Implementation of climate-related reporting in central government annual reports

Before the HMT Government Financial Reporting team withdraws from its role leading provision of TCFD guidance for central government, it should agree a plan ? with clear roles ? for ongoing monitoring and support, as required, for the development of high-quality TCFD-aligned reporting. This plan should include other HMT teams and bodies that may provide support in future (such as the Government Finance Function, the Government Actuary?s Department, and the Government Internal Audit Agency).

To improve the roll-out of any future sustainability reporting requirements HMT leads, it should: ? strengthen processes for communicating the rationale for sustainability reporting changes to senior stakeholders at preparer bodies; ? ensure relevant guidance and training materials are easy to access in one place and are made available to functions beyond finance, to support a shared understanding; and ? ensure that the Financial Reporting Advisory Board has the expertise it needs to support its role overseeing the development of future reporting requirements.

As public sector sustainability reporting continues to develop, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero and HMT should explore further practical steps to, where appropriate, align and simplify different reporting requirements. This should minimise duplication for reporting bodies, agree the rationale for intentional divergences where reporting has different purposes, and ensure that sustainability disclosure in annual reports is accessible and useful for scrutiny by Parliament and other stakeholders.