APPENDIX 4
Memorandum submitted by CABE
1. CABE is the government's advisor on architecture,
urban design and public space. As a public body, we encourage
policymakers to create buildings and places that work for people.
We help local planners apply national design policy and offer
expert advice to developers and architects. We show public sector
clients how to commission buildings that meet the needs of their
users. And we seek to inspire the public to demand more from their
buildings and spaces. Advising, influencing and inspiring, we
work to create well-designed, welcoming buildings and places.
2. CABE is jointly funded by the Department
for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Department for Communities
and Local Government (DCLG). Our sponsorship arrangements are
with the DCMS. However due to the cross cutting nature of matters
relating to design, procurement and construction of the built
environment we have strong working relationships with the Office
of Government Commerce (OGC), the Department for Trade and Industry
(DTI) and the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
(Defra).
3. CABE is engaged with the climate change
agenda on a number of different fronts—through our own organisational
carbon reduction plan, the expert advice we give to the commissioners
of new public buildings, spaces and places, and those responsible
for the management and maintenance of the existing built environment.
KEY AREAS
OF INTEREST
FOR EAC INQUIRY
— The need for effective co-operation
and communication between departments of government, so that the
appropriate policies are seamlessly implemented across the breadth
of government activity without the contradictions and inconsistencies
that sometimes occur.
— What might be the best structure
of government for the provision of effective and co-ordinated
policies to tackle climate change?
— Which areas are currently fragmented
in terms of leadership or policy making within government, and
where the implementation of policy is uncoordinated, inconsistent
or contradictory?
— Other aspects affecting the
ability of departments to effectively tackle climate change, such
as the setting of targets and the expertise provided by staff.
— Leadership and the distribution
of departmental responsibilities.
4. Dealing with mitigating against and adapting
to climate change is complex and challenging, and there needs
to be action on all fronts and at all levels of government. However,
departmental or sector specific action needs to be coordinated
strategically.
5. We agree that on certain areas and issues
there is a lack of clarity on leadership and responsibilities
between departments. This can limit the effectiveness of government
strategies on climate change and delivery of policy. In addition
to those areas identified by the EAC—procurement, housing
and energy—CABE would suggest that another area of confused
responsibilities is sustainable construction and refurbishment
on the Government Estate. The recent NAO report Building the
future: sustainable construction and refurbishment on the Government
Estate highlighted a number of barriers including:
— a fragmentation of policy responsibility
among government bodies for improving sustainable construction
and refurbishment and an absence of a coherent approach to monitoring
progress and ensuring compliance;
— a widespread perception of conflict
between sustainability and value for money, partly because project
teams are failing to assess the long-term costs and benefits of
more sustainable approaches;
— a lack of sufficient knowledge
and expertise in sustainable procurement among those departmental
staff responsible for construction and refurbishment; and
— a failure to specify expected
benefits and undertake rigorous post-occupancy reviews to evaluate
performance against them, and the consequent lack of robust data
to inform business appraisals for new projects.
6. Among the NAO's recommendations was that
the bodies with central responsibility for sustainability in construction—primarily
Defra, OGC along with DTI, CLG and DCMS—should establish
one central source of expertise available to all departments.
There are clear parallels with the outcomes of the NAO report
and the aims of this inquiry.
CROSS-DEPARTMENTAL
STRATEGIES
— Strategies promoting and enforcing
government policies across departments can play a crucial role
in unifying the approach of different departments towards climate
change.
— What cross-departmental strategies
exist, and to what extent they are effective?
7. Below are a selection of cross-departmental
projects, initiatives and strategies which not only join up central
government departments but also engage with local and regional
government, business, industry, academia, and the voluntary and
community sectors.
DTI's Foresight programme
The DTI leads on the Foresight programme which
aims to provide challenging visions of the future, to ensure effective
strategies now. It does this by providing expertise in science-based
futures projects whilst engaging in a practical way with leaders
across government, business and science. Current projects include
Sustainable Energy Management and the Built Environment (SEMBE),
Tackling Obesities: Future Choices, Mental Capital and Well-being.
Cleaner, Safer, Greener
Cleaner, Safer, Greener is led by CLG at central
government level, with strong Defra input. There is no single
organisation responsible for the delivery of CSGC—it is
a joint initiative requiring partnership and ongoing consultation
to create a culture of best practice and quality spaces in which
people want to live in and others respect. The CSG website aims
to be a one-stop-shop of best practice examples.
Manual for Streets
DfT led with significant strategic input from
CLG given overlap between the design and management of streets
and the public realm with the planning and local government agendas.
Together we can
Together We Can set out the government's plan
to enable people to engage with public bodies and influence the
decisions that affect their communities. Together We Can is led
by CLG, with 12 government departments are contributing with policies
that empower citizens to get involved.
Act on CO2
The Act on CO2 cross-government brand was developed
jointly by Defra and the DfT. The campaign's main web pages are
on the Environment and Greener Living page of DirectGov, the cross-government
public services website.
UK Sustainable Procurement Strategy
Very much a cross departmental strategy but
Defra and HMT/OGC led.
DTI's Sustainable Construction Strategy
DTI led with CLG and Defra endorsement and considerable
input from stakeholders, especially the construction industry.
UK Sustainable Development Strategy
PM's Office led and UK Government badged with
Defra holding the Public Service Agreement (PSA) target for its
delivery. Sustainable development is a priority shared by all
Government departments and this is intended to be a cross-cutting
strategy—horizontally across Government Departments, vertically
from central Government to regional and local government, and
beyond to the business community, the voluntary sector and individuals
(see Figure 1). If Government is to achieve its objectives the
ability of, and incentives for, all departments and the wider
public sector to put sustainable development into practice needs
to be taken into account.
Figure 1
STAKEHOLDERS RESPONSIBLE FOR DELIVERY OF
UK SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY
How effectively are such strategies managed? Where
is there a need for new or revised cross-departmental strategies?
How could these be implemented?
8. The effectiveness of such cross-cutting
strategies is variable, and in some cases remains to be seen.
However, strategies are more effective if they are owned by those
responsible to delivering them and include targets with clear
route maps for turning strategy into action. Target setting is
valuable in focussing efforts, but targets need to be meaningful
and achievable. Similarly, cross- departmental partnerships need
to be genuine partnerships and require clear lines of leadership,
responsibility and accountability. For example, Cleaner, Safer,
Greener aspirations were encapsulated in CLG's PSA target 8, and
key legislation and targets to assist practitioners in delivering
and enforcing CSG objectives were identified on the Cleaner, Safer,
Greener website. Defra, I&DeA, Local Government Association
and ENCAMS worked in partnership and there was a shared sense
of ownership of targets.
The role of the Office of Climate Change, its
inter-departmental activity and how this body interacts with existing
cross-departmental strategies
9. We welcome the inter-departmental approach
of OCC, and believe it has considerable potential to coordinate
climate change policy and practice across government. However,
given the OCC's internal role there has been limited information
made publicly available about its work therefore it remains to
be seen how the body will interact with cross-departmental strategies,
as well as with the Climate Change Commission proposed in the
draft Climate Change Bill.
The influence and assignment of targets, the way
in which departments set and are assigned targets and budgets,
whether possible changes to this system could result in a more
effective and uniform approach to the challenge of climate change
10. CABE agrees that some targets set for
departments have little relevance to the effective delivery of
policy, and are often based more on process than on outcome. Changes
might well be needed to the current system of PSAs better to direct
the policies of departments to the challenge of climate change.
The question is what changes to which targets and PSAs?
11. CABE would welcome the development of
more meaningful shared PSA targets relating to the implementation
of key strategies relating to climate change and sustainable development,
some of which are outlined above. For example, Defra, OGC, DTI,
CLG and DCMS could conceivably encapsulate their joint-responsibilities
for implementing the Government's Framework for Sustainable Development
on the Government Estate and the DTI's Sustainable Construction
Strategy across the public sector through a shared PSA target.
Personnel and staffing, how departments can maintain
and increase their scientific and technical expertise to deal
with specific areas of policy making aimed at combating climate
change, recruitment and training of specialist staff, the desirability
of frequent circulation of such staff between roles and departments
12. CABE believes that in-house expertise
within each department is important, particularly on sector specific
issues. However, secondments between government departments and
from industry, as has happened with the DTI's Sustainable Construction
Strategy, are extremely valuable in ensuring the best available
knowledge and expertise is harnessed.
May 2007
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