Supplementary letter to the Clerk of the
Committee from Robert Lowson, Director, Environment Protection
Strategy, DEFRA
I am sorry to have been unsighted, when I gave
evidence on 20 November, about the links made between the Urban
Summit, on 31 October and 1 November, and sustainable development.
However I can now provide you with further information on this
that may be of interest to your committee.
The speeches made by both the Deputy Prime Minister
and the Chancellor at the Summit referred to the importance of
developing sustainable communities through town and urban planning,
small business and growth and sustainable development, respectively.
The DPM began his speech by saying:
"This is an exciting time, with a big agenda
and a big challenge for us all. That challenge is about developing
sustainable communities—a new type of urban development."
On 18 July 2002 the Deputy Prime Minister announced
to the House the need for a step change in the Government's policies
for building successful, thriving communities in all regions.
This was described further in his speech to the Urban Summit.
An action plan will be published in the new year. The plan will
be about creating sustainable communities by taking into account
the economic, social and environmental factors involved in creating
thriving communities in all regions, and will explain:
— how additional resources earmarked
in the spending review will be allocated;
— how the planning system will be reformed;
and
— what new measures will be put in
place to tackle the housing shortage in the south and revitalise
communities suffering low demand in the north and midlands.
At the Summit Jonathon Porritt, Chair of the
Sustainable Development Commission, chaired a session dedicated
to sustainable development. The session's remit was to examine
how sustainable development can provide an integrated framework
for addressing social, economic and environmental inequalities
within cities, in a way that seeks mutual gains rather than trade-offs
between these concerns.
It focused on the link between quality of the
local environment and poverty, broadly defined as environmental
justice and considered how regeneration activities can have neutral
or positive impacts on resource use and natural systems.
Proposed outputs included:
— Raising the understanding of what
sustainable regeneration means in practice and what added value
it can bring;
— Developing an understanding of what
the barriers are;
— Producing recommendations for how
these barriers could be overcome and attributed to different sectors;
and
— Identifying examples of good practice
in sustainable regeneration, particularly linked environmental
and social initiatives.
In addition to this themed session there were
others that focussed on poverty and social exclusion, education,
health and tackling crime—all key sustainable development
areas. Outcomes from the 28 themed sessions at the summit are
currently being evaluated. They will be fed into the plan for
long term sustainable communities which will be announced in January
2003. In the meantime, reports of the themed sessions and key
speeches are being placed on the Urban Summit website—www.urbansummit.gov.uk—and
a post summit report is being prepared.
Further positive steps being taken include the
Sustainable Development Commission's (SDC) proposal to work in
partnership with ODPM to develop a project that demonstrates an
integrated approach to regeneration, addressing the social, economic
and environmental needs of communities.
The Sustainable Development Unit in Defra was
not directly involved with preparations for the Urban Summit.
Although we are committed to achieving sustainable development
we recognise that we cannot do it alone. That is why we encourage
other government departments to develop their own expertise and
integrate sustainable development into decision making, which
includes taking forward Johannesburg. For example, each government
department now possesses its own sustainable development contact
and senior official with responsibility for sustainable development.
Our resources are limited and while we provide information and
advice to other government departments and stakeholders we are
not able to respond to all requests or monitor or input into all
initiatives that take place.
December 2002
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