2 Operations
6. Our predecessor Committees and the Sustainable
Development Commission have over many years scrutinised Government
performance in managing the sustainability of departments' operations.
In February 2011 the Government replaced the 'Sustainability on
the Government Estate' targets with new 'Greening Government Commitment'
targets for emissions, resource use and sustainable procurement.[14]
7. We examined progress[15]
in our June 2013 report.[16]
We concluded that a year into the operation of new Greening Government
Commitments, good progress was being made overall towards meeting
the 2015 targets, but called for Defra and the Cabinet Office
to review departments' first-year performance in order to extend
the ambition of those targets which already appeared to be readily
achievable.[17] The Government,
in its response to our embedding sustainable development report,
told us in August 2013 that it had no plans to review or tighten
the Greening Government Commitment targets because it wanted to
avoid discouraging
those departments which were struggling to meet current targets
and because it was not known whether the top performers would
be able
to maintain their performance.[18]
8. The results for 2012-13 show that BIS had already
met three of its six targets and was on course to meet two others.
The Department's performance had fallen on the sixth: the number
of domestic flights.[19]
The NAO noted that where performance had been good, this could
be "largely attributed to reductions in staff numbers and
the ongoing rationalisation of its estate",[20]
although our witnesses also attributed some of the improvement
to better working practices and behaviours.[21]
In our June 2013 report we noted that the Government had decided
not to 'baseline' emissions reductions against the number of staff
or floor areas in departments because they thought that that would
reduce incentives to make such rationalisations.[22]
Performance in BIS against
the Greening Government Commitments has been good so far and the
targets are on track to be achieved; many well ahead of schedule.
BIS, and other departments in a similar position, should
now consider setting for themselves more ambitious targets to
maintain momentum. They should aid transparency by also presenting
the results recast against baselines of its reducing staffing
and estate.
9. As in the former Sustainability on the Government
Estate regime, one of the themes of the Greening Government Commitments
is sustainable procurement. In our June 2013 report we noted a
continuing split in responsibilities between Defra and the Cabinet
Office, despite the call in 2006 from our predecessor Committee
for a single lead on sustainable procurement.[23]
Furthermore, governance arrangements for sustainable procurement
have repeatedly changed, with the Centre of Expertise on Sustainable
Procurement being moved from the Treasury to the Cabinet Office,
then being renamed the Green Government Unit, before being abolished
in December 2011. Departmental staff told the NAO that this frequent
change in governance contributed to uncertainty about sustainable
procurement requirements.[24]
The Greening Government Sub-committee had not discussed sustainable
procurement because of data problems.[25]
The NAO, in our earlier inquiry, found a patchy record in terms
of departments' compliance with reporting requirements for their
performance on sustainable procurement.[26]
Similarly, in BIS, the Annual Report and Accounts provided limited
information on procurement. BIS was unable to identify the extent
to which its contracts complied with Government Buying Standards;[27]
a common failing across many departments.[28]
10. In BIS,
as in many departments, performance on sustainable procurement
lags behind other aspects of sustainable operations, exacerbated
by minimal sustainability reporting (paragraph 39). The
Sustainability Champion in BIS, whose
role we examine below,
should make improved performance and greater transparency on sustainable
procurement a priority for action within the Department
14 Greening Government Commitment targets are to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2015, from 2009–10 levels; cut domestic business flights by 20% by 2015, from 2009–10 levels; reduce the amount of waste generated by 25% by 2015 (including water), from 2009–10 levels; cut paper use by 10% in 2011–12; and embed sustainable procurement into government and departmental contracts by 2015 (See HC 202 para 22) Back
15
Annual Report on Government Departments’ Progress against 2015 Targets in 2011–12 (December 2012), presents progress in 2011–12 compared to 2009–10. Back
16
Embedding Sustainable Development: An Update, HC 202, op cit Back
17
ibid, para 26 Back
18
Environmental Audit Committee, Fourth Special report of Session 2013–14, HC 633, p4 Back
19
National Audit Office, Departmental Sustainability Overview: Business, Innovation and Skills , op cit, paras 3–3.7 Back
20
ibid, paras 3.5 and 3.11; Q44 Back
21
Q44 Back
22
Embedding Sustainable Development: An Update, HC 202, op cit Back
23
ibid Back
24
ibid Back
25
ibid Back
26
ibid Back
27
National Audit Office, Departmental Sustainability Overview: Business, Innovation and Skills , op cit, para 4.7 Back
28
NAO, Sustainable procurement in Government (February 2013) Back
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