Select committee: Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee

Conclusion 2

Eleventh Report - Decarbonisation of the power sector Published 28 Apr 2023 Paragraph 25 Addressed to Department for Business and Trade
Conclusion (the committee's words)
The level of coordination and pace of delivery needed requires the Government to operate in a different way than it has in the past. We welcome the creation of the new Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, but that Department must now act to coordinate stakeholders, unlock bottlenecks, and drive the pace of delivery required. If the new Department operates ‘business as usual’ the Government will fail to hit its own targets.

From: Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee, Eleventh Report - Decarbonisation of the power sector (HC 283), paragraph 25, 28 April 2023

Government response

The government responded to the whole report on 14 July 2023 (deadline 28 June 2023).

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

The government welcomes the Committee's report and responds to each recommendation, planning annual reporting on power sector decarbonisation while setting out where it will not adopt specific proposals.

  • On the call for a long-term delivery plan, the government "plans to report on its delivery, and overall plan to deliver the commitment, on an annual basis", and is strengthening its portfolio management approach.
  • On a UK-wide onshore wind target, it states that setting one "would potentially undermine the flexibility needed" across the UK.
  • On biomass, it has "no plans to remove support prior to 2027" for stations already supported, saying they "have a statutory right to their existing support".
  • On Ofgem's duties, it is "content to amend" Ofgem's existing duty on greenhouse gases to refer specifically to the net zero targets in the Climate Change Act 2008.

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error