Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 8
8
Accepted
At present, only central government departments and their arm’s-length bodies are required to measure and...
Conclusion
At present, only central government departments and their arm’s-length bodies are required to measure and report their emissions in accordance with HM Treasury’s Sustainability Reporting Guidance, which leaves huge areas of the public sector, including 5 C&AG’s Report, para 1.2 6 Q 5 7 C&AG’s Report, para 12 8 Qq 15–16, 39–40 9 C&AG’s Report, para 9 & 1.13 10 Qq 23–24 11 Qq54–56, C&AG’s Report, para 3.12 12 Qg 16, 34 13 Qq 42–45 14 Q 69 10 Measuring and reporting public sector greenhouse gas emissions schools, local government and hospitals, to develop their own approaches.15 There are some parts of the public sector, such as the NHS, where work is going on to encourage more thorough reporting, but the lack of central guidance has led to patchy and inconsistent action.16 The National Audit Office has previously reported, for example on inconsistent approaches to emissions reporting in local government.17 BEIS acknowledged that the government’s recent net zero strategy had committed it to issuing ‘comprehensive guidance across the public sector as a whole’ but it did not provide us with a clear timetable as to when this would be produced.18
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the recommendation and will set out a timetable in summer 2023 for further work towards a coherent measurement and reporting framework, taking into account international reporting standards and views from relevant authorities across the public sector.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
2. PAC conclusion: The public sector as a whole lacks clear standards for measuring and reporting emissions. 2. PAC recommendation: BEIS and HM Treasury should set a timetable for issuing consistent standards for measuring and reporting emissions that is applicable to the entire public sector. 2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Summer 2023 2.2 The government agrees that a clear approach to emissions measurement and reporting can help public sector organisations and central government to drive effective progress in decarbonisation. In the Net Zero Strategy, the government committed to provide guidance setting out expectations for public sector emissions measurement and reporting. This may not entail a uniform approach consistency across the whole of the large and varied sector; the emissions measurement and reporting guidance that is suitable for a large hospital may not be suitable for a small rural school. It may therefore be appropriate for detailed emissions measurement guidance to continue to be owned by bodies best placed to advise on the particular needs of different parts of the public sector, and different reporting channels may be required to address specific objectives or to meet the needs of specialist users. 2.3 Additionally, as the Committee notes, international reporting standards are evolving rapidly. To avoid confusion or duplication it is important that standards are aligned wherever possible. Work to review the suitability of the reporting recommendations produced by the Taskforce on Climate Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) for the public sector is ongoing, which is expected to be an important part of any future standard setting. 2.4 Taking into account expected timelines for development of TCFD recommendations and other international standards, the government will set out a timetable for further work towards a coherent measurement and reporting framework in summer 2023. This will be dependent on views from other relevant authorities across the public sector who are responsible for setting their own reporting requirements.