GREENING GOVERNMENT REPORT
Summary of Recommendations and Conclusions
1. The Committee's conclusions and recommendations
are listed below:
Leadership
(a) We applaud the Government's objectives
on sustainable development. We believe that political leadership
from the very top is absolutely vital for the implementation of
this agenda. [paragraph 10]
(b) We believe that whenever the boundaries of
relevant government departments are changed the opportunities
for reinforcing sustainable development and integrating relevant
policy areas should be taken into account; and whenever relevant
Ministerial responsibilities are changed explicit arrangements
should be made to ensure that high-level political leadership
for sustainable development is maintained, preferably at the level
of Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister. [paragraph 14]
The Cabinet Committee on the Environment
(c) Given the weight placed on the strategic
function of the Cabinet Committee on the Environment (ENV) by
the Government, we were disappointed to discover that it did not
appear to have a proactive role. To this end we urge the Government
to review the operation of ENV and consider the following:
- the specific inclusion within the Cabinet
Committee's remit of sustainable development and the environmental
impact of policies which may not have specific environmental objectives;
- a more active role aimed at increasing
leadership and ownership of the sustainable development agenda
throughout government departments, particularly the twin tasks
of creating the Sustainable Development Strategy and revising
departmental aims and objectives;
- publication of significant decisions and
consequent requirements for supporting action by Green Ministers;
and
- consideration of regular published reports from
the Green Ministers Committee. [paragraph 20]
(d) We recommend that a monitoring programme
be instituted by DETR in conjunction with the Cabinet Office into
the effectiveness of the environmental statements accompanying
Cabinet papers. [paragraph 21]
Green Ministers
(e) We conclude that Green Ministers can
make a significant contribution to the Government's pursuit of
sustainable development as champions of it within their departments
and government as a whole. [paragraph 30]
(f) With more frequent substantive meetings and
a commitment to openness about its progress, the Green Ministers
Committee is a useful complement to the Cabinet Committee, ENV.
However, it can do more. We recommend that:
— the Deputy Prime Minister should chair
some meetings of the Green Ministers Committee whilst the Minister
for the Environment retains responsibility for taking forward
the Committee's programme;
— the authority and status of the Green
Ministers Committee should be further underpinned by a clearer
statement of its relationship to the Cabinet Committee;
— the Green Ministers Committee should
report to the Cabinet Committee on progress on an annual basis
and that this report should be published;
— the Green Ministers Committee's forthcoming
programme of action should contain concrete objectives and targets
for advancing the take-up of best practice with regard to greening
operations, environmental appraisal and policy integration; and
— the Committee should make full reports
to Parliament on its meetings and its progress on the programme.
[paragraph 31]
Support for the sustainable development agenda
(g) We recommend that Permanent Secretaries
should be given formal responsibilities for supporting their Green
Minister and delivering effective environmental appraisal of policy
and improvements in green housekeeping. [paragraph 34]
Devolving responsibility
(h) We would not regard the use of the term
"sustainable development" as a distortion of the intention
to further economic development of the regions. We believe the
Government's commitment to sustainable development means that
sustainability sets the bounds within which economic development
should take place. We would appreciate clarification of the fundamental
differences that the Government appears to see between the pursuit
of economic development and the pursuit of sustainable development.
[paragraph 40]
Local government
(i) We recommend that the Government consult
local authorities on whether to establish a statutory duty for
local authorities throughout the UK to develop Local Agenda 21
strategies for sustainable development. [paragraph 47]
(j) We believe that sustainability needs to be
clearly incorporated into other policy initiatives affecting local
government, such as the criteria for Best Value, so that there
are no inconsistencies in the expectations on local government.
[paragraph 48]
Advisory bodies
(k) We recommend that the Government should
commit itself to responding to all reports from its advisory bodies
on environmental and sustainable development issues within a specified
number of months. We would suggest three months in general and
six months for more detailed Royal Commission reports. [paragraph
51]
Conclusion
(l) Reviewing the Government's leadership
as a whole, our central conclusion is that while the stated intentions
are admirable, there appears to be some failure to grasp the overarching
nature of sustainable development and apply it. There needs to
be further strengthening of government mechanisms and a greater
commitment to high level championing. The Government's commitment
to sustainable development should be set out in clear and consistent
language in the aims and objectives of new bodies and new policies
and reflected in the aims and objectives of existing government
machinery and policies when revisited and relaunched. [paragraph
52]
Strategy
(m) We echo the view put by a number of witnesses
that the Sustainable Development Strategy and indicators needed
a fresh look, building on the work undertaken by the last Government.
We therefore welcome the Government's decision to produce a revised
UK strategy for sustainable development and new indicators and
targets. We look forward to the strategy demonstrating how substantive
changes in government policy are intended to deliver sustainable
development. [paragraph 56]
Timing of the revised strategy
(n) We consider the approach adopted to developing
this key strategy for government has been unsatisfactory with
many other major policy reviews being completed first and with
no formal link to the Comprehensive Spending Review. However,
the Committee considers this approach can still produce the basis
for a new commitment to sustainable development. Indeed the conclusion
of the Comprehensive Spending Review and the revision of the Sustainable
Development Strategy together provide an opportunity for revisiting
departmental aims and objectives in line with the goals of sustainable
development. [paragraph 58]
Engaging the community
(o) We consider that to achieve sustainable
development the whole community will need to be engaged in the
process. The strategy review is a good time for the Government
to work with others to get their commitment to action so that
the resulting strategy is to some degree owned by all relevant
bodies, UK, national and local. [paragraph 62]
(p) The Committee considers DETR should evaluate
the many strands of its work designed to help the public meet
the challenge of sustainable development to ensure that these
efforts are well directed. We recommend that the Government should
consider inviting one of its advisory bodies to contribute to
this evaluation by reviewing the nature and scale of the changes
in lifestyle and consumption patterns that may be needed in the
new century to achieve a more sustainable society; and the role
which the Government should play in promoting awareness and acceptance
of the need for such changes [paragraph 63]
The strategy
(q) The strategy should be auditable and
set out where responsibility lies within government for taking
the relevant actions. [paragraph 65]
Identifying indicators and targets
(r) We consider that identifying a core set
of indicators would make significant strides towards helping the
public understand sustainable development and hence the reason
for government action. [paragraph 67]
(s) We consider that a new single measure of
welfare could play a very useful part in increasing awareness
of the different elements that contribute to the well-being of
society and to the achievement of sustainable development. There
are technical and judgmental challenges in constructing such an
index, but we recommend that the Government should examine this
concept with a view to developing and publishing an index of this
kind itself by the year 2002. [paragraph 69]
(t) When the indicators of sustainable development
have been established there would be advantage in giving the responsibility
for maintaining the series to a free-standing and independent
body such as the Office for National Statistics. [paragraph 71]
(u) We expect to review the new targets against
the full range established by the last Government and ensure that
this Government account for any changes to the targets, both up
and down, and to ensure that they provide a comprehensive basis
for assessing the Government's performance. [paragraph 72]
Tax and spending
(v) Changes in public expenditure resulting
from the Comprehensive Spending Review should be analysed for
their impact on sustainable development. The Sustainable Development
Strategy should set out the Government's aims for any further
changes in the allocation of public expenditure and tax measures
within the economic and fiscal framework. [paragraph 78]
(w) We recommend that the Green Ministers Committee
should ask Treasury to review the accounting rules, incentives
and disincentives and any proposals for new investment programmes
to ensure that positive measures in pursuit of the Greening Government
Initiative are encouraged. [paragraph 80]
Reporting
(x) We consider that there is scope for improvement
in the Government's reporting on sustainable development. There
should be a range of separate but explicitly complementary reports
as follows:
- a comprehensive and detailed assessment
of the state of sustainable development within the UK. This should
be produced periodically and the Committee would envisage it being
produced once in a Parliament.
- an annual report on government performance against
its Sustainable Development Strategy and targets. This should
be agreed by the Cabinet Committee on the Environment and presented
to Parliament as a collective report from the Government; and
- an annual volume of sustainable development
indicator statistics with quarterly updates where available. [paragraph
85]
(y) In addition we consider that the annual departmental
reports should report on the progress individual departments have
made towards sustainable development objectives in an integrated
way. [paragraph 86]
(z) The production of reports, however, only
meets part of the requirement for the proper monitoring of policy
development and fulfilment. An equal necessity is a substantial
opportunity for full discussion and debate in Parliament. Taxation
and public expenditure decisions are discussed in the Budget and
the debate that follows. The Government's legislative programme
is debated after the annual Queen's Speech. If sustainable development
is to be truly at the heart of policy-making then there should
be a similar Parliamentary occasion when it too can be debated.
This would also give shape to annual reporting on sustainable
development and be an opportunity for significant announcements.
We therefore propose that each year there should be a major sustainable
development debate on a Government Motion relating to the annual
report. [paragraph 87]
Policy appraisal
(aa) We welcome the new guidance on Policy
Appraisal and the Environment and the renewal of government commitment
to environmental appraisal. [paragraph 92]
(bb) We are disappointed not to have found evidence
of more concerted efforts by departments to identify training
needs, particularly in the light of government commitment to the
Investors in People approach. We were also disappointed that the
Green Ministers Committee had not launched a training initiative
with the new guidance. We consider the Green Ministers should
provide leadership on this and departments should make a commitment
to a programme of training for the relevant staff.
[paragraph 95]
Reporting of environmental appraisal work
(cc) The Green Ministers Committee should
make a commitment that all public statements on new and substantially
amended policies and Explanatory Memoranda on Bills will include
a summary statement on their implications for sustainable development.
In addition Green Ministers should agree to the principle of setting
out options and their potential impacts on sustainable development
in consultation papers whenever possible and make initial appraisals
available at an early stage of policy development under Freedom
of Information procedures. [paragraph 100]
Departmental practices
(dd) The Committee considers that it will
be important for examples of new appraisal work to be made public
to show how the guidance is being implemented and to provide models
of practice to be considered by other departments. As an example
we look forward to the publication of the appraisal work on the
Roads Review and to seeing what account was taken of this work
in the decisions made. [paragraph 106]
(ee) We consider that departments should set
out publicly and much more clearly what their policy is on when,
and in what way, they undertake environmental appraisal; when,
and in what way, the environmental appraisal and the results are
available to Parliament and the public; and what management systems
they have in place to ensure that this policy is carried out.
[paragraph 107]
Review of environmental appraisal
(ff) We consider that the Green Ministers
Committee should commit itself to regular reviews of departments'
experience of environmental appraisal and to reporting the results
and outcome in its annual report to ENV. [paragraph 110]
(gg) We expect to be calling regularly on departments
to provide explanations of what environmental appraisal work was
carried out on particular policies. However, there will still
remain a gap for a periodic independent audit of government practice
in appraising the implications of policies for sustainable development
on a sample basis along the lines of the recent study of experience
with the 'Policy Appraisal and the Environment' Initiative. We
call upon the Green Ministers Committee to sponsor such audits
regularly. [paragraph 111]
Housekeeping
(hh) We expect the Green Ministers Committee
to agree further government wide mediumterm targets and
to commit themselves to start benchmarking departments' performance
using standardised measures for more than just energy efficiency
by the end of the century. [paragraph 120]
Reporting
(ii) Overall we were disappointed with the
reporting of housekeeping matters which was unsystematic, selective
and with only a limited attempt at quantification. The Committee
considers that the reporting of performance is one of the key
responsibilities of public service and should be at least as comprehensive
as companies' reports for their shareholders. We therefore welcome
the signs from Green Ministers that they will look again at their
reporting of the impacts their departments have on the environment.
[paragraph 127]
(jj) We consider the Green Ministers Committee
should exercise leadership on this matter and agree a more detailed
core reporting requirement that they will implement in all the
departments. This core could address energy use, water use, transport,
paper use and recycling, waste to landfill, procurement, emissions,
use of hazardous chemicals and contaminated land. Over time we
would expect departments to quantify their performance in these
key areas using standard measures and we would expect DETR to
provide us with data collated from across government. [paragraph
128]
Procurement
(kk) We consider that departments have done
well in adopting environmental procurement policies but this step
needs to be supported by strong management systems. The Committee
considers that at a minimum departments should incorporate the
additional policy commitments set out in the Model Policy Statement
and in addition departments should commit themselves to rigorous
investigation of suppliers' claims and regular audits of actual
procurement practices. [paragraph 140]
Executive Agencies and Non-Departmental Public
Bodies
(ll) We consider that not only should departments
be reviewing and clarifying how their environmental policy is
applied by their Agencies and NonDepartmental Public Bodies
but they should also be reviewing the targets they agree with
them, to ensure that all are taking their responsibilities seriously.
In particular departments should ensure that they roll out key
targets, such as energy efficiency, to key second and third tier
bodies including the NHS and the education sector. In addition
departments should review Agencies' and NonDepartmental
Public Bodies' reporting requirements in the light of changes
agreed to departmental reporting. [paragraph 148]
Environmental management systems
(mm) We recommend that the Government should
require all departments to have begun introducing an environmental
management system by the end of the Parliament with a view to
all having extended them across their estate by the earliest practical
date. The Committee also recommends to the Government that it
should adopt for itself the challenge it has thrown down for the
top 100 FTSE companies, namely that at least 75 per cent of government
departments should have at least one site registered to ISO14001
by 2001. [paragraph 158]
| 
