House of Commons
Wednesday 17 March 1999
The House met at half-past Nine o'clock
PRAYERS
[Madam Speaker in the Chair]
Greening Government Initiative
[Relevant document: The Second Report from the Environmental Audit Committee, Session 1997-98, on the Greening Government Initiative (HC 517).]
Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.--[Mr. Betts.]
Mr. John Horam (Orpington):
I am delighted to introduce this debate on the Environmental Audit Committee's report on the greening government initiative. I wish to express my gratitude to my colleagues on the Liaison Committee for recommending it for consideration today. The report was published on 30 June last year and the Government's reply was received in November. This is, of course, the first report from the Environmental Audit Committee to be debated in the House of Commons, because the Committee was set up as a result of a manifesto commitment by the incoming Labour Government--one pledge that I am glad that they honoured. I shall not comment on any other pledges, because that would be outside the remit of this debate.
I congratulate my colleagues on the Committee on the way in which they have pursued our remit. We have worked hard and produced eight reports in 15 months, which is a considerable strike rate--one with which even Yorke and Cole of Manchester United would be pleased. Our thanks are due to our excellent Clerk and his team and I also wish to thank the Comptroller and Auditor General for seconding one of his best people to our team.
In some Committees, it is traditional to produce a majority report that Government Members support wholeheartedly and a minority report that is supported by the Opposition. All our reports have been unanimous. I am glad of that, and I hope that it will continue.
Our remit is to consider to what extent the policies and programmes of Government Departments and non- departmental public bodies contribute to sustainable development and environmental protection, to audit their performance against such targets as shall be set for them by Ministers from time to time, and to report thereon to the House. Therefore, the report that we are considering today is central to our remit, because it is about the integration of the environment into Government decision making.
Our starting point is the Prime Minister's statement to the United Nations in New York in June 1997. He said:
The Committee has also made the point consistently in all its reports, and especially in this one, that the machinery can be the best in the world but, if political leadership is absent, nothing will be achieved. That was very evident in our report on the multilateral agreement on investment--the MAI--which collapsed totally because of a lack of political agreement. Governments cannot leave civil servants to take decisions that must be taken by politicians. It is unfair, and it does not work.
We have made it clear in all our reports that, on balance, leadership is coming from the Deputy Prime Minister, and the Minister for the Environment can also take some credit. However, we have been scathing about the lack of leadership and commitment from the Treasury. Hon. Members will know that the Chancellor got the booby prize in the green awards this year. However, since the Budget, we have seen evidence of some change in the Treasury's approach. It has been pointed out that the Budget implemented or reinforced 14 of the 18 measures mentioned in the pre-Budget report, which is a good record. Also, at long last, the Government have introduced a new measure of their own and not one that they have inherited from the previous Government and elaborated. I refer of course to the climate change levy. We must hope that their conversion is deep and long-lasting.
So, leadership is evolving, and should lead to a clear strategy. However, here we have yet to see the colour of the Government's money. They have said that their sustainable development strategy will be a catch-all document, but, although it was promised last autumn, it will not now be available until 7 May, at the earliest.
The strategy has been substantially delayed, although, as the Select Committee has repeatedly pointed out, we are nearly two years into this Government, and crucial environmental decisions have already been taken. There have been a review of energy sources and a moratorium on the building of gas-fired stations. We have had the Marshall report and the comprehensive spending review, which fixed spending for three years. There have been public service agreements for every Department, the climate change consultation document, decisions on green-field and brown-field sites, and the roads review. All those decisions have been taken without the benefit of an overarching view from the Government of their role in sustainable development, and that is a great pity.
The up side is that the Government have given themselves time. It is imperative that they produce the goods when they publish their sustainable development strategy. It is particularly important, in the Committee's view, that the strategy should be capable of being audited. Responsibilities for particular areas must be clearly allocated and targets must be attached. The Government are, of course, extremely keen on targets. There are targets for hospital waiting lists, for class sizes, for teachers and for everyone else. It is time that the Government set some targets for themselves in a central area of policy.
We look forward to receiving the new document. Far be it from me to advise the Government on spin, but I would advocate that the Prime Minister should launch the strategy himself. That would provide evidence of commitment at the highest level, both to the Prime Minister's own words and to a proper policy for sustainable development.
I must continue to criticise two glaring omissions in the Government's approach to environmental protection and sustainable development. First, we asked for a day's debate each year on the annual sustainable development review. The Government rejected that idea, arguing in their response to our report that
Mr. Dominic Grieve (Beaconsfield):
One advantage of setting aside a day each year is that it would enable minds to focus on what had been achieved over the previous year and on what difficulties had been experienced. Everyone appreciates that the agenda is difficult, and, if we do not have a day for such a debate, there may be a tendency for people to suggest that the issue is being brushed under the carpet.
Mr. Horam:
My hon. Friend is quite right. We are very glad to have an hour and a half for debate today, but that does not stand comparison, particularly after four days of debate on technicalities of the Budget--important though they are--with focusing the mind of Parliament on the complex issues involved in sustainable development. It is vital that a day each year should be attached to the Government's report on progress on sustainable development so that we may examine policies and programmes in their entirety across the whole landscape of the environment, including wildlife, green fields, pollution and climate change. That debate is essential if the Government are to enter into the spirit of what the Select Committee is proposing. Failure to provide it is one black mark against them.
Even worse is the gaping black hole in the Government's position. We have no evidence that new or substantially revised policies are being subjected toany environmental appraisal. In our report on the
comprehensive spending review, we asked three Departments to come up with such appraisals, but answer came there none.
9.34 am
"We must make the process of government green. Environmental considerations must be integrated into all our decisions, regardless of sector. They must be in at the start, not bolted on later."
17 Mar 1999 : Column 1036
I have often thought that the Committee should have that statement put on an illuminated manuscript and sent to the Prime Minister to hang in the rooms occupied by the policy unit at No. 10. Perhaps we should also put it on the internet, as one does with everything these days, to ensure that no one is unaware of it. It is a bold statement and, to address it properly, the Government first need to establish proper machinery. Sensibly, they have based the machinery that they have set up on what was done by the previous Government. The Committee makes various criticisms of that machinery in our report, and I am glad to say that the Government have responded and improved it. Those improvements are elaborated in the Government's response to the report. The Government have not done as much as we would like, because there are still some holes, but our conclusion is that the machinery is adequate for the task. At the very least, it is not an impediment to doing what we all wish to be done in terms of sustainable development and environmental protection.
"The broad scope of sustainable development means that there are likely to be a number of occasions each year when it can be debated in Parliament, for example in considering legislative proposals and the Budget."
The choice of the Budget as an example was rather unfortunate; the Minister for the Environment was not in his place for any of the Budget debate, and his boss, the Secretary of State, was scuba-diving in the Maldives. That is a clear example of how environmental protection and sustainable development are simply sidelined.
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