Annex C
GUIDANCE ON
INTEGRATING SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT IN
TO SR04
1. As in previous Spending Reviews an important
issue to be considered in SR2004 will be the sustainable development
impacts of departmental proposals.
2. In keeping with the tailored approach,
which is being taken towards thematic priorities in SR2004, departments
will not be required to submit a free-standing sustainable development
report (which was required in SR2002). The agreed work programme
should set out how and in which particular areas the three pillars
of sustainable development impacts—social, environmental
and economic—will need to be considered by the department
in defining its priorities and developing proposals for inclusion
in the departmental submission.
3. In general, departments should not regard
sustainable development as a specialist add-on to the Spending
Review, but as a natural extension of the drive to achieve evidence-based
policy and joined-up policymaking. Departments will therefore
be free to produce a separate sustainable development report where
this is agreed as part of the work programme, but for most departments
it will be most appropriate for any examination of the sustainable
development impacts of their proposals to be integrated into the
main body of the departmental submission.
4. As part of the agreed work programme
departments may be asked to provide one or more of following in
their submission:
— an examination of positive and negative
sustainable development impacts of the department's proposals.
In particular this should record where departmental priorities
have a significant direct impact (positive or negative) on one
of the headline indicators;
— a demonstration of how sustainable
development has informed prioritisation including, where potential
conflicting objectives have been identified, discussion of which
alternative options and mitigation measures have been considered
and rejected;
— the quantitative and qualitative
data to substantiate the department's evaluation of the sustainable
development impacts of its proposals;
— identification of where the department
needs to work closely with other departments in order to achieve
desired sustainable development outcomes.
5. Some departments are currently piloting
the integrated policy appraisal (IPA) tool, and may find this
a useful way to assess the sustainable development impacts of
their proposals. The headline indicators are not exhaustive—overall
the Government has identified 147 indicators. These are listed
in the Quality of Life Counts published report, a useful source
of additional information for departments.
6. The UK Sustainable Development Strategy
should provide the basis for departmental consideration of sustainable
development in the 2004 Spending Review. This Strategy sets out
the Government's 15 headline indicators of sustainable development
(the 15 headline indicators are updated regularly and can be found
at www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/indicators/headline). The
headline indicators are not exhaustive—overall the Government
has identified 147 indicators. These are listed in the Quality
of Life Counts published report, a useful source of additional
information for departments.
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