Greening Government - Environmental Audit Committee Contents


Conclusions and recommendations

Data quality

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)

Sustainable Development in Government Assessment 2007-08

SOGE Targets

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)

Mandated mechanisms

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)

Sustainable procurement

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)

Meeting the targets

Delivery plans

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)

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)

Finance and investment

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)

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)

Carbon Reduction Commitment

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)

Reviewing the targets

Targets

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)

Coverage

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)

Credits and offsetting

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)

Governance and accountability

Variations in departmental performance

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)

Executive Agencies

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)

Changes to governance structures

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)

Ministerial responsibility

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)

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)

Conclusion

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)

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)


 
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