{"id":211448,"date":"2022-08-02T12:12:50","date_gmt":"2022-08-02T10:12:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=211448"},"modified":"2022-08-02T12:12:51","modified_gmt":"2022-08-02T10:12:51","slug":"everything-net-zero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=211448","title":{"rendered":"Everything Net Zero"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Things are, it seems, getting worse. The title to this article is not a tribute to my lack of imagination. Rather, it is the heading to a page<\/a> on the Government website. Or, more accurately, the full heading is \u201cEverything Net Zero \u2013 Services, Products, Solutions, and Support for the public sector transition to Net Zero<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The whole thing has crept up on me, and came to my attention only because it was mentioned in a postscript to an article at the Daily Sceptic website<\/a> which dealt mostly with an issue discussed elswhere at Cliscep, namely the gross exaggeration by the BBC that a bit of mild criticism of climate hype by weather forecasters constitues abuse and trolling. That story was also covered by Paul Homewood<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, I digress. The Government web page with the non-glamorous title is referring to a contract (which has now been awarded), worth \u00a370 billion, to cover a four year period. I\u2019ll write that again. \u00a370 billion<\/strong>. Supposedly the contract start date was 28th<\/sup> July 2022, and the purpose of the contract is to provide a \u201ccompliant procurement vehicle to access a range of products, services, solutions and support to achieve public sector \u2018Net Zero\u2019 strategies<\/em> <\/em>across the whole range of fields in education and the wider public sector.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, because I learned of this after the contract was entered into, the Framework tender page<\/a> now offers up no useful information to enable analysis of this contract, advising instead that \u201cThe deadline to apply\/submit for Everything Net Zero is now over.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given the huge value of the contract, the silence about this on the part of the mainstream media is rather puzzling. They may have reported on it, I suppose, but I can find no reference to it anywhere on the BBC website, and I certainly have not heard any reference to it on BBC radio news and current affairs programmes. An internet search produced a solitary news item on the FMBusinessDaily website<\/a>, and that in turn seems to be a regurgitation of a press release<\/a> issued by the East of England Broadbank Network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And who (or what) is the East of England Broadband Network (or E2BN as they trendily call themselves)? According to the Everybody Wiki website<\/a> they are \u201cone of 10 Regional Broadband Consortia (RBCs) set up by the UK Government to help raise standards in teaching and learning by the use of broadband technology.\u201d<\/em> And so, for me at least, the plot thickens. Why did the Government choose to funnel a \u00a370 billion contract through what seems to be a relatively obscure Government subisdiary in the form of a company limited by guarantee? I genuinely don\u2019t know the answer to that question. Unless they wanted to make sure it remained low key.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But back to the press release. Dated 25th<\/sup> July 2022, it tells us that the contract has been awarded to <\/em>Place Group Limited, but doesn\u2019t really tell us anything about that company. Place Group\u2019s own website<\/a> tells us:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Place Group is a specialist consulting, research, project management and procurement company with 20 years\u2019 experience working across the public and social sectors. We take our responsibility to make a difference very seriously, and work with our clients on their challenges to create lasting impact. This could be helping them create Net Zero supply chains, advising on purchasing efficiencies, providing resource as part of a client\u2019s team or simply adding capacity and expertise on an as and when needed basis. We have also created and built over 100 new state schools, devised growth strategies for multi-academy trusts, and carried out education research studies and Early Years Child Care assessments.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, we deliver innovative solutions, services, products and support for public sector buyers to efficiently and compliantly access expert supply chains across our Facilities Management and Net Zero frameworks.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whatever your specific needs and requirements are with regard to education strategy and research, procurement, strategic resourcing solutions or Net Zero, we are ready and motivated to help with our friendly, knowledgeable and bespoke service.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It sounds good, if you\u2019re in to that sort of thing. And so it should for 70 billion smackeroos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So far so good. What will Place Group actually be doing in return for all that taxpayer money? To be honest, I\u2019m not sure about that either. All I know is that net zero has to be in everything to do with the public sector, and Place Group\u2019s job seems to be to facilitate that. So far as I can tell, the money is for facilitating, not for making it happen. I think the taxpayer can expect another (sadly considerably larger) bill for that part of the job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No, all I can tell you is what the notes at the end of the press release would tell editors (if any editors beyond the FMBusinessDaily website showed any interest):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everything Net Zero is a framework agreement set up by the East of England Broadband Network (E2BN). E2BN has already successfully introduced Everything ICT and Everything FM.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Framework Agreement is for use by UK public sector bodies. This includes;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n