Although DESNZ clarified that gas networks will be needed for some considerable time, it accepted that it needed to increase its work to look at future decommissioning. The NAO found that DESNZ’s work on the costs and feasibility of gas network decommissioning was in the initial stages, and its understanding was therefore limited. DESNZ indicated that it had a consultation underway with Ofgem to identify the early issues around decommissioning the gas network.71 Our previous reports have demo...

Although DESNZ clarified that gas networks will be needed for some considerable time, it accepted that it needed to increase its work to look at future decommissioning. The NAO found that DESNZ’s work on the costs and feasibility of gas network decommissioning was in the initial stages, and its understanding was therefore limited. DESNZ indicated that it had a consultation underway with Ofgem to identify the early issues around decommissioning the gas network.71 Our previous reports have demonstrated that a limited upfront understanding of the costs of decommissioning in other sectors such 63 DHH0050 64 DHH0053 65 DHH0003 66 Q 94; C&AG’s Repo Type: conclusion | Number: 35 | Response status: not_accepted Government response: 6.3 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. 6.4 The department disagrees with the recommendation as a full assessment will require more time than proposed by the former Committee. However, the department acknowledges that there are a range of