SECR: the UK’s energy and carbon disclosure, explained

SECR, Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting, is the UK duty on quoted companies, large unquoted companies and large LLPs to publish their energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, an emissions intensity ratio, their methodology and the principal energy efficiency measures they took, every financial year, in the directors’ report or, for an LLP, an energy and carbon report.

It was created by SI 2018/1155 and applies to financial years beginning on or after 1 April 2019.

Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting.

“Streamlined” describes the policy choice: instead of a separate energy return, like the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme it followed, the disclosure was attached to a report companies already had to prepare and file.

The regulations themselves use neither the name nor the acronym.

Three groups: every quoted company, at any size; unquoted companies that exceed at least two of £36 million turnover, £18 million balance sheet total and 250 employees, on a two-year rule; and LLPs over the same limits.

AIM companies are unquoted for this purpose.

DESNZ’s 2026 evaluation measured about 19,900 organisations in scope.

Yes, for the organisations in scope.

It is a statutory disclosure in the annual report, not a voluntary scheme.

A company in scope that leaves the section out has filed a defective directors’ report, even though there is no SECR-specific penalty.

No. SECR is a disclosure, not an accreditation: there is no SECR certificate, no SECR audit and no body that approves a SECR report.

The statutory auditor reads the directors’ report for consistency with the accounts.

Some companies commission voluntary assurance over their energy and emissions data, but it is not a SECR requirement.

With the accounts.

SECR has no filing date of its own: a private company or LLP files nine months after the end of its accounting reference period and a public company six months, under section 442 of the Companies Act 2006.

SECR is an annual public disclosure in the annual report, with a two-of-three size test and no regulator of its own.

ESOS is a four-yearly energy assessment notified to the Environment Agency, with its own test — at least 250 employees, or turnover in excess of £44 million and a balance sheet in excess of £38 million — and civil penalties.

Many organisations are in both.

No. DESNZ’s May 2026 post-implementation review recommends retaining it with amendments.

The government’s Modernising Corporate Reporting consultation proposes abolishing the directors’ report and moving SECR elsewhere in the annual report, which would change its location, not the duty.

The FCA’s UK SRS rules for listed companies, published on 30 September 2026, sit alongside SECR.

An unquoted company or LLP is exempt while it meets two or more of the “not more than” limits of £36 million turnover, £18 million balance sheet and 250 employees, on the two-year rule.

A subsidiary included in a compliant group report does not report separately.

Beyond that there are disclosure reliefs, not exemptions: a company using 40,000 kWh or less may leave the figures out, and figures that are not practical to obtain or would be seriously prejudicial may be withheld — but each relief needs a statement in the report.

About 19,900 quoted companies, large unquoted companies and large LLPs, measured by DESNZ’s independent evaluation published on 29 January 2026 and restated in the May 2026 review.

The 2018 impact assessment had forecast 11,300.

DESNZ’s evaluation puts suspected non-compliance at 14–23%, a band triangulated from three sources: machine-reading of filed accounts, which overestimates it; a business survey; and FRC reviews, which underestimate it.

The gap is concentrated among private companies and LLPs.

The evaluation measured a mean ongoing cost of £7,100 a year per complier: about 94 hours of internal staff time, worth around £2,500, plus external costs for the 56% of compliers who incur them.

The 2018 impact assessment had predicted £2,300. These are measured averages, not prices for any service.

At least one ratio expressing the company’s annual emissions in relation to a quantifiable factor associated with its activities, such as tonnes of CO2e per £ million of turnover, per square metre or per tonne of output.

The company chooses the factor, which the 2026 review says hampers comparison between reporters.

They are separate duties.

UK SRS S2 is the climate standard published by DBT on 25 February 2026; under the FCA’s PS26/19, listed companies in five listing categories report against UK SRS on a comply-or-explain basis for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027.

SECR continues for quoted companies and for large unquoted companies and LLPs, and its Scope 1 and 2 data is a natural starting point for S2’s emissions metrics.