Corporate report

Statement of the Nuclear Decommissioning Funding Account for the period from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022 (accessible webpage)

Published 14 July 2022

Presented to Parliament pursuant to Section 32(5) of the Energy Act 2004

Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 14 July 2022

Foreword

Under Section 32(1) of the Energy Act 2004, the Secretary of State must prepare a Statement of the Nuclear Decommissioning Funding Account (the Statement). The Statement for 2021-22 is set out in this document.

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) became fully operational as a non-departmental body of the Department of Trade and Industry (now the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) on 1 April 2005. It is responsible for the decommissioning and clean-up of all designated civil public sector nuclear sites.

In addition to its decommissioning responsibility, the NDA is required to operate existing commercial activities on its sites until current contracts with United Kingdom and overseas customers have been met. The Government is committed to funding the costs of the decommissioning and clean-up of the civil nuclear liabilities arising at the NDA’s sites.

The Statement sets out the notional funding available from the Consolidated Fund for use by the NDA during 2021-22 on its activities and the funding that the NDA drew down from the Consolidated Fund during 2021-22. The underlying funding is accounted for within the Consolidated Fund, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s Annual Report and Accounts 2021-22 and the NDA’s Annual Report and Accounts 2021-22.

Sarah Munby
Permanent Secretary and Principal Accounting Officer

11 July 2022

The Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General to the Houses of Parliament

The Secretary of State is responsible for the preparation of a Statement of the Nuclear Decommissioning Funding Account (the Statement) in accordance with section 32(1) of the Energy Act 2004. The Statement shows the debits and credits recorded in the Nuclear Decommissioning Funding Account during the year ended 31 March 2022 under section 32(2) of the Energy Act 2004 and the determination made by the Secretary of State made under section 31(4)(c) of the Energy Act 2004.

My responsibility is to examine and report to Parliament on the Statement in accordance with section 32(5) of the Energy Act 2004. It is an agreed upon procedures engagement performed in accordance with International Standard on Related Services (ISRS) 4400.

International Standards on Quality (ISQC) 1 are applied to all of our work. My staff and I comply with the Financial Reporting Council’s Revised Ethical Standard 2019. I have also elected to apply the ethical standards relevant to listed entities. I am independent of the Nuclear Decommissioning Funding Account in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to my audit of the financial statements in the UK. My staff and I have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements.

I issue this agreed-upon procedures report to discharge my responsibility under section 32(5) of the Energy Act 2004. This report may not be suitable for another purpose.

An agreed-upon procedures engagement involves the practitioner (my team) performing procedures that have been agreed with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and reporting the findings. Findings are the factual results of the agreed upon procedures performed. The Accounting Officer of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has acknowledged that the agreed-upon procedures are appropriate for the purpose of the engagement.

The Accounting Officer is responsible for preparation of the Statement of the Nuclear Decommissioning Funding Account. I make no representation regarding the appropriateness of the agreed-upon procedures. This engagement is not an assurance engagement and accordingly, I do not express an opinion or an assurance conclusion. Had I performed additional procedures other matters might have come to my attention that would have been reported.

I confirm that the following agreed-upon procedures have taken place:

Nature and extent of procedures performed	Findings	Exceptions found
Check the Foreword relates to the correct period, that the format is appropriate	The Foreword relates to the correct period, the format is appropriate.	No exceptions have been found.
Confirmation that the NDFA Statement includes comparator figures that agree to the prior year’s financial statement, that the current-year figures agree to appropriate sources, casts and cross-casts correctly and that the format is appropriate and sufficiently clear	The NDFA Statement includes comparator figures that agree to the prior year’s financial statement, the current year figures agree to appropriate sources, casts and cross-casts correctly, Additionally the format is appropriately and sufficiently clear.	No exceptions have been found.
Obtain copy of the BEIS determination and confirm it to amounts presented in the NDFA accounts and confirm HM Treasury have provided consent to NDA’s BEIS determination.	A copy of the BEIS determination has been obtained and confirmed to the figures within the NDFA accounts. HM Treasury consent has been viewed for NDA’s BEIS determination	No exceptions have been found.
Confirm cash based Commercial receipts have been reported accurately	Cash based commercial receipts have been confirmed that they are reported accurately.	No exceptions have been found.
Confirm the Total Funding drawn down from Consolidated Fund to Grant in Aid in the audited BEIS financial statements.	The total funding drawn down from Consolidated Fund has been verified to Grant in Aid in the audited BEIS financial statements.	No exceptions have been found.

Gareth Davies

Comptroller and Auditor General
National Audit Office
157-197 Buckingham Palace Road
Victoria
London
SW1W 9SP

13 July 2022

Statement of Nuclear Decommissioning Funding Account 2021-22

	2021-22 Funding used (debits) £m	2021-22 Available funding (credits) £m	2020-21 Funding used (debits) £m	2020-21 Available funding (credits) £m
Balance at 1 April		10,319		9,419
Determination		3,429		3,468
Commercial receipts		481		689
Total funding available		14,229		13,576
Total funding drawn down from the Consolidated Fund	3,401		3,257
Balance at 31 March		10,828		10,319

Sarah Munby
Permanent Secretary and Principal Accounting Officer

11 July 2022

Secretary of State Nuclear Decommissioning Funding Account Determination Under Section 31(4) of the Energy Act 2004

As required by section 31(5)(d) of the Energy Act 2004 (the “Act”), I am publishing the determination I have made for the purposes of section 31(4)(c) in accordance with the statement to the House on 7 December 2004 (Column 86WS) under section 31(6)(a) of the Act, which sets out my policy with regard to the determination of amounts to be credited to the Nuclear Decommissioning Funding Account (“the NDFA”) under section 31(4)(c) of the Act.

Determination under section 31(4)(c) of the Energy Act 2004:

I hereby determine that the amount to be credited to the NDFA in relation to the financial year 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022 under section 31(4)(c) of the Act is £3,429,000,000.

The Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng MP
Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

12 July 2022