Conclusions
1. 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. (Paragraph 8)
2. In BIS, as in many
departments, performance on sustainable procurement lags behind
other aspects of sustainable operations, exacerbated by minimal
sustainability reporting. (Paragraph 10)
3. While Regional
Growth Fund processes seek to measure and assess environmental
or social benefits, BIS did little to establish or quantify whether
there are disbenefits that might understandably be absent from
completed application forms. (Paragraph 21)
4. When they are taken
together as a whole, the approach of individual Industrial Strategies,
which simply seek to maximise industrial output, has environmental
consequences which are inadequately considered. (Paragraph 25)
5. The Industrial
Strategies appear to be disconnected from the BIS Business Plan
process, weakening the main vehicle by which Defra and the Cabinet
Office challenge the sustainability-proofing of BIS policy-making.
(Paragraph 27)
6. The establishment
of a Sustainability Champion and Sustainability Committee in BIS
should provide a good foundation for monitoring and encouraging
sustainable operations. (Paragraph 33)
7. Sustainable development
strategies are essential as a means of providing a reference point
in departments for sustainability initiatives by senior management
and sustainability champions, and allowing all staff to readily
understand the wider sustainable development imperatives, including
to address natural and social capitals, that should lie behind
all of a department's policies and operations. They could also
provide an important means of external accountability, complementing
the requirements of sustainability reporting. (paragraph 38).
8. The measures discussed
throughout this report, from Business Plan reviews to Greening
Government Commitment targets, to sustainability champions and
strategies, all have an important role in facilitating and encouraging
sustainable policy-making and operations in departments. But that
is only part of the picture. Equally important is transparent
accountability, and that requires an effective system of sustainability
reporting, with all departments fully complying with those requirements.
(Paragraph 41)
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