MPs on the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) have called on the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to “urgently provide further clarity” on how it will work with local government to achieve net zero by 2050.
In a report published this week, the PAC said it was “disappointed” with central government’s approach and that it had not sufficiently engaged with councils.
The report stated: “We are concerned that there is still a lack of clarity in the roles and responsibilities of local authorities in delivering net-zero objectives, and a lack of capacity at the local level to carry out these activities. We are also concerned that some local authorities continue to struggle to access central government money to fund net-zero activities.”
It recommended that BEIS: clarify the role it expects local authorities to play in achieving net zero; manage risk around local government’s delivery of net zero; and make net-zero funding simpler for councils to access and utilise.
The report also claimed that the government had no plan for how it will replace income from taxes such as fuel duty and “no reliable estimate” of the cost of implementing net zero.
PAC chair Dame Meg Hillier suggested the government had unveiled a plan without answers to the key questions of how it will fund the transition.
She added: “The government’s net-zero strategy requires government, local government, regulators, businesses, and consumers working all together to deliver its targets. A top-down strategy from government won’t deliver on its own. There is a risk that a series of disconnected initiatives announced by central government will not bring about the changes that are now set out in law.”
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