Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 13
13
There is no single point of responsibility within government for monitoring overall spend on environmental...
Conclusion
There is no single point of responsibility within government for monitoring overall spend on environmental goals, and neither the Department nor the Treasury yet have a good understanding of the long-term costs involved in delivering the goals. Moreover, while the Department had started an analysis of spend by environmental goal as part of its preparations for the Spending Review 2020, it did not yet have a good breakdown of annual costs. Without a good understanding of the costs of delivering the Plan as a whole, there are risks that decisions about funding allocations are made in a piecemeal way, rather than on the basis of a strategic view of long-term priorities.34 29 Qq 95–96 30 Q 97 31 Qq 48–49 32 Qq 49–50 33 Q 83 34 C&AG’s Report, paras 12, 19, 1.21 12 Achieving government’s long-term environmental goals 2 Skills, impact and regulation Skills gaps
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: January 2023 (to align with the next Environmental Improvement Plan). 3.2 The establishment of new legally binding targets through the Environment Bill incorporates a robust framework for developing the economic case for action towards achieving the long-term goals of the Environment Plan. 3.3 Developing the costs and milestones towards the long-term legally binding targets will need to be iterative, given the range of activity supporting delivery of the Environment Plan, and emerging policy requirements. The annual progress reports and 5-yearly reviews of the environmental improvement plans will be used to build up the overall picture on performance and planning. There must also be consideration of the distributional impacts of targets and impact on domestic priorities, for example the impacts on consumers, specific sectors and regions. 3.4 The department has costed proposals and business cases for major programmes supporting air quality and cleaner transport, delivering major waste reforms towards a more circular economy, supporting woodland creation and improving flood resilience. Consultation on specific legally binding targets under the Environment Bill for biodiversity, waste, air and water will be supported by robust economic impact assessments to ensure value for money and deliverability, including expected costs to government and business associated with meeting targets individually and in aggregate. The department will work with HM Treasury to determine the costs of meeting the legally binding targets, details of which will be published in October 2022.