APPENDIX 12
Memorandum from the Green Minister, Department
for Education and Employment
INTRODUCTION
As requested by the Environmental Audit Committee,
this memorandum covers:
— role of the Green Minister;
— Departmental environmental strategy;
— sustainable development;
— impacts on the environment;
— greening the Department's operations;
and
— environmental strategies and commitment
to sustainable development of bodies sponsored by the Department.
A. Role of the Green Minister within the Department
The Green Minister is responsible for identifying
opportunities for DfEE to assess the environmental impact of its
policies and programmes, and the contribution made by the Department's
activities to the Government's sustainable development objectives.
The Minister will also assess the contribution made to environmental
protection by the Department's activities including sustainable
development education, provision of advice on the environmental
impact of school buildings and exploring new ways in which programmes
such as the Environment Task Force can be used to assist in areas
with particularly severe environmental difficulties. The Minister
is also responsible for DfEE's commitment to Greening its Operations,
and will ensure that efforts to reduce the Department's energy
consumption, to reduce waste and to develop a Green Transport
Plan are taken forward.
DfEE's Briefing Division co-ordinates the Department's
efforts on sustainable development and environmental protection
and provides briefing to the Green Minister. Overall responsibility
for the work rests with the Divisional Manager. The Green Contact
is Briefing Unit 2's Team Leader at grade 7 level supported by
an HEO. Briefing Division liaises with some 10 policy and operational
teams who provide briefing contributions and who are responsible
for taking forward policy areas which include environmental concerns.
Education teams involved include those with responsibility for
advice on school buildings, sustainable development education
and school transport. Teams responsible for environmental training
and Welfare to Work, including the Environment Task Force, also
contribute. Estates and Office Services Division are responsible
for progressing "Greening Government Operations". [Note:
The role of the Department's Briefing Division is currently under
review. The Committee will be informed of any changes in respect
of support for the Green Minister if they occur.]
Although DfEE was identified by the KPMG report
on environmental appraisal as a Department with relatively low
environmental impact, all of the Department's policies and programmes
contribute to the Government's sustainable development objectives
in the widest sense. The most significant contributions are in
the area of economic development and reducing social exclusion
through programmes such as the New Deal. The environmental impact
of the New Deal has been discussed by officials from the Employment
Service and DETR to ensure a correct balance is achieved between
the programme's principal objective of furthering individuals'
employability and environmental objectives.
B. Environmental Strategy
As DfEE's policies have a relatively low environmental
impact, to date the environmental focus has been mainly on developing
strategies for greening operations.
The Department is committed to carrying out
government business efficiently and with minimal negative environmental
impact. This includes increasing awareness of the need to improve
the environment and applying Environmental Management Systems
(EMS) principles and practices for its own sites. Each site has
adopted an informal EMS but the Department is looking to formalise,
tighten and improve these and to issue a code which will standardise
procedures across all sites. The Department has produced a new
policy statement on Greening Operations in line with guidance
recently received from DETR.
There are some concerns regarding the resource
implications of developing environmental management systems for
housekeeping activities. The Department is looking to develop
a suitable EMS and will be seeking guidance from DETR and probably
consultancy help. Certification is being considered as part of
this process.
DfEE's objective on energy is to meet the Government
commitment of a 20 per cent improvement over 1990-91 levels of
consumption by the year 2000. The Department's objective on waste
is to reduce solid waste produced from its premises to 10 per
cent below 1997-98 levels by March 2000 through using resources
more efficiently and improving recycling schemes.
DfEE Policy Divisions have been encouraged to
ensure that NDPBs for which they are responsible have green policies.
We shall remind policy teams of their responsibilities in this
area and bring the new policy statement on greening operations
and the guidance on environmental appraisal to NDPBs' and agencies'
attention.
The Departmental Report is the principal method
by which the Department's environmental strategy targets and environmental
impacts of its policies are brought to the attention of the public.
The Report is produced once a year.
The approach for educating and training staff
in green housekeeping issues will be similar to that used for
health and safety i.e., an ongoing programme of education organised
by development centres using self teaching through IT.
C. Sustainable Development
The DfEE's Welfare to Work objectives and those
concerned with improving education standards, including basic
skills, are good examples of the Department's objectives contributing
to sustainable development through improving economic prosperity
and ensuring that economic and environmental benefits are available
to everyone.
Staff have been made aware of the Department's
proposed aims and objectives in the consultation exercise "Learning
and Working Together for the Future". The aims and objectives
are also available to all staff via its on line "Intranet"
computer network.
D. The Department's impacts on the environment
DfEE's programmes and policies are people orientated
and, as the KPMG study reported, tend to have a limited impact
on the environment. As mentioned above, all the Department's activities
have impacts on sustainable development objectives of improving
economic prosperity and tackling social exclusion.
However, there are a number of areas in which
the Department's activities can affect the environment to a certain
extent. These include:
— provision of guidance on the environmental
impact of new school buildings to enable architects and designers
to assess their environmental impact at the design stage and allow
building users to assess the environmental performance of existing
schools;
— consideration of ways to reduce the
use of cars for trips to and from school;
— working with DETR to support the
new Panel on Sustainable Development Education;
— the New Deal, which will help young
unemployed people aged 18-24 who have been unemployed for six
months to get back into work, and in particular the Environment
Task Force which will provide the opportunity for people unemployed
for six months to get back to work and attain an approved qualification
while working on projects of direct benefit to the environment;
— helping to support the business benefits
of environmental training through the Department's work with the
Environmental Training Organisation and others and the development
of National Vocational qualifications in conservation and environmental
management.
E. Policy Appraisal
No formal environmental policy appraisals have
yet been carried out by DfEE. The "Policy Appraisal and the
Environment" document was distributed to DfEE policy divisions
with instructions to consider the environmental effects of their
activities and initiatives. As mentioned above, informal work
on appraising the environmental impacts of the Department's programmes
has been carried out, for example in the context of the New Deal.
DfEE is willing to undertake formal environmental
policy appraisals where appropriate and welcomes the Guidance
due to be published shortly by DETR. We will take the opportunity
of distributing the new Guidance to all policy divisions. In developing
its systems, DfEE would welcome advice, as offered in the guidance,
from DETR's Sustainable Development Unit and appraisal experts
on establishing systems and on carrying out appraisals.
DfEE's Comprehensive Spending Review has made
no specific recommendations with regard to the environment.
F. Greening the Department's operations
The major achievements in greening operations
have been putting a major building onto a heat and power system
utilising waste material as fuel and replacing its natural gas
consumption; having the former Employment Department Head Quarters
building achieve the 15 per cent energy target; taking early action
to reduce water consumption; and setting a target for solid waste.
The Department is committed through its buying
decisions to require that all purchases are made in accordance
with its Policy Statement on Greening Operations is i.e., to:
— ensure that the practice of its buyers
is demonstrably achieved by conducting at least one pilot project
or environmental audit covering an operational area or function;
— take account of whole life costs
and not just the initial price when assessing value for money;
— positively discriminate in favour
of recycled products and, where practicable, re-refined mineral
oils where they provide value for money;
— use the European Commission's mandatory
energy labelling scheme by giving preference to the most energy
efficient products where they give value for money, taking account
of whole life costs;
— use the European Commission's eco-labelling
Scheme, i.e., by buying products bearing such labels in preference
to others where they are available and provide value for money;
and
— evaluate, as appropriate, the environmental
performance of tenderers when relevant to the contract.
Although, as mentioned above, the former Employment
Department Headquarters achieved the target reduction in energy
usage over the 1990-91 baseline, overall consumption for the Department
as a whole rose by 17 per cent. This was largely due to the fact
that the former Department for Education moved to different premises
during the period. The new building is not comparable with the
former building for example, it is air conditioned but continues
to be measured against the original baseline. Another reason for
the increase in energy usage is that the Department is using space
more efficiently. This has led to a greater concentration of IT
equipment in less space and, in turn to higher energy consumption
per square metre. Efforts continue to reduce consumption. We shall
be seeking advice from consultants on how consumption can be reduced;
we shall draw on best practice from occupiers of comparable buildings;
and we shall ensure that IT is used in a more efficient manner,
for example by replacing older computers with more energy efficient
models.
G. Departmental Agencies, NDPBs and other sponsored
bodies
The DfEE Policy Statement on Greening Operations
applies to all parts of the Department and to its Agencies and
Non Departmental Public Bodies. As mentioned above, DfEE policy
divisions have been encouraged to ensure that their NDPBs have
green policies and the Department will ensure that the policy
statement and guidance on environmental appraisal is brought to
their attention.
The Employment Service is also committed to
reducing energy use and to safeguarding the environment in its
operations. The Agency plans to issue further publicity material
and guidance during 1998 to promote good housekeeping and raise
staff awareness to the principles of energy efficiency and good
environmental practices in the work place. A section on the Employment
Service's environmental performance is included in DfEE's Departmental
Report.
February 1998
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