Environmental Audit Committee launches inquiry into Budget 2013

This inquiry follows on from previous inquiries on the Budget and environmental taxes and a recent EAC Report on A Green Economy.

The Committee aims to provide recommendations to Government in advance of the 2012 Autumn Statement and next year’s Budget on what practical measures the Government could introduce to support the transition to a green economy.[1]

The Committee is interested in receiving written evidence that looks at the following themes of the inquiry:
 

• The coherence and adequacy of the Government’s existing policies, fiscal measures and investment plans in terms of supporting a green economy; and to what extent these might hinder a transition to a green economy.
• What new policies, fiscal measures and investment plans the Government should include within the 2012 Autumn Statement and future Budgets to support a green economy. [Ideas should be presented alongside supporting evidence]; and
• Whether the Government’s definition of an environmental tax[2]  is fit for purpose and captures those taxes essential to a switch to more sustainable and less environmentally damaging behaviours.
  The Committee invites organisations and members of the public to submit written evidence, setting out their views on these issues. More wide ranging responses are also welcome. Submissions should ideally be sent to the Committee by 18 October 2012, although later submissions may be accepted. Guidance on preparing submissions is set out below.

In August 2011 the Government set outs its approach to building a green economy in Enabling the Transition: Government and business working together (ETGE). The Committee published its report on the Government approach in May 2012, which called on the Government to set out a more ambitious, Treasury-led, plan for driving the transition to a green economy.[3] The Committee published the Government’s Response to the Report’s recommendations in September 2012.[4]

 
The Committee published its Report on Budget 2011 and environmental taxes in July 2011, which called on the Government to set out a coherent and clearly articulated approach to environmental taxes, including the Government’s definition of environmental taxes.[5]  The Committee published the Government’s Response to the Report’s recommendation in February 2012.[6]  In July 2012 the Government set out its definition of an environmental tax.[7]

Further information:
Media Information: Nick Davies  daviesnick@parliament.uk   020 7219 3297/07917488141
For written submissions to the Committee, please note:
Each submission should ideally:

•  Begin with a short summary in bullet point form;
•  Have numbered paragraphs; and
•  Be in Word format with as little use of colour or logos as possible.

A copy of the submission should be sent by e-mail to eacom@parliament.uk and marked ‘Budget 2013’. An additional paper copy should be sent to:

Clerk of the Committee
Environmental Audit Committee
House of Commons, 7 Millbank
London, SW1P 3JA

It would be helpful, for Data Protection purposes, if individuals submitting written evidence send their contact details separately in a covering letter. You should be aware that there may be circumstances in which the House of Commons will be required to communicate information to third parties on request, in order to comply with its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Please supply a postal address so a copy of the Committee’s report can be sent to you upon publication.
A guide for written submissions to Select Committees may be found on the parliamentary website at:

Guide for Witnesses to House of Commons Select Committees 

Please also note that:

• Material published elsewhere should not form the basis of a submission, but may be referred to within a proposed memorandum, in which case a hard copy of the published work should be included.
• Memoranda submitted must be kept confidential until published by the Committee, unless publication by the person or organisation submitting it is specifically authorised.
•  Once submitted, evidence is the property of the Committee. The Committee normally, though not always, chooses to make public the written evidence it receives, by publishing it on the internet (where it will be searchable), by printing it or by making it available through the Parliamentary Archives. If there is any information you believe to be sensitive you should highlight it and explain what harm you believe would result from its disclosure. The Committee will take this into account in deciding whether to publish or further disclose the evidence.

1 Environmental Audit Committee, Sixth Report of Session 2010-12, Budget 2011 and environmental taxes, HC 878 and Environmental Audit Committee, Twelfth Report of Session 2010-12, A Green Economy, HC 1025.  
2 HC Deb, 16 July 2012, Column 95WS. These reports are available on the Committee's publications page.
3 Environmental Audit Committee, Twelfth Report of Session 2010-12, A Green Economy, HC 1025.
4 Environmental Audit Committee, Second Special Report of Session 2012-13, A Green Economy: Government Response to the Committee’s Twelfth Report of Session 2010-12.
5 Environmental Audit Committee, Sixth Report of Session 2010-12, Budget 2011 and environmental taxes, HC 878.
6 Environmental Audit Committee, Sixth Special Report of Session 2010-12, Budget 2011 and environmental taxes: Government Response to the Committee’s Sixth Report of Session 2010-12.
7 HC Deb, 16 July 2012, Column 95WS. These reports are available on the Committee's publications page.

All Committee's reports are available from the Committee’s website.