Appendix—Government response
Introduction
The Government welcomes this report. Becoming a leader
in the delivery of sustainable procurement and operations is one
of the government's key commitments. There has been real progress
towards achieving that goal in the last year but we need to do
more. The 2008 Sustainable Development in Government (SDiG) report
showed performance improvements across government's targets for
Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate (SOGE). The Government's
Delivery Plan, last updated in July 2009, sets out departmental
plans to ensure that the Government will meet the 2010-11 targets.
Carbon emissions reduction is a priority for government
in 2009-10. Central support is being given to departments both
in the form of funding for energy efficiency measures (£54.5m
announced in the Budget) and through the Chief Sustainability
Officer's leadership of a cross-Whitehall taskforce on energy
efficiency in public buildings. The Government agrees with the
EAC that sustainable procurement should also be a priority area
of focus for 2009-10, and a coherent set of planned actions are
set out in the July 2009 Delivery Plan Update.
As departments make increasingly good progress towards
achieving the current target set, Government recognises that to
maintain a position of leadership on sustainable development beyond
2010-11, a new more challenging target framework must be developed.
Proposals for a new target set are currently out for cross-government
consultation and the outcome will be announced by the end of this
calendar year.
Continued strong leadership from Ministers and senior
officials will be a prerequisite of further success. The Economic
Secretary to the Treasury (EST) actively manages the performance
of the Chief Sustainability Officer and the Centre of Expertise
in Sustainable Procurement (CESP) in the Office of Government
Commerce (OGC), while sustainability remains one of the four corporate
priorities of the civil service and forms one of the planks of
the Cabinet Secretary's performance management of Permanent Secretaries.
Collaborative effort across Government is also crucial to success,
and Government will continue to build on the strong working relationships
already in place between policy departments (the Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department of Energy
and Climate Change), delivery departments (the OGC) and Government's
independent watchdog the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC).
Government Response to Conclusions and Recommendations
1. The quality of data reported by Government
departments for the Sustainable Development in Government Assessment
has improved substantially in recent years. Further improvement
requires a formal process of audit and verification. We recommend
that the Government undertake an assessment of the cost and feasibility
of implementing a system of external verification of the data
submitted by departments. (Paragraph 6)
Government agrees that establishing good quality
data collection and reporting systems is a key step in understanding
and addressing the environmental impact of its operations. Departments
have taken action in the past year to improve in this area; contributing
to both the better understanding of Government's performance,
and to understanding the steps that can be taken to improve it.
To build on this, the CESP is currently working to
produce general definitions of data quality for key areas of SOGE
reporting. This will enable both the CESP and departments to work
to a consistent standard across Government, as well as forming
a shared view of data quality and areas where further improvements
may be required. The CESP will examine, in a project planned
for autumn and winter 2009, the value that external verification
of the SDiG data could add to the new processes, under which CESP
rather than SDC will collect and verify departmental performance
data, which are being piloted this year.
In addition, Government is taking further steps to
improve the quality of data from departments. For example, an
initiative to purchase and install gas and electricity automatic
meter reading (AMR) meters across the Government estate is currently
being developed by DECC and the Office of Government Commerce.
These meters would provide more accurate billing and improved
data collection, enabling departments to target reductions in
energy consumption. In addition, AMR installation will help to
improve departments' performance in the first year of the Carbon
Reduction Commitment (CRC) league table, and will make CRC reporting
easier and clearer in subsequent years.
2. The Sustainable Development Commission has
awarded Government four stars (out of a possible five) in its
rating of pan-government performance against the Sustainable Operations
on the Government Estate targets; this represents an improvement
of one star compared to the 2006-07 reporting period. We welcome
the progress that Government has made against its SOGE targets
in a number of key areas, including waste, water consumption and
emissions from road travel. Performance against a number of important
targets has, however, been poor. The Government must ensure that
in the 2008-09 reporting year it is on track to meet all of its
SOGE targets. Where the Government is meeting its targets, it
must not be complacent; if progress against a given target is
slowing, it must offer an explanation. (Paragraph 9)
The Government agrees with this recommendation. The
Delivery Plan for Sustainable Procurement and Operations on the
Government Estate and the updates on progress towards this
plan that are published every six months set out progress towards
the Government's targets and provide explanations of performance
against targets where this is slowing. Through the information
provided in departmental reporting, we believe that we are on
track to meet the key Sustainable Operations on the Government
Estate (SOGE) targets such as those relating to carbon emissions
reductions.
The Committee noted that progress against the renewables
target decreased from 2006-07 to 2007-08. Given the doubts about
the ability of green tariffs to deliver additional carbon emission
reductions, government departments changed focus from purchasing
renewable tariffs to investing in energy saving technology. Despite
this reduction, the 2007-08 SOGE target was still exceeded, with
22% of electricity purchased coming from renewable sources.
Performance data for the 2008-09 reporting year will
be published with the Government's Delivery Plan Update
in December alongside revised forward plans and trajectories.
These six-monthly updates provide information on progress against
the targets and highlight key issues affecting delivery. For example,
the update published in July 2009 highlighted that Department
for Work and Pensions' progress against the target for reducing
carbon emissions from offices target is likely to be affected
by the recession due to the department's pivotal role in the employment
market. This includes extended opening hours and potentially increasing
staff numbers to support people back into employment.
The updates also set out the actions that central
Government plans to take to ensure the targets are met in 2010-11,
and report on activities that have taken place across Government
over the previous period as well as key priorities for the next
period.
3. It is completely unacceptable that central
Government departments are failing to comply with mandatory requirements.
A marked improvement in the Government's performance against its
targets for the use of mandated mechanisms in the 2008-09 reporting
year is needed. (Paragraph 11)
The mandated mechanisms are process measures which
should help departments achieve the sustainability outcomes measured
by the SOGE targets. Government agrees that all bodies covered
by the current SOGE targets must comply with the mandated mechanisms
This should help to achieve actual sustainability outcomes as
measured by the main targets (i.e. reductions in carbon emissions,
waste arisings, etc).
Data on performance against the mandates for the
2008-09 reporting year will be published in the December 2009
Delivery Plan Update. The CESP is working with departments
to identify and address any barriers to complying with the mandates.
For example, we are currently running a project to clarify and
raise performance on the BREEAM mandate for new buildings and
major refurbishments. The current consultation on proposals to
review the SOGE framework involves considering the role that all
the mandates play in supporting delivery and this will be fed
into the resulting revision of the framework. Our answer to question
11 provides further detail on the review of the SOGE framework.
4. The Government is in a position to exert a
powerful influence on its own suppliers and on the wider economy.
Recognition of this potential must result in a serious commitment
to sustainable procurement and decisive, radical action to ensure
that the Government meets and, where possible, exceeds its own
targets on procurement. The creation of the Centre for Expertise
in Sustainable Procurement is a step in the right direction; we
hope to see solid evidence of its effectiveness in the data reported
during 2008-09. In particular, we expect to see a significant
increase in the number of departments including clauses for Quick
Wins or extended mandatory product standards in all relevant contracts.
(Paragraph 13)
The Government agrees that it should use its purchasing
power to influence the market to develop more sustainable products
and services, and is committed to improving progress against its
sustainable procurement targets. The Government has published,
over the last 12 months, policy guidance on a wide range of aspects
of sustainability and procurement:
- Buy and Make a Difference
- Buy Green and Make a Difference
- Considering Energy Efficiency in Procurement
- Making Equality Count
- Promoting Skills through Public Procurement
- Supported Factories and Businesses
- Top Quartile Guidance
Priority actions for Government in 2009-10 (as set
out in the July 2009 Delivery Plan Update) involve:
- working with suppliers on a
voluntary basis to improve the sustainability of their operations
and stimulating the market to develop more sustainable solutions;
- procuring more sustainable goods and services
by delivering on existing commitments such as meeting mandatory
product standards ('Quick Wins').
We are working across Government to develop a shared
vision for sustainable procurement, which will feed into the sustainable
procurement targets review (December 2009).
Talking with suppliers about the sustainability of
their operations and more sustainable solutions has been a particular
area of progress for Government in the last six months. Twelve
central Government departments have participated in a collaborative
sign-up to the Carbon Disclosure Project (with over 300 suppliers
approached). The BIS-led Forward Commitment Procurement competition
is encouraging central and local Government to work with suppliers
to identify new ways of addressing future public service delivery.
Increasing the inclusion of 'Quick Wins' across central
Government contracts continues to be a priority. In 2009-10, CESP
is taking forward a range of initiatives to increase awareness
and understanding of product standards, which includes working
with Defra to implement a more streamlined process for engaging
with experts on cost-benefit analyses and market capacity appraisals.
CESP is also reviewing the factors influencing 'Quick Wins' take
up and the barriers to compliance, with a view to providing targeted
departmental support. We are currently consulting on proposals
to revise the Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate
(SOGE) targets. The proposals being consulted on highlight the
importance of Sustainable Procurement and include incorporating
the use of 'Quick Wins' in the sustainability targets. If as proposed
the SOGE scope is extended to include a wider range of Government
organisations this may further increase the uptake of 'Quick Wins'
across Government. In addition to improving 'Quick Wins' take-up,
Government is using the collaborative procurement of common goods
and services to contribute to the delivery of SOGE targets and
sustainable procurement commitments. Increasing percentages of
central Government spend (80% in the categories of fleet and energy)
are being channelled through pan-government collaborative procurements,
and OGC is working to embed sustainability across these categories
of spend.
5. We are unconvinced by the claim that the Government
is on track to exceed its 2010-11 target for the reduction of
carbon emissions from offices. It is not sufficient for it to
base its projections on unverified figures; delivery plans are
meaningless if they are not supported by evidence. We recommend
that, in the next iteration of its Delivery Plan, the Government
set out in detail the means by which it intends to meet this target
and define what it means by "carbon management". (Paragraph
18)
Government agrees that transparency and consistency
are important when reporting both current performance and forecast
delivery against key targets. This includes the reporting on carbon
emissions from the office estate, where Government is forecasting
faster progress in the coming years to meet and possibly exceed
the 2010-11 target of a 12.5% reduction against the baseline.
The forecasted delivery is based on the trajectory data that
is submitted to the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) by central
government departments.
The publication of delivery trajectories in the first
Delivery Plan (published in August 2008) was the first
time Government had identified at a Government and individual
department level: 1) the projects planned in order to meet the
SOGE targets, and 2) the contribution each project would make.
These plans are approved by the Permanent Secretary in each department.
Departments are able to draw on various resources to inform their
planning. These include: the list of actions to increase energy
efficiency in the OGC 'Considering Energy Efficiency in Procurement'
guidance, which provides information on typical energy savings,
costs and payback periods; similar information on energy saving
technologies on the Salix Finance website; and expert advice from
bodies such as the Carbon Trust.
The pan-government trajectories for each of the five
target areas are developed through the consolidation of baseline
and performance data for each department, 'carbon management'
in this context refers to the actions being taken by an organisation
within a strategic framework for managing its carbon emissions
as part of its ongoing business practice. In many cases, this
will involve working with the Carbon Trust through their Carbon
Management Programme to systematically prioritise and implement
projects with the greatest business and carbon impact. For the
next iteration of the trajectories, to be published in December,
CESP will work with departments to establish common definitions
of terms such as these, to ensure greater consistency in departmental
forecasts.
6. We welcome the Government's commitment to revise
and update its Delivery Plan on a quarterly basis, and expect
future versions of the plan to be based on robust and verified
data. Every department must produce a credible, evidence-based
plan of how it will make progress against all of the SOGE targets.
The plans must make clear how this activity is resourced. (Paragraph
20)
Government is committed to updating the Delivery
Plan twice a year. The next update (to be published in December)
will include performance data for the period 2008-09 and updated
delivery trajectories for each department, setting out the plans
they have in place to build on their performance to date and ensure
they meet the 2010-11 targets.
In addition, as part of its commitment to improving
the quality and timeliness of sustainable operations performance
data, the OGC has modified its ePIMS database to enable departments
to report quarterly on SOGE data on both an individual property
basis and/or on an organisational level. This will enable departments
and the OGC to understand the cause and effects of initiatives
implemented and also identify the 'big win' initiatives. This
closer monitoring of performance data will enable departments
to have greater confidence in the projections data they provide
for the six-monthly Delivery Plan Update trajectory graphs.
7. It is not sufficient for cost/benefit analyses
to draw on current energy costs in calculating the savings that
might result from investment in measures to reduce carbon emissions.
The Government must assess precisely the future cost of not making
significant investment to reduce carbon emissions now. Without
such an assessment, it is impossible for Government departments
to compare accurately the costs of options available to them.
If the Government itself is unable to accurately forecast the
cost of compliance with its own policies, it is difficult to understand
how those in the wider public sector and in the private sector
can be expected to do so. (Paragraph 24)
The energy market is extremely volatile and prices
can vary significantly on a daily basis with dramatic rises and
falls over a 12 month period. Moves of plus or minus 20% in a
single month are possible. Government economic analysts do not
rely on current energy prices to assess the costs and benefits
of investments in measures to reduce carbon emissions, but instead
use projected energy prices which increase over time. Energy cost
savings in a particular year are valued at the projected energy
price for that year. Analysts consider a wide range of scenarios
for future energy prices, which are derived from the DECC fossil
fuel price scenarios. Energy savings also deliver other benefits,
such as reduced greenhouse gas emissions and improved air quality.
Cost-benefit analysis also values these impacts. Levels of avoided
greenhouse gas emissions—for which the Government published
revised valuations on 15 July 2009 (Carbon Valuation in UK
Policy Appraisal: A Revised Approach)—also increase
over time.
Government impact assessments evaluate the costs
and benefits of investing to reduce carbon emissions in comparison
with the costs of a business-as-usual scenario. DECC is shortly
to lead a cross-cutting review of energy efficiency in the public
sector as part of the Public Value Programme. This study will
help to gauge the size of investment required to realise potential
savings, as well as the feasibility of implementing various low-carbon
measures, the barriers to doing so and the timescales over which
such work would be possible.
8. Investment based on the best available information
is crucial to the delivery of any programme that aims to deliver
sustainable operations. Many of the changes needed to meet and
exceed the SOGE targets require an initial outlay that is greater
than the "business as usual" alternative. Such increased
up-front costs are in many cases more than compensated for by
the savings that can be realised in the longer-term. If the Government
is to succeed in convincing the wider world of this, it must be
prepared not only to make the necessary investment in sustainable
operations, but also to make the case for sustainability by publishing
clear calculations of the costs and benefits it entails. (Paragraph
26)
The HMT Green Book states that officials are rightly
required to achieve value for money (VFM) in procurement and operational
activities and that VFM can't be achieved simply by paying the
lowest up-front costs. Achieving true VFM requires that all the
costs and benefits—including environmental costs and benefits—of
an investment, are taken into account over the whole duration
of that investment. The OGC is currently developing practical
guidance that will help procurement practitioners make these VFM
decisions. Furthermore, the UK Sustainable Procurement Action
Plan states that, where departments are struggling to pay upfront
for a sustainable choice that represents VFM in the longer term,
they should raise this with HMT.
Specifically on reducing carbon emissions, we appreciate
that to improve energy efficiency and to reduce costs, immediate
financial and carbon savings may require 'invest to save' programmes.
Currently, the Salix energy efficiency fund provides 100% interest-free
loans to the public sector to invest in low carbon technologies
with a pay-back period of under five years. £54.5m was announced
in Budget 2009 for the scheme, and as of the end of September
over £25m has been committed. This will allow these organisations
to overcome capital constraints and invest in simple but effective
energy efficiency technologies with a short pay back period such
as boiler replacements and controls, cooling and heating controls,
lighting upgrades and controls, insulation, office equipment improvements,
network PC management and so on. Additionally, the funding includes
an additional £45m for small-scale renewables.
In addition, DECC is shortly to lead a cross-cutting
review of energy efficiency in the public sector as part of the
Public Value Programme. This study will provide evidence on which
future investment strategies can be built. And from 2010 departments
will be part of the Carbon Reduction Commitment which will help
make the business case for energy efficient decisions.
9. The update to the Government's Delivery Plan,
to be published in summer 2009, must contain a detailed explanation
of how departments will participate in the Carbon Reduction Commitment,
and of how this participation will interact with the SOGE Framework.
It must also explain how the Government intends to minimise the
risk of large transfers of public money to the private sector
as a result of poor performance by Government departments. We
also expect it to contain an assessment of the possible financial
implications, both for central Government and for the wider public
sector, of participation in the scheme. (Paragraph 30)
Departments that reduce their energy consumption
and meet their 2010/11 SOGE carbon emission targets will benefit
earlier from reduced energy bills and will have to purchase fewer
allowances when the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) scheme begins.
Savings on energy bills are likely to outweigh any costs of participating
in the CRC. Government is keen that departments continue to implement
measures every year to reduce their emissions—as recommended
by the Environmental Audit Committee—and believes that it
makes financial and environmental sense to strive for immediate
emissions reductions, rather than waiting until the CRC begins
before reducing emissions. DECC is working closely with the OGC
to prepare Government departments for the CRC's introduction,
and a cross-departmental working group has been established to
provide bespoke advice for departments.
Emissions from Government departments, qualifying
public bodies and large businesses will be covered by the CRC
from April 2010. Illustrative figures published as part of the
CRC's partial Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) indicate significant
net present value savings from CRC participation for the wider
public sector as a whole. An updated RIA will be published in
early October as part of the package for Government's response
to the CRC consultation later in the year.
The EAC's Greening Government report was published
after Government's July 2009 Delivery Plan Update, so the
above recommendation could not be taken into account. Therefore,
we will include an assessment of any possible financial implications
for central Government from implementation of the Carbon Reduction
Commitment (CRC) in the next Update (due for December publication).
As discussed elsewhere in this response, government continues
to support departments to reduce emissions and to improve the
likelihood of their strong performance in the CRC league table.
Government departments are demonstrating leadership in emissions
reduction by their inclusion in the CRC, regardless of their size.
10. A revised SOGE Framework must provide targets
that are challenging enough to achieve the scale of change required
to deliver sustainable operations. They should reflect the level
of the Government's own ambition on sustainable development and
climate change. The revision of the framework must also address
incoherencies in the current system, and must produce targets
that work together to drive progress towards sustainable operations.
(Paragraph 34)
[See combined response under recommendation 11]
11. The SOGE Framework must aim to cover the environmental
impacts of all Government business. Targets for sustainable operations
must be applied as widely as possible, and the reporting of performance
against them must be made mandatory. It is not necessary for uniform
targets to be applied across the board; they may be tailored where
appropriate. We urge the Government to set out a detailed timetable
for the extension of the scope of the SOGE Framework and to develop
suitable mechanisms for the monitoring of performance against
the targets. We also recommend that the Government assess the
costs and benefits of extending the Framework. (Paragraph 36)
The Government is currently conducting an inter-departmental
consultation on the review of the SOGE targets, with the intention
of launching a revised set of targets by the end of the year.
We are including the Sustainable Development Commission in the
target review consultation in order to ensure that any revised
framework delivers the right level of ambition for Government.
In reviewing these targets we are seeking to clarify
and expand the scope of the framework, and this includes considering
the mandatory inclusion of non-Ministerial departments and Executive
NDPBs who have so far reported on a voluntary basis.
In addition to expanding the scope, we need to make
sure that the revised targets are re-aligned with policy objectives
which have changed over time (including the carbon budgets framework
and the Waste and Water Strategies), and that the targets are
strengthened in regard to sustainable procurement. This should
help departments use sustainable procurement of goods and services
to help meet the operations targets.
The consultation package is supported by an impact
assessment which considers the cost and benefits associated with
the revised targets but we also recognise the non-monetised benefits
including: positive impact on the environment, innovation, and
demonstration of Government leadership to citizens and to the
private sector.
12. Offsetting is not a substitute for action
to reduce emissions; all other options must be exhausted before
offsetting is considered. The Government must show clearly how
the Government Carbon Offsetting Fund (GCOF) is being used and
must provide assurance that options for reducing emissions have
priority. The use of GCOF must be transitional and departmental
delivery plans should show how emissions that are currently offset
will be reduced in future. The Government should publish its estimates
of the amount to be spent on offsetting each year and the Chief
Sustainability Officer should assess whether this spending constitutes
value for money. (Paragraph 40)
The Government has a hierarchy of actions on CO2
emissions which emphasises the need to avoid and reduce emissions
before offsetting is considered. This is demonstrated in the SOGE
targets, which prioritise domestic emissions reductions ahead
of offsetting, and in carbon budgets, through which the Government
has set a zero limit on use of offset credits to meet the first
five-year budget (excluding the use of credits in the EU ETS)
and intends to do the same for subsequent budgets. However, the
Government believes that offsetting has a legitimate role in tackling
climate change by delivering emissions reductions that would otherwise
not happen. Offsetting provides a method of compensating for emissions
from sources that are likely to remain high-carbon in the foreseeable
future, such as aviation.
Details of the first phase of the Government Carbon
Offsetting Fund (GCOF I)—covering emissions from 1 April
2006 to 31 March 2009—are available on the DECC website.
Buying Solutions, in partnership with DECC, is currently procuring
for GCOF II which will primarily cover central Government air
travel emissions from 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2012, but will
also be available for the wider public sector to offset emissions
from a variety of sources. This second phase will facilitate the
delivery of offsetting commitments once they have been made. It
will not drive those commitments. The Government will openly disclose
details of the Clean Development Mechanism projects funded through
GCOF II, and the public sector emissions that are being covered
by the offset credits. Guidance for the use of GCOF II will stress
the hierarchy of actions needed to tackle climate change and to
ensure appropriate use of the fund.
Offsetting is effectively transitional; the amount
of offsetting required will decline as emissions are reduced.
However, the UK Low Carbon Transition Plan makes it clear that
departments will be forced to purchase offset credits if they
fail to make the necessary reductions to meet carbon budgets.
Carbon Reduction Delivery Plans will record departmental progress
on emissions reductions.
HM Treasury is currently consulting on introducing
sustainability reporting standards for the public sector, which
include the requirement that departments disclose their annual
expenditure on accredited offset schemes, and on GCOF in particular.
In the meantime, DECC will consider how best to estimate the scale
of offsetting through GCOF II, given the likely imprecision of
emission predictions and the variation of offsetting costs as
carbon markets evolve.
13. It is perhaps inevitable that there should
be variations in departmental performance against the SOGE targets,
but the scale of variation recorded is evidence that something
is wrong. It is vital that the Centre of Expertise in Sustainable
Procurement, overseen by the Sustainable Procurement and Operations
Board, provides centralised co-ordination to ensure that all departments
are maximising their capacity to meet their SOGE targets. We urge
the Government to continue to work with the Sustainable Development
Commission to improve the ways in which best practice is shared
between departments. (Paragraph 43)
Government recognises that each department is different
and faces different challenges.
The CESP has been established to support departmental
performance improvement by providing central coordination. It
does this in the following ways:
- Performance Management:
We work with departments to improve the timeliness, consistency
and accuracy of performance data for sustainable procurement and
operations, to provide robust view of current performance, and
inform future decision making.
- Sustainable Operations:
We work with practitioners and policy makers to support delivery
of the SOGE targets and mandates.
- Sustainable Procurement:
We facilitate the development of an aligned approach to sustainable
procurement and collaborative working groups for its achievement
across central Government departments.
- Capability & Leadership:
We have developed a high-level practical strategy and an implementation
plan aimed at embedding sustainable procurement and operations
within central Government departments, with the support of the
OGC. The main focus is on improving knowledge, skills, awareness
and practice, leadership commitment and attitudes and behaviours.
The CESP works closely with the SDC in all of these
areas. SDC representatives sit on CESP governance boards and meet
regularly with CESP, Defra and DECC officials. The CESP intends
to continue and further build this close-working relationship.
The CESP's current projects to improve the sharing
of best practice and to facilitate greater collaboration among
departments are set out in the July 2009 Delivery Plan Update.
They include:
- the facilitation of cross-government
discussion and best practice sharing through running events for
and encouraging networking between an 80-strong network of sustainability
practitioners.
- the publication of a suite of case studies, highlighting
the achievements of different departments and giving information
and contact details to enable others to follow their lead.
- the collaboration with Kirklees District Council
and DWP to organise a practical, hands on event bringing together
over 200 local and central Government sustainability practitioners
to share ideas and experience.
14. We deplore the continuing failure of a significant
portion of Executive Agencies to report their performance against
their Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate targets.
The ability of the Centre of Expertise in Sustainable Procurement
to ensure that Executive Agencies report their performance will
be an important test of the effectiveness of the recent changes
made to governance arrangements. We see no reason why all Executive
Agencies should not report their performance against the SOGE
targets for the 2008-09 period. We will be pursuing any compliance
failure with the relevant Chief Executive directly. (Paragraph
45)
Government agrees that it is important that all bodies
covered by the SOGE framework report progress towards meeting
the targets. The Chief Sustainability Officer is working with
the Permanent Secretaries of those departments to ensure the fullest
possible levels of reporting for future years.
15. The inclusion of sustainability goals in the
personal objectives of permanent secretaries was an important
gesture. But it seems to have remained no more than a gesture.
There is little evidence to suggest that this has had any effect
on departments' efforts to achieve sustainability. We intend to
examine the performance of permanent secretaries who do not meet
their targets in 2008-09, and invite them to explain their performance
to us. (Paragraph 49)
The Government notes and welcomes the proposal of
the EAC to examine the performance of Permanent Secretaries who
do not meet their targets in 2008-09.
The Government believes that the changes announced
in its response to the April 2008 SDiG report from the SDC are
bearing fruit. The inclusion of sustainability goals in Permanent
Secretary objectives has strengthened commitment to the sustainability
agenda at the top leadership level in Government: Permanent Secretaries
now personally review and sign off departmental performance data
on sustainability issues and departmental forward trajectories.
Data accuracy has improved significantly, and sustainability is
increasingly being mainstreamed in the work of departmental Estates
Champions and Commercial Directors.
We note that the December 2009 Delivery Plan Update
will include the latest performance data (for 2008-09), refreshed
departmental delivery trajectories, and analysis of top initiatives
for achieving the 2010-11 targets. The Chief Sustainability Officer
in OGC will be using this information for further discussions
with Permanent Secretaries and heads of estates and procurement,
and this should also be of use to the Committee in its proposed
discussions with Permanent Secretaries and other Government representatives.
16. A meaningful commitment to the sustainability
of Government operations must come from the highest level. If
the question of sustainable operations is to carry real weight
within Government, it is vital that the Minister responsible shows
active leadership. We expect to see solid evidence of the Minister's
commitment to this agenda when we next inquire into this subject.
We recommend that the Minister responsible for this agenda should
take a more active role in the oversight of performance management
by the Sustainable Procurement and Operations Board. (Paragraph
51)
The Government agrees with this recommendation. The
Economic Secretary to the Treasury (EST) is actively managing
the performance of the Chief Sustainability Officer and of the
CESP, will work with Ministerial colleagues in other Government
departments to help improve Government performance, and will work
with Defra Ministers on the development of new and ambitious targets
to take us beyond 2010-11.
17. It is at ministerial level that the link between
policy and operations is forged. We urge sustainable development
ministers to work more closely together to ensure that there is
a coherent and co-ordinated approach to sustainable development
across Government. The Government must lead by example by putting
sustainable development at the heart of a consistent and effective
approach to both policy and operations. (Paragraph 54)
Government is committed to delivering Sustainable
Development (SD) at all levels of Government and this requires
all departments to work together. Defra continues to lead for
Government on sustainable development and the SOGE framework,
and is working closely with DECC, as policy lead on carbon emissions
reductions, to ensure that the framework works as an effective
delivery mechanism for carbon budgets for operations and estates.
But sustainable development can only be delivered
through the efforts of all departments across Government. Each
Government Department is required to set out its high level contributions
to delivering the UK Government Sustainable Development Strategy,
Securing the Future, in their Sustainable Development Action
Plans. This includes setting out how sustainable development is
being delivered via their policy, people, procurement and operations.
These commitments are supported by the role of dedicated sustainable
development ministers in each Government department who are responsible
for all aspects of sustainability, including policy and operations.
The links at official level are also strong. The
SD Programme reports on performance to the cross-government SD
Programme Board, which consists of senior SD leads across Government
including colleagues in the Devolved Administrations, from the
Sustainable Development Commission and from the OGC. The SD Programme
Board oversees this work and is responsible for ensuring that
departments have the capacity to deliver their commitments arising
from the UK sustainable development strategy. The Board's work
is supported by the SD Programme Working Group which Defra chairs,
and whose purpose is to build capacity and support delivery of
sustainable development outcomes across Government.
18. If the Government is committed to sustainable
development, it must set itself tough and stretching targets that
match the high level of ambition of its own policies on sustainable
development and climate change. Evidence of performance against
these targets must be provided in the form of robust, verified
data. But setting targets is not enough: the Government must take
radical action to ensure that all Government operations are making
real progress towards sustainability. It must develop a more coherent
investment strategy, based on an analysis of present and future
costs, in order to enable it to spend to save. (Paragraph 55)
The Government agrees with this recommendation. This
response has emphasised Government's commitment to setting, and
achieving, stretching targets that set the right level of ambition
for the UK on the environmental agenda. These targets will be
announced in December 2009. In addition, Government has set itself
other stretching commitments on carbon in its Low Carbon Industrial
Strategy.
The Government has also announced, in the recent
DECC White Paper on Energy and Climate Change, a new high level
review of energy efficiency across the entirety of the public
sector. This will examine the present and future costs of potential
investments in energy efficiency and will inform future resource
allocation in Government.
19. To achieve this, the Minister responsible
must show strong leadership and take an active role in performance
management. There must be clear lines of accountability so that
underperformance can be managed effectively. It must be clear
who should be held to account if performance in the 2008-09 reporting
year is poor. But we also need to know that that person has had
not just responsibility for sustainable operations, but also the
means to make real changes happen. (Paragraph 56)
The Government agrees with this recommendation.
Sustainability remains one of the Cabinet Secretary's
four corporate priorities for the civil service and sustainability
goals are now embedded in the performance objectives of all Permanent
Secretaries. The post of Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO), supported
by the CESP (both in the OGC) is responsible for working with
departments to ensure that the Government's targets on sustainability
are met.
The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (EST) is actively
managing the performance of the CSO and the CESP, and will be
working with Ministerial colleagues across Whitehall to help improve
departmental performance.
The CSO has two important levers at his disposal
to ensure the delivery of the Government's sustainability goals,
namely his leadership of the Government's work to implement value
for money in the Government's central civil estate (High Performing
Property) and to achieve the Operational Efficiency Programme
targets for value for money in collaborative procurement.
The most important lever for effective management
of performance, however, is not yet in place. This is the timely
performance data that allows performance to be actively managed.
It has been a priority of the CSO and CESP to put a quarterly
reporting regime in place. Progress towards achieving this goal
was set out in the July Delivery Plan Update.
Office of Government Commerce
| 
