APPENDIX 3
Memorandum from Department for Education
and Employment
INTRODUCTION
The DETR document "Opportunities for change"
defines sustainable development in the following way:
"Sustainable development is a very simply
idea. It is about ensuring a better quality of life for everyone,
now and for generations to come.
To achieve this, sustainable development is concerned
with achieving economic growth, in the form of higher living standards,
while protecting and where possible enhancing the environment—not
just for its own sake but because a damaged environment will sooner
or later hold back economic growth and lower the quality of life—and
making sure that these economic and environmental benefits are
available to everyone, not just to a privileged few."
The Department has a key role in delivering
the social and economic part of the Government's policies which
support the sustainable development agenda. The aim of the Department
is to give everyone the chance, through education, training and
work, to realise their full potential and therefore build an inclusive
and fair society and a competitive economy. Raising educational
standards is the Government's number one priority with the vision
of enhancing quality of life, now and for the future.
The Government wishes all children to leave
school with the knowledge and skills to succeed in the world and
with a passion for self-development that sustains them through
life. It wants to widen participation in learning so that people
have access to the skills that will keep them employable. And
it wants to help people, particularly those at a disadvantage
in the labour market, to find and retain work so that they can
lead satisfying lives and play a full part in society. The New
Deals for the young and the long-term unemployed are a radical
programme which will make an invaluable contribution to the lives
of individuals, to the effectiveness of the economy, and to greater
social justice and cohesion.
The Department also takes seriously its responsibilities
on environmental matters. The majority of expenditure within DfEE
responsibility is undertaken by others, in particular local authorities
and institutions of further and higher education. The Department
exercises influence over those bodies through a variety of means
and where possible it is taking action to ensure that its policies
and programmes enhance the environment. Particular examples of
these include environmental considerations in work on school buildings
and school energy use, work on education for sustainable development
and environmental considerations in the school curriculum and
through the New Deal Environmental Task Force.
MAIN STAGES
OUTPUTS AND
DECISION PROCESSES
OF THE
CSR
The main stages, outputs and decision processes
of the DfEE CSR were as follows:
— A new aim and objectives for the
DfEE were agreed by Ministers in the summer of 1997 to reflect
the direction set by the Manifesto, and a consultation exercise
launched in September 1997. As indicated above, the new aim and
objectives play a central role in the Government's delivery of
sustainable development, through enhancing the quality of life
both now and for the future through better education and training
and reducing social exclusion. The aim and objectives are set
out in appendix 1;
— The review process examined each
of the three policy areas covered by the objectives: schools;
lifelong learning, further and higher education; and employment.
The process was focused on reviewing policy and delivery to ensure
that spending programmes supported the new aim and objectives.
Treasury, DETR, DSS and the Efficiency Unit were represented on
the review as were some external representatives from industry
and local government.
— Interim findings in September 1997
led to Ministerial decisions on reallocation of resources for
1998-99 and informed overarching interim reports to PX committee
in October and November 1997.
— Final conclusions from the review
lead to Ministerial decisions on the policy proposals to put to
PX committee in a report, submitted in March.
— Following discussions within Government,
the CSR White Paper was published in July 1998.
INDIVIDUAL QUESTIONS
1. Were the sustainable development implications
(positive and negative) from DfEE policy identified?
— at what stage of the process?
— was the comprehensiveness of this
work confirmed by reference to any outside source?
As indicated above, the role of the CSR was
to ensure that DfEE programmes and policies supported the Department's
new aim and objectives. Throughout, this meant that policies were
designed to support the economic and social side of the Government's
sustainable development agenda. The CSR settlement provides the
funds for a wide-ranging programme of reforms, in particular:
to boost standards of literacy and numeracy by age 11; to cut
truancy and exclusion by one third; to increase participation
in nursery education; to reduce class sizes for infants; to raise
levels of attainment at all levels post 16; to increase access
to further and higher education for more than 500,000 additional
students; and to increase the proportion of those from lower income
groups staying on in education. The Government believes that these
reforms will transform standards in the education service and
give everyone in society the opportunity to realise their full
potential.
2. Within the CSR process did you explore with
DETR, and in particular the Sustainable Development Unit, how
your department could contribute to more sustainable development
in accordance with the Government's policy? If so, what was the
outcome?
As explained above, the sustainable development
objective of improving the quality of life both now and for the
future was central to the Department's CSR. DETR was closely involved
in the development of schools policy proposals in the CSR through
their involvement in the review process, and has been involved
in drafting the guidance for local authorities on the use of the
New Deal for Schools funds.
3. The Chancellor said that "before allocations
are made from the CSR, departments will have to demonstrate how
they propose to root out unjustified subsidies". Did the
review identify policies and/or subsidies which have
(a) an adverse environmental impact;
(b) run contrary to sustainable development
objectives;
(c) could be considered to be unjustified
in the Chancellor's terms?
If so, please briefly describe each one and
your plans for addressing the matter.
The Government had already identified in its
election manifesto the need to abolish the Assisted Places Scheme
and ensure that there were no unfair funding privileges for any
particular categories of school. This Bill to abolish the APS
was the Government's first piece of legislation and the new Fair
Funding arrangements will provide for all categories of schools
to be treated fairly. The Government also identified in its response
to the Dearing Inquiry that maintenance grants to students in
higher education should be replaced by loans in order to modernise
the present student support arrangements and make them fairer.
New primary legislation enables the Government
to fulfil the Manifesto commitment to protect local authority
school playing fields from indiscriminate disposal or change of
use. Since 1 October 1998, local authorities have required the
prior consent of the Secretary of State before they may dispose
of school playing fields or change their use to a purpose other
than for a maintained school or for recreation. This now provides
a check against such land being sold off for development.
The public sector subsidises home to school
transport to assist pupils to attend school and DfEE consequently
has a duty to consider its environmental impact and promote affordable,
healthy, safe and environmentally friendly routes to school. DfEE
is working closely with DETR and the Department of Health in support
of the newly launched School Travel Advisory Group's objectives
and on the Safer Routes to School (SRS) Initiative. Both initiatives
support the objective in the integrated Transport White Paper
of advising schools, local authorities and transport planners
on how they can work together to improve the local transport environment
for school children and encourage parents and children to use
alternative modes such as walking, cycling and public transport
wherever possible. The Department is also represented on DETR's
National Walking Strategy Group, which is due to publish a report
later in the year which will give advice on SRS.
The Department is also taking initiatives which
will reduce travel costs in lifelong learning. Part of the planned
expansion in student numbers will take place in local FE colleges
and there will be an increase in distance learning programmes.
Increased reliance on IT will reduce waste by making education
and training materials available electronically—in particular
through the University for Industry and the National Grid for
Learning, but also in individual projects, for example a proposed
project at Imperial College to provide an audio-visual link-up
which reduces the need for travel between teaching sites. The
National Grid will have a wide impact on schools, ensuring that
all schools are connected to the Internet and effectively allowing
all schoolchildren access to the world's leading museums and libraries
and ensuring that pupils leave school fully computer literate
and able to take their part in the information age.
4. Did the Department undertake environmental
appraisals of the new spending proposals in the CSR, in particular
the proposals for increased capital spending on school buildings;
and for extra resources for further and higher education infrastructure
and expansion in the number of places? If environmental appraisals
were carried out, were they submitted to the Treasury? Please
list the new policies which were subject to environmental appraisal
and provide the Committee with a copy of the report of the results
of the environmental appraisals. If environmental appraisals were
not carried out, please provide the reasons for this. And, please
confirm whether the Department carried out initial screening exercises
to determine whether environmental appraisal would be required.
What were the conclusions?
Delivery of the spending programmes within DfEE
responsibility is principally undertaken by others, in particular
local authorities and institutions of further and higher education.
In many instances, the operational impact may need to be assessed
by the service deliverer and DfEE's role is to issue guidance.
However, where new policies are being considered, DfEE standing
instructions require that there is an initial screening for environmental
impact to assess whether a full environmental appraisal is required.
So far during the CSR, none of the initial screenings have lead
to a full environmental appraisal because no initial screening
indicated a significant environmental impact.
School building work is dealt with in detail
in the answer to the following question.
Further and higher education institutions are
autonomous bodies, and as such Ministers cannot instruct them
on what subjects to include within their curricula or how to manage
their estates; although Ministers can, to some extent, seek to
influence via the Further Education Funding Council (FEFC) and
the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). The
Department does also have strong links with the Association of
Colleges (AoC), which represents the heads of FE colleges, and
the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals (CVCP) and the
Standing Committee of Principals (SCOP) which represent the heads
of universities and colleges of higher education. The Department
does not issue specific guidance on how institutions design and
manage their building projects as a matter of course. But as with
all other buildings work, institutions must adhere to the relevant
planning and environmental health legislation.
The FEFC has included improved energy efficiency
and improved space utilisation in the criteria against which it
assesses capital projects by colleges. Whilst these were cost-efficiency
measures, rather than explicit responses to environmental issues,
the FEFC estimated that, in the period 1993-94 to 1996-97, the
total floor area of colleges in the sector fell by 4 per cent,
whilst student numbers increased by 19 per cent. The FEFC has
not included reference to environmental issues in its publications
on estate management. However, the FEFC intends in 1999 to update
its guidance to colleges on estate management, and may include
reference to the need to consider environmental issues in the
choice of building materials and energy sources.
Moves towards rationalisation of college accommodation
can free up brown field sites for development, and a range of
partnerships are under development designed to tap the development
potential of inner-city FE sites. College building plans are subject
to planning permission through the normal planning application
processes. Those processes will often require proper consideration
of environmental implications of proposals; for example, West
Herts College has recently, in support of a planning application,
produced a "Green Commuter Policy".
Last year, the Department wrote to HEFCE, CVCP
and SCOP saying that it wished to encourage greater awareness
of environmental matters and further dissemination of good practice
in the sector. The HEFCE replied with details of the environmental
audits it had carried out in conjunction with CVCP and SCOP and
of its work with the Forum for the Future (a body driving forward
an initiative called "Sustainability Challenge—Environmental
Excellence in Higher Education"). Many institutions exhibit
good practice—for example the University of East London
is presently building its new "Docklands" campus on
a brown field site. Another example is an innovative partnership
between Falmouth College of Arts and a housing association to
build student accommodation on a disused quarry site.
The Department has not included guidance on
environmental issues in previous guidance to either FEFC or HEFCE.
It is intended that such a reference should be made in the forthcoming
grant letters to both Councils.
The Department's New Deal for young unemployed
people includes as an option to work on the Environmental Task
Force. This provides young workers for environmental projects
and at the same time improves the young people's prospects of
finding paid work. From the start of the New Deal to the end of
September, 2,820 young people have worked on the Environmental
Task Force. The net benefit to the environment was a consideration
behind the development of this training option.
5. Will the new policies in the DfEE CSR now be
subject to further environmental appraisal? If so, please explain
what the requirements are for this appraisal and any related approval
processes, including the timing of the various stages and documents
The new policies in the DfEE CSR will be subject
to environmental appraisal, as are all DfEE policies. There is
a standing arrangement whereby any submission from officials to
Ministers in relation to a proposed consultation paper, a major
announcement or a new legislative proposal is required to include
either an environmental appraisal or confirmation that an initial
screening has shown such an appraisal to be unnecessary. All DfEE
Divisional Managers, and the Chief Executive of the Employment
Service, are aware of this requirement and have been provided
with copies of the DETR leaflet "Policy Appraisal and the
Environment" (published April 1998) to help them fulfil it.
6. What arrangements has the Department made to
consider the sustainable development implications of schools'
investment projects before allocating funding? Please describe
the way bids for funding will be sought and funds allocated and
how sustainable development considerations will be addressed within
these arrangements (NB sustainable development implications may
include building design impacts on water and energy use; impacts
on transport patterns; and on social equity)
The Department takes initiative on a number
of fronts to ensure that environmental considerations are properly
taken into account in schools building work. These are set out
in detail in the attached Annex 2.
7. Has the Department set any prerequisites regarding
sustainable development implications of new investments or targets,
for example for reduced energy use in modernised facilities compared
with facilities replaced?
The current annual schools' energy bill is around
£240 million, which represents a reduction of around 11 per
cent. since 1989-90, using current prices. With regard to greenhouse
gases, the rate of reduction over the same period has been greater,
from 5.5 million tonnes of CO2 in 1989-90 to around
3.7 million tonnes per year, a drop of 32 per cent. Further investment
in energy saving schemes will be possible using the CSR funds
and this should reduce carbon dioxide emissions by a further 10
per cent. over the next five years.
Replacement of old temporary hutted classrooms
and the removal of structurally defective blocks made possible
with CSR funds will target some of the most inefficient buildings.
In the designs of their replacements the use of construction materials
and products which are of an environmentally friendly nature will
be encouraged to minimise the depletion of non-renewable resources.
The CSR investment in school buildings will
also target a number of existing problems at schools which have
serious Health and Safety and environmental implications. These
include:
— the removal of 40 per cent. of the
surplus places in schools will reduce energy requirements and
contribute towards the reduction in CO2 emissions;
— the removal of lead pipework from
the drinking supplies of pupils;
— reduction of the potential risk to
pupils and staff from the presence of asbestos; and
— substantial savings on water.
Like all Government Departments, DfEE has a
target of reducing its energy consumption by 20 per cent. by 2000,
against a base year of 1990. A substantial plank of the Department's
approach is the powering of one of the Department's principal
headquarters buildings (Moorfoot in Sheffield) by the Sheffield
Heat and Power District Heating System. The system produces heat
by burning refuse, which would otherwise go for landfill. The
Employment Service's three year estates plan also includes measures
to reduce the fuel and utilities consumed in its buildings to
meet the 20 per cent. target.
8. Within the Service Development Fund will monies
be earmarked for different types of service development? (E.g.,
literacy, numeracy, stretching high achievers, addressing social
exclusion.)
The Service Development Fund has been set up
to ensure the right balance between the existing agenda and those
areas where policy is still being developed. Consequently it is
too early to say what the Fund's programmes will be. However,
all activities within the Service Development Fund will support
the achievement of the DfEE's aim and objectives. Allocations
from the Fund will be conditional on agreement to initiatives
which build on essential reforms and offer the best value for
money.
9. Why has the Department not explicitly reflected
in its revised aims and objectives a responsibility to ensure
that all young people understand and can contribute to the particular
challenge of moving the world from unsustainable growth to sustainable
development?
DfEE considers that an understanding of sustainable
development is an integral part of citizenship education, which
is referred to in the first of the Department's revised objectives
("To ensure that all young people reach 16 with the highest
standards of basic skills and a secure foundation for lifelong
learning, work and citizenship"). The Advisory Group on Education
for Citizenship and the Teaching of Democracy in Schools is one
of a number of advisory panels assisting with the current review
of the National Curriculum.
At the same time another advisory group—the
Sustainable Development Education Panel—has been specifically
considering education for sustainable development in the schools
sector. In its report to the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority,
for the National Curriculum review, the Panel has used as its
starting point the following definition:
"Education for sustainable development enables
people to develop the knowledge, values and skills to participate
in decisions about the way we do things individually and collectively,
both locally and globally, that will improve the quality of life
now without damaging the planet for the future."
The Panel's report goes on to recommend key
concepts of sustainable development that, in the Panel's view,
should apply throughout education from ages five to 19: the interdependence
of society, the economy and the natural environment; citizenship
and stewardship; the needs and rights of future generations; cultural,
social economic and biological diversity; quality of life, equity
and justice; sustainable change; and uncertainty and precaution
in action. It then sets out learning outcomes for each Key Stage
of the National Curriculum and for the 16-19 phase, specifying
the values, skills and knowledge which pupils should have acquired
by the ages of 7, 11, 14, 16 and 19.
The task of the Preparation for Adult Life Group
at QCA will be to consider the recommendations of these two groups,
as well as advisory groups on personal, social and health education
and on creative and cultural education, and make detailed proposals
for practical delivery of the recommendations in schools within
a coherent curriculum package which schools can implement without
increased burdens on them.
10. Why has the Department not made a commitment
in its revised objectives to pursuing its objectives in a way
which addresses their environmental impacts and implications for
sustainable development?
As outlined above, the DfEE's revised objectives
(annex 1) contribute to sustainable development and in particular
to the objectives of "social progress which recognises the
needs of everyone" and "maintenance of high and stable
levels of economic growth and employment".
Initiatives which contribute toward sustainable
development include the range of measures to raise standards in
education (for example, reduced class sizes, the literacy and
numeracy strategy, and Education Action Zones); and measures to
increase employability and reduce social exclusion (for example,
reducing school truancy and exclusion, reintroducing the value
of education and training to disaffected youth, the New Deals
and Employment Zones.)
An independent study commissioned by the former
Department of the Environment[1]
identified the Department as one whose policies have only a low
impact on the environment. Where appropriate, however, the Department
provides support in a number of policy areas to ensure that the
Government's environmental objectives are progressed. For example:
— DfEE has helped to establish and
service the Sustainable Development Education Panel;
— advice and funding has been given
to schools to support energy saving measures and environmental
improvements;
— DfEE is working closely with DETR
on reducing car use for journeys to school; and
— the environmental outcomes of the
Environment Task Force option of the New Deal are carefully considered
at all stages of its delivery.
The importance of sustainable development and
environmental issues is acknowledged in DfEE's new strategic framework,
which underpins the Department's aims and objectives.
11. Will the Department's public service agreement
address its management of inputs and environmental impacts as
well as outputs? Will it extend to services delivered by local
authorities? And by further and higher education?
The PSA will principally be focused on performance
outputs—the targets which the DfEE will be committed to
delivering with the CSR resources, although it will also include
efficiency measures. The targets are in furtherance of the DfEE's
aims and objectives which are designed to support the economic
and social elements of the Government's sustainable development
agenda. As partners in achieving the targets, services delivered
by local authorities and by further and higher education institutions
are covered by the PSA.
November 1998
ANNEX 1
DFEE AIM
AND OBJECTIVES
AIM
To give everyone the chance, through education,
training and work, to realise their full potential, and thus build
an inclusive and fair society and a competitive economy.
OBJECTIVES
DfEE is working with others, in Government and
beyond, towards two overarching goals:
— an inclusive society, where everyone
has an equal chance to achieve their full potential; and
— a globally competitive economy, with
successful firms and a fair and efficient labour market.
We make our distinctive contribution by concentrating
on three central objectives.
1. Ensuring that all young people reach 16 with
the skills, attitudes and personal qualities that will give them
a secure foundation for lifelong learning, work and citizenship
in a rapidly changing world
in particular by substantially improving literacy
and numeracy skills in primary schools, and pupil achievement
in secondary schools, and support for the family through early
education and the availability of affordable, good quality childcare
in every neighbourhood.
2. Developing in everyone a commitment to lifelong
learning, so as to enhance their lives, improve their employability
in a changing labour market and create the skills that our economy
and employers need
in particular by making learning attractive
and accessible, improving the relevance and quality of provision,
and persuading employers to invest in those they employ.
3. Helping people without a job into work
In particular by helping young people, the long-term
unemployed and others at a disadvantage in the labour market,
including single parents, to move into sustainable jobs, within
a fair and diverse employment market.
In pursuing these objectives, we seek to:
— encourage people to make the link
between their rights and responsibilities;
— work in partnership across Government,
with organisations outside Government and with the public, to
design and implement effective policies;
— learn from and work with other
countries, particularly our partners in Europe;
— exploit the potential of technology;
— be outward-looking, innovative
and willing to learn, enabling all our staff to develop to their
full potential, working efficiently and getting the most from
our resources.
ANNEX 2
ONGOING MEASURES TO ENCOURAGE GOOD ENVIRONMENTAL
PERFORMANCE IN SCHOOL BUILDING WORK
GUIDANCE
The Department in collaboration with the Energy
Efficiency Office and the Building Research Energy Conservation
Support Unit (BRECSU) has published a number of guides under the
Energy Efficiency Best Practice programme. These guides provide
authoritative information on the benefits of energy efficiency
to schools through technology and good practice. These include
"green" issues to be adopted in the design of new buildings
and extensions, and methods of assessing the environmental impact
of new school buildings.
A number of recent publications by the Department
provide specific guidance on environmental issues:
School's Environmental Assessment Method (SEAM)
Guidelines for Environmental Design in Schools
School Grounds: A Guide to Good Practice
CONSTRUCTIONAL STANDARDS
FOR SCHOOL
BUILDINGS
These ensure the health and safety of pupils
and staff, promote energy conservation and provide for the welfare
and convenience of disabled people. The Constructional Standards
were substantially revised in 1997 to ensure that on all new school
building projects good thermal insulation standards are used,
efficient heating systems installed and good quality air conditions
provided, if possible natural.
SCRUTINY OF
PROJECTS—COMPLIANCE
WITH CONSTRUCTIONAL
STANDARDS
This has always been part of the Architects
and Building Branch's work within the Department, allowing a continuing
dialogue with professional consultants on educational and environmental
design issues. At present scrutiny work includes looking at all
building projects for specialist schools (such as Sport and Technology
Colleges), voluntary aided (VA) schools, grant-maintained (GM)
schools (until their conversion to foundation or community schools)
and special schools.
FUNDING LEVERAGE
New Deal for Schools
Guidance for the third round of this £1.085
billion programme, on which DETR were consulted, makes clear that
all substantial building projects supported by grant must improve
the energy efficiency and environmental performance of school
buildings. Assessment criteria will include the overall environmental
impact of a project and in particular the reduction in carbon
dioxide emissions per square metre or per pupil per year.
To support this programme the DfEE and BRECSU
are running a series of seminars and workshops around the country
in 1998.
Schools' Energy Cashback Scheme
The Department supports the Energy Saving Trust
(funded from the DETR baseline), with A&B Branch providing
technical and professional assistance. It encourages a whole school
approach to energy conservation, giving grants to schools installing
energy efficiency measures so encouraging schools to reduce energy
consumption and save money. The measures target the most wasteful
areas of energy use and will provide long lasting improvements.
The schools benefit from reduced running costs.
PUBLIC/PRIVATE
PARTNERSHIPS
Examples of good environmental practice in PPP
projects supported so far:
Colfox School Dorset
The Output Specification requires the private
sector partner (who will be responsible for maintaining the school
for the next 30 years) to put in place an energy conservation
programme for the new building.
Stoke on Trent (Pilot Project)
A project to raise the performance of accommodation
used by all 126 schools in Stoke on Trent. The main elements are:
to replace the out of date coal fired boilers
with new energy efficient boilers;
where required, to update heating mains, decreasing
transmission losses;
to improve the thermal performance of buildings;
to improve controls to increase efficiency.
The effect of the above action will be to decrease
CO2 and sulphur emissions and decrease energy consumption.
This project forms part of the Authority's Local Agenda 21.
Tower Hamlets (Pilot Project)
This project is to tackle the backlog of maintenance
and repairs in 47 of the LEAs schools focusing directly on repairs
that will impact on the energy efficiency of the buildings. In
particular:
the upgrading, repair and maintenance of heating
equipment;
the replacement, repair and maintenance of all
building fabric that has a direct impact on energy efficiency.
The effect will be to reduce CO2
emissions and energy consumption. This project forms part of the
Authority's Local Agenda 21.
Specific grant programme
£15 million was allocated, with matched
funding from LEAs, specifically to improve heating systems and
thermal efficiency in schools. Eight hundred and ninety-one schools,
accommodating some 144,000 pupils, will benefit from the grant.
Schools will achieve average savings on fuel costs of 20 per cent,
with further savings on maintenance costs, amounting in total
to over £2 million a year, savings that can be ploughed back
into resources for teaching and learning. We also estimate that
the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by these schools will
amount to approximately 44,000 tonnes.
ASSET MANAGEMENT
PLANS
Provisional Guidance issued to all LEAs in August
1998 emphasises that high standards of energy efficiency and environmental
sustainability are important factors in assessing the suitability
of school buildings in meeting service needs.
1 "Experience with the `Policy Appraisal and
the Environment Initiative'", prepared by consultants, KPMG,
published by DETR in July 1997. Back
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