Articles

From the impact of Covid-19 to dealing with the impact of climate change, government has never gated greater policy challenges. But, as recent work on developing policy strategies for carbon capture and storage shows, civil servants can get help from academics to find the right solutions. Professor Karen Turner, the director from the Centre for Energy Policy at the University of Strathclyde, explains

Body offers £149,500 a year for official to oversee work on HS2, Northern Powerhouse Rail and nuclear projects

In our January issue, CSW asks experts to give their thoughts on the new government’s policy priorities. In this entry, Committee on Climate Change chief executive Chris Stark sets out what the government needs to do to in 2020 to reduce the risks of climate impacts

Nigel Topping will coordinate regional and business input ahead of COP26 talks in Glasgow

Plans for a standalone borders and immigration department also put on back burner, according to reports.

Food and rural affairs lead says Department for Climate Change and Natural Resources would spell the end for current environment ministry

Think-tank concludes that the estimated cost of creating the Department for Work and Pensions in 2001 exceeded £170m

BEIS moratorium comes after energy watchdog says it cannot rule out earthquakes due to shale gas extraction

Treasury to publish report in 2020 setting out how costs of net-zero carbon emissions target should be distributed

Fears remain over the independence of proposed Office for Environmental Protection

NAO finds £32.7m of public spending so far, but BEIS says full calculation of costs to back shale gas extraction would not yet be "meaningful"

Lond-awaited energy white paper finally on its way, business secretary tells MPs

Agency chief says staff are “under no illusion about the scale of the challenge”

Lobby group warns department’s solar-power rollout stats are a hindrance to net-zero ambitions

Panel will consider businesses' claims of financial hardship after legislation reduces "Cash for Ash" payments

Deadline is achievable but requires a concerted push, including government backing for carbon capture and storage technologies, committee says

Committee chair Rachel Reeves said BEIS had been “too passive” in ensuring suppliers address problems with the rollout

UK Supreme Court rejects request for NI attorney general for clarification on powers, saying they should be addressed in court case.

Cross-departmental plan intends to cut the societal cost of pollution by £5.3bn annually by 2030

Committee chair Rachel Reeves urged the regulator Ofgem to take harsher action against suppliers that don't fulfil their obligations under the programme.

Watchdog says rapid timescale lacked “economic assessment of its implications”, ramping programme’s complexity and cost

Civil servants need to go "back to basics" on spending and record keeping, watchdog says

Ensuring staff are equipped to deak with huge workload is also an 'anxiety', says Clare Moriarty 

Lord Deben is as intrepid and combative an advocate for the environment as anyone concerned about climate change could want. Better known as John Gummer, the former environment minister and now chair of the Committee on Climate Change tells Geoffrey Lyons why the UK’s current climate trajectory is worrying, and how it will be affected by Trump and Brexit.