Recommendation 31

The NAO found that some recent environmental strategies mentioned tax measures which have an impact on government’s environmental goals, and some of these strategies included a brief consideration of the impact of tax measures or their interaction with other policy measures. But the NAO also identified gaps, particularly relating to taxes which do not have an environmental objective, such as fuel duty.61 HM Treasury stated that it worked with other departments when designing taxes, for example working with Defra on the most effective combination of tax and regulation to reduce use of single-use plastic in packaging.62