News Three users left out of power cut service ENERGY 8 | Topic Funding the decarbonisation of the UK economy, including: CfDs and the capacity market; the EIB and GIB; decarbonising water; the case for Hinkley; energy efficiency Visit the Downloads section of the website Cisco Intel: Get connected, stay secure http://bit.ly/29qWpZB Citrix: Transforming utilities through connectivity http://bit.ly/29yGg1l Assa Abloy: Solving the key security challenges of critical infrastructure http://bit.ly/29IZ0fp