Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 28
28
The Department pointed to the cost-benefit analysis it prepared as part of government’s consideration for...
Conclusion
The Department pointed to the cost-benefit analysis it prepared as part of government’s consideration for legally adopting the Sixth Carbon Budget, and also its financial resources (expressed as capital and operating expenditure limits) set against different targets including net zero and contained within its Outcome Delivery Plan.101 The Department told us that it was possible for it to make aggregated calculations of how much money it and other departments were assigning to net zero objectives.102 We asked if costs and spend against net zero could be collated and tracked in the same way the NAO has captured Covid-19 costs through its publicly available Covid Cost Tracker. HM Treasury told us that it was looking at the best way to attribute costs and give a clear account of what is being spent in a way that would be meaningful and helpful, but it and the Department recognised that net zero costs may not always be clearly identifiable as such.103
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
1.1 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. 1.2 The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (the department) and HM Treasury will write to the Committee by Autumn 2022 setting out the processes for reporting the implementation of the government’s net zero policies, including to Parliament. This will include reiterating the clear performance metrics we have already committed to report against publicly, and a summary of the internal reporting governance in place to ensure net zero by 2050 remains on track. 1.3 The Net Zero Strategy sets out policies and proposals for decarbonising all sectors of the UK economy to meet our net zero target by 2050. As set out in the Strategy, the government has committed to providing a public update on our implementation progress every year beginning from 2022, which will include: • Progress against a set of at least 24 clear ambitions and targets across different sectors of the economy – a list that will build over time to incorporate additional Government targets and wider non-government indicators of progress. • Commentary on contextual changes that might affect the exact pathway to meeting the government’s decarbonisation commitments. • A summary of key areas of progress made against the policies and proposals in this Strategy. 1.4 The annual public report on implementation progress is a new commitment, which lays the groundwork for future reporting, and one which the government is focused on getting right. The government does not think that it is appropriate to commit to publishing additional specific performance metrics now but, in future, the government will consider what additional metrics and reporting might be needed. The government is grateful to the Committee for its continued input as these take shape. 1.5 The government has set out how tax relates to environmental goals in the Net Zero Review and the Prime Minister’s 10 Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution.