94. Net zero is a thirty-year challenge, relying on many different people to act across different policy areas. Continuity, with input from all the different people responsible for delivery and reaching across the political spectrum, is therefore critical. We have seen very recent examples where changes in political direction have created significant uncertainty - for example the decision to pause the Energy Security Bill which, although now reversed, created major uncertainty for vital industries. The Review also heard from local government on this issue:
"The timeliness of developing policy following consultation is a huge concern, the waits for consultation responses and the subsequent policy are far too long..Funding schemes and programmes need to be based on realistic timescales and longer investment periods. This also provides longer term certainty for the market. It will, in turn, enable ambitions to be realised and a continuity of approach to bring forth far greater impacts and legacy offshoot opportunities going forwards."- Kent County Council114
95. The Review's mission-led approach urges government to take a programmatic multi-year approach to the delivery of major priorities. It also urges government to identify opportunities to ensure political consensus over the long term - providing industry certainty beyond the lifecycle of a single political term.
96. Based on the evidence presented to the Review, the key steps the UK must take to deliver this are:
• Strengthen parliamentary scrutiny
• Establish a new Office for Net Zero to drive overall delivery and ensure a joined-up approach across Government
• Bring major net zero delivery programmes out of departments and into dedicated delivery agencies