The NDA is charged with the mission to clean up the UK’s earliest nuclear sites safely, securely and cost effectively. UKGI performs the Shareholder Representative function for the NDA on behalf of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (“DESNZ”). The NDA is a complex Asset, governed by the Energy Act with responsibilities to the Secretary of State as well as to the Scottish Government. The NDA delivers its mission as a group via its operating companies, all of whom have their own governance arrangements, and some of whom are regulated by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (“ONR”). The NDA structure has developed significantly in recent years, as the NDA has brought its Operating Companies into NDA ownership as subsidiaries. As part of this the NDA has sought to update and codify its governance arrangements internally, and with government.
In 2023, in collaboration with the NDA and DESNZ, UKGI began to update the NDA’s Framework Document, the broad governance and management framework within which the NDA operates and interacts with government. The update focussed on recognising the NDA’s move to a group structure, and establishes a ‘golden thread’ of accountability from Ministers (both UK and Scottish), to the Principal Accounting Officer (DESNZ Permanent Secretary), the Accounting Officer (NDA Chief Executive), and the operating companies, while recognising the role of the NDA Board, Operating Company boards, the regulatory environment of the ONR, and other stakeholders. Furthermore, the update also brought the Framework Document into line with the latest standard format introduced by HM Treasury (“HMT”) in 2022, aimed at making Framework Documents more consistent across government for ease of use.
UKGI acted as key interlocutor with the NDA group on behalf of government, leading engagement with government colleagues in DESNZ, HMT, and the Scottish Government; whilst the NDA coordinated across its operating companies. The resulting Framework Document, drafted in 2023/24 but published following the General Election (on gov.uk here) describes the NDA’s governance framework, brings the internal governance arrangements of the NDA, developed in coordination with its operating companies, into a government context, and sets out clear lines of accountability from the group into government.