Recommendation 3

Government still does not have a good grip of the total costs required to deliver its environmental goals and funding so far has been piecemeal. The Department received an additional £1 billion in funding for 2020–21 in the Spending Review 2020, though it is not clear how much of this is genuinely new money for environmental work, as this includes a previously announced increase in flood defence spending over the next five years. The Environment Agency and Natural England have a key role to play in delivering the goals, but budget cuts over the last decade hinder their ability to do so alongside day-to-day responsibilities. Neither HM Treasury nor the Department has a good understanding of the total costs required to deliver government’s environmental goals. We recognise that costs cannot be pinned down precisely for such long-term issues, but we do expect the two departments to come to a shared view of the broad scale of costs involved. Without this, government’s approach to funding will continue to be piecemeal, with risks for value-for-money and for whether the goals can be achieved at all. Recommendation: In parallel with developing clear objectives to meet environmental goals, the Department should work together with the Treasury to review and outline the total costs required to meet these goals, and how these will be paid for, akin to the Treasury’s Net Zero review.