Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 15
15
Not Addressed
Department and Treasury acknowledge further funding required for later CCUS programme stages
Conclusion
The Department and HM Treasury have acknowledged that further funding will be required for the programme’s later stages, such as Track 1 expansion and Track 2 (which includes two more clusters).51 The Department told us that it is in “detailed discussion and dialogue with the projects involved in the core of Track 1, the Track 1 expansion, the other projects in the East Coast cluster and Track 2.” 52
Government Response Summary
The government responds to a different recommendation (3) than the conclusion being made (15).
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
3. PAC conclusion: The Department and HM Treasury have yet to assess the full financial impact of the CCUS programme on taxpayers and consumers. 3. PAC recommendation: The Department and HM Treasury should assess whether the full CCUS programme will be affordable for taxpayers and consumers, given wider pressures on energy bills and costs of living. 3.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Summer 2025 3.2 The department continuously assesses the affordability and value for money of government support for CCUS as part of key policy and decision-making processes to keep the UK on the least cost pathway to net zero, including Carbon Budget Delivery Plans and through regular government Spending Reviews. 3.3 As with all major programmes, the CCUS Programme works with HM Treasury to assess the benefits of deploying CCUS along with taxpayer affordability, energy bill and cost of living impacts of CCUS Programme. 3.4 As part of the business case for supporting the initial phase of the East Coast Cluster and Hynet cluster, the department undertook a rigorous assessment of the affordability and value for money of both clusters in line with the principles set out in the Treasury Green Book. 3.5 This was a detailed analysis that drew on commercial data relating to the projects as well as other sources of evidence, including market data and evidence relating to Optimism Bias, to estimate of the costs and benefits of the projects over their lifetime. The business case considered the costs and benefits to society as a whole as well as the impacts on specific groups such as billpayers and taxpayers.