Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Eighth report from Session 2024-25

This is the government's response, published 6 May 2025.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The government states that it agrees with the Committee's recommendations across the areas covered, while saying that for annual reappraisal of value for money its process is "ongoing, dictated by the project pipeline, rather than a fixed annual schedule".

• On annual reappraisal of value for money, the government says it agrees with the recommendation but reviews the approach "primarily" via the Business Case process, ahead of final investment decisions, and not on a fixed annual schedule.
• The government acknowledges that the 2030 ambition of capturing and storing 20-30 million tonnes of CO2 per year "is no longer achievable", and will publish a report setting out its plan to meet carbon budgets, with a target implementation date of Spring 2025.
• On BECCS, biomass sustainability criteria "will be developed" for any future support, and the department "plans to consult later this year" on a common biomass sustainability framework. Target implementation date: Summer 2025.
• On sharing financial benefits, the government notes the business models already have mechanisms, such as a "gainshare" mechanism in the Net Zero Teesside agreement, and will "continue to evolve" them. Target implementation date: December 2026.

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