New 'Net Zero select committees' should be created in both Houses of Parliament. |
97. In the Climate Change Committee, the UK has a sophisticated and robust scrutiny mechanism - providing annual public reports to Parliament on UK progress towards net zero for which the Government has a statutory responsibility to respond to.
98. At the same time, there is significant parliamentary scrutiny of the Government's work to deliver net zero. In the last year, many committees, including the BEIS Select Committee, the Environmental Audit Committee, and the Public Accounts Committee have run enquiries into elements of the Government's net zero policy. This is a welcome and necessary role for Parliament and the select committee structure to play. These cross-party forums matter. Without long-term commitment and stable frameworks, net zero will be harder to achieve, with costs higher and benefits lower. Cross-party consensus on key climate policies and investments is therefore crucial.
99. However it is not clear that the current select committee structure is sufficient. There is no single select committee with overarching responsibility for scrutinising net zero. This creates two risks:
• A lack of a single parliamentary scrutiny function with oversight for the whole net zero mission - encapsulating the breadth of environmental, social, and economic issues it covers.
• A missed opportunity in developing widespread expertise of the Government's decarbonisation activity, and its successes and challenges.
100. We recommend new 'Net Zero select committees' in both Houses of Parliament. Dedicated net zero select committees could ensure consistent and detailed scrutiny - in partnership with whatever scrutiny other committees may rightfully wish to apply. The scale of net zero justifies this dedicated Parliamentary scrutiny. Among other functions, these committees could act as a dedicated receiver of the Climate Change Committee's annual progress report - scrutinising both the detail of the report and of the Government's response. It could also look closely at the differences in how net zero is being delivered across the UK, working with leaders from the devolved administrations and local and regional government to establish best practice.