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Here are the top business stories making the headlines in the morning newspapers.

Transport Secretary accused of ignoring alternatives to electric

Britain is significantly behind its European rivals in rolling out hydrogen power because ministers and officials are "fixated" on electricity replacing fossil fuels, a leading businessman has warned.

Lord Bamford, chairman of construction machinery manufacturer JCB, accused Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, of ignoring alternatives to electric power for vehicles and machinery.

The Telegraph says the businessman also warned that batteries would be completely inadequate to fuel large vehicles spending six to eight-hour shifts on building sites and in fields.

The Conservative peer added: "Just have a look at what France and Germany are doing. In Germany, I think they've got 130 filling stations already dispensing hydrogen. They're spending billions on hydrogen. This isn't just because of Ukraine. They were doing this months ago. They're all very much looking at this as a future of future fuel and a very practical future fuel. And I think we just need to be. Not exclusively, but we need to not have batteries as the exclusive way of doing it.

"Most of our machinery, anything over two and a half tonnes, is probably doing a full day's shift, which could be six hours or eight hours. So a battery doesn't lend itself to that sort of thing because they can't keep going. And you can't keep recharging, particularly not in construction sites or in the middle of a field."

Cutting the time between licensing and consent for offshore developments

New UK Government-led project accelerator schemes announced as part of the country's energy security strategy will help reduce the time between licensing and consent for offshore projects, according to Energy Minister Greg Hands.

Last week saw the launch of the plans, with the Government making clear commitments to support continued North Sea oil and gas production, while ramping up nuclear, hydrogen and offshore wind.

As part of the strategy, Westminster said it will establish gas and oil new project regulatory accelerators to provide dedicated, named-project support and bring rapid development of these schemes.

Speaking to Energy Voice, Mr Hands said the goal of these accelerators was to speed up processes across all energy technologies.

"Whether it be in oil and gas, whether it be in offshore wind, whether it be in solar - all of these processes, we think, are taking too long," he explained.

ScotRail named among firms who missed deadline for gender pay-gap reports

ScotRail, Thorntons, Toyota and AB InBev are said to be among the companies who failed to file their gender pay-gap reports before the statutory deadline.

Other big employers in Britain to miss the deadline included Pirelli, the tyre company, Taylor Wessing, the law firm, and Lenovo, the technology company, the Times has found.

Administrative errors, sickness and Covid were among the excuses of those contacted who filed to the UK Government after last Monday's deadline.

About 550 companies are estimated to have missed the deadline, according to an independent statistician.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has said that organisations which have not filed will receive a warning notice. A failure to comply could then lead to enforcement action.

Organisations with 250 or more employees in the private and voluntary sector were required to report data by last Monday and most public-sector employers by March 30. It is a legal requirement for employers to publish gender pay-gap information and they have a year to do so.

Russian boats can still fish in UK waters

Russian trawlers still have access to £16million of fish in UK waters because of a loophole that affects a stretch of sea off the coast of Scotland, UK Government officials have warned.

The Telegraph says that, despite a ban on Russian vessels fishing in UK waters or landing at British ports, trawlers have access to a "special area" jointly controlled by the UK Government and the Faroe Islands.

At least six Russian boats have recently entered the area to fish for whitefish, estimated to be worth around £16million, using Faroese licences, government sources said.

In response, British officials have urged their counterparts in the Faroe Islands to take a "tougher stance" and stop approving fishing licences for Russian trawlers because of Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

A Whitehall source said ministers are concerned that allowing the boats in during an upcoming six-week window of migration for blue whiting will allow Russia to profit from the fish, funding its "war machine".

P&O Ferries could be hit by 'summer of disruption'

A union has warned P&O Ferries it faces a "summer of disruption" when it resumes passenger services from Scotland to Northern Ireland this week.

The RMT union said it will target ports when the ferry operator starts running its "ships of shame" again.

P&O sparked outrage when it sacked 800 staff last month with a plan to replace them with cheaper agency workers.

Passenger services from Cairnryan to Larne have been suspended since, but are now due to resume on Thursday.

RMT Regional organiser Gordon Martin told BBC Scotland: "The RMT and our comrades in the trade union movement and beyond will be at Cairnryan and other ports on a regular basis, blockading the ports - nothing in, nothing out."

Chancellor asks for review of his ministerial declarations

Chancellor Rishi Sunak says he has written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson asking for his ministerial declarations to be reviewed by the independent adviser on ministers' interests.

Mr Sunak said he hoped a review would calm "recent speculation" that followed reports about the tax affairs of his wife.

The BBC says it has been disclosed that Akshata Murty was "non-domiciled" for UK tax and Mr Sunak retained a US immigration green card - leading Labour to suggest there could be a potential conflict of interest.

Mr Sunak made the Cabinet Office aware of his wife's tax status as part of his declaration of interests when he first became a government minister in 2018.

Writing on Twitter, Mr Sunak said: "I have always followed the rules and I hope such a review will provide further clarity."

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