Select committee: Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee
Recommendation 39
Eleventh Report - Decarbonisation of the power sector
Published 28 Apr 2023
Paragraph 178
Addressed to Department for Business and Trade
Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee Decarbonisation of the power sector All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
In December 2020, the Government confirmed that the National Policy Statements for Energy, which were published in 2011, would need to be updated to reflect our transition away from fossil fuels and towards cleaner, greener sources of energy. We are disappointed that now, in 2023, the Government has not yet finalised these statements. The Government is consulting on material changes to the statements which reflect recent shifts in Government policy. These changes will also be subject to parliamentary scrutiny. Due to the delay in revising these statements, we urge the Government to make sure the remaining work is delivered at pace. In future, revisions to the NPS should take place in conjunction with changes to the Government’s forthcoming delivery plan, so that the two remain aligned.
From: Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee, Eleventh Report - Decarbonisation of the power sector (HC 283), paragraph 178, 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.