114 - achieving a better quality of life

Achievinga betterqualityof life

Review of progress towardssustainable development

Government annual report 2002

Achievingabetterqualityoflife

Governmentannualreport2002

Achieving a better quality of life

Review of progress towards

sustainable development


February 2003

Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs

Department for Environment, Food & Rural AffairsNobel House17 Smith SquareLondon SW1P 3JRTelephone 020 7238 6000Website: www.defra.gov.uk

© Crown copyright 2003.

Copyright in the typographical arrangement and design rests with the Crown.

This publication (excluding the logo) may be reproduced free of charge in any format or medium provided that it isreproduced accurately and not used in a misleading context.The material must be acknowledged as Crown copyright with the title and source of the publication specified.

Further copies of this report are available from:

DEFRA PublicationsAdmail 6000LondonSW1A 2XXTel: 08459 556000

Published by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs. Printed in the UK, February 2003 on material containing 75% post-consumer waste and 25% ECF pulp (cover) and 100% post-consumer waste (text).

Front cover: Satellite image of the UK: NERC Satellite Receiving Station, University of Dundee

CONTENTS

PRIME MINISTER’S FOREWORD 5

SECRETARY OF STATE’S FOREWORD 7

INTRODUCTION 9

CHAPTER ONE – Strategic Direction 11

Devolved administrations and the English Regions 13

European Union 18

Sustainable Development in Government 20

Environmental Audit Committee 24

Sustainable Development Commission 25

CHAPTER TWO – Guiding Principles and Approaches 28

Transparency, information, participation and access to justice 29

Using scientific knowledge 30

The precautionary principle 31

Taking a long term perspective 32

CHAPTER THREE – Headline Indicators 35

H1 – Economic Output 39

H2 – Investment 45

H3 – Employment 47

H4 – Poverty and social exclusion 50

H5 – Education 56

H6 – Health 59

H7 – Housing 62

H8 – Crime 65

H9 – Climate change 70

H10 – Air quality 75

H11 – Road traffic 79

H12 – River water quality 83

H13 – Wildlife 86

H14 – Land use 90

H15 – Waste 92

Further work on indicators 96

CHAPTER FOUR – International Co-operation and Development 100

Tackling global poverty 101

Promoting a fair and open trade system 102

Financing for Development 102

G8 Summit 103

World Summit on Sustainable Development 103

The First Meeting of Parties to the Aarhus Convention 111

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FOREWORD

By the Prime Minister – The Rt Hon Tony Blair MP

This Government’s goal is a good quality of life for all.Thismeans we can’t just focus on narrow economic factors – vitallyimportant as these are – but must also take into account thesocial and environmental health of our country. People rightlywant a cleaner, healthier environment, safer streets and goodschools as well as economic growth and low unemployment.It is only through sustainable development that we can meetthese ambitions.

In a global context, too, sustainable development is crucial. Poverty and environmentaldegradation often go hand in hand. At the World Summit on Sustainable Development inJohannesburg last year, 188 countries met to address these issues.The Summit did notachieve everything, of course, that people hoped. But nor was it the failure that someclaimed.

The Summit helped highlight how the poorest people on our planet also suffer most fromenvironmental problems. Over a billion people worldwide, for instance, still have no accessto clean water. And it is the poorest countries that are least well-equipped to deal withenvironmental problems such as climate change. At the Summit we also began to put inplace the policies to tackle these problems, both through international efforts andpartnership agreements.

I’m proud that the UK has taken a leading role internationally on poverty alleviation, debtrelief, trade reform and on encouraging better long-term environmental policies. I want theUK to step up its efforts both nationally and with our partners in the coming years.

I am determined, too, that we will do more at home. Here in the UK, people on low incomesare also more likely to suffer the worst local environmental problems, from traffic fumes andpoor quality housing, to dirty streets and inadequate local amenities. But all of us pay a heavyprice in our overall quality of life.

It was to give fresh momentum to our drive to tackle these problems that we set out in1999 a wide range of headline indicators to help us measure sustainable development. It wasa bold step, making us the first country in the world to report annually on progress towardssustainable development in this way.

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As you will see, many of these indicators show excellent progress, thanks to the efforts ofGovernment departments, agencies, local authorities, businesses, non-governmental bodiesand communities themselves. And the report challenges the myth that economicimprovements are at the expense of the environment.We have reduced our emissions ofgreenhouse gases and improved the quality of our rivers and air, alongside real improvementsin socio-economic indicators such as child poverty and unemployment.

But there can be no room for complacency. We clearly need to address the areas where wecould do better. And this report will help make sure we do.

Only by holding ourselves to account in this way – as a government but also as a country – willwe continue to achieve, together, the better quality of life we want for ourselves and our children.

TONY BLAIR

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FOREWORD

By the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – The Rt Hon Margaret Beckett MP

Few of you will have failed to notice the importance of 2002 forsustainable development.

At a time when the fragility of the global community has been atthe forefront of our minds, it is vital that we work together to findglobal solutions to global problems.

Sustainable development is the key to delivering such solutions. Itis about ensuring a better quality of life for everyone, now and in

the future. It is about pursuing our goals of economic growth, social progress, environmentalprotection, and the prudent use of natural resources together, rather than at another’sexpense.The agreements at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburglast year, and the international meetings which preceded it, set the baseline for a unified globalapproach to tackling the very visible problems of global poverty and environmentaldegradation.

Achieving sustainable development requires innovation and a mix of policy measures andindividual commitment. Sustainable development “should free our thinking and challenge ouractions” as one participant in a recent discussion forum on the Government’s sustainabledevelopment website put it. It demands action at all levels, from the global agreements madeat the Johannesburg Summit to action at the community level and by individuals.

I am determined to ensure that the Johannesburg Summit marks the beginning of a newphase of implementation and action.To champion co-operation and co-ordination acrossGovernment to embed the Summit outcomes in our existing approaches to issues as diverseas renewable energy, waste, biodiversity, fisheries and oceans, trade and market access, andtackling poverty. I am especially aware that the single most important issue for mydepartment to follow up after Johannesburg is improved market access and subsidy reformin the agricultural sector.This will support both our environmental and internationaldevelopment policies.We are negotiating hard to achieve reforms to the CommonAgricultural Policy that will result in a better deal for our communities, developing countries,and the environment.

Successful implementation must also be grounded in co-operation between all levels ofsociety. Over 300 new partnerships were launched at the Summit between governments,Non-Governmental Organisations and business. Re-iterating that although Governments musttake the lead in setting the framework for sustainable development, they cannot deliver it alone.

Our 1999 Sustainable Development Strategy, ‘a better quality of life’, set the framework forachieving sustainable development in this country.


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This annual report, the third since the Strategy, illustrates some of the changes that arealready in train: businesses working in innovative ways to increase their resource productivity;local authorities working to reduce fuel poverty; communities with renewable energypartnerships and schools with educational recycling programmes.

The 15 headline indicators of sustainable development also show that progress is clearlybeing made across the three pillars of economic, social and environmental indicators.However there is still a considerable way to go.

Crime and waste are just two of the areas where we will need to redouble our efforts toensure that we improve quality of life in the years to come. In the Strategy we made it clearthat action would be taken where a trend in the indicators was unacceptable.We remainstrongly committed to doing this and will continue to develop cross-government policies andinitiatives such as the Street Crime Initiative and others detailed in the report.

Of course, we won’t convince anyone unless we act too.We need to work hard to make theprinciples and objectives laid out in the Strategy integral to the way that departments work,to bring the challenges of sustainable development into the very heart of Government. Lastyear saw the first Sustainable Development in Government Report and the launch of theFramework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate.This showed that westill have a lot to do, but the Government-wide targets on travel, water usage and the roll-outof environmental management systems are a strong start, and the requirement for allDepartments to produce Sustainable Development Reports alongside their bids in the 2002Spending Review was an important step forward.

2002 was an important year for sustainable development. Now we must build on this toensure that the same can be said of the years to come.

MARGARET BECKETT

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INTRODUCTIONIn ‘a better quality of life’, the Strategy for sustainable development for the UK (1999), theGovernment made a commitment to report annually on progress towards sustainabledevelopment in the UK as a whole.

This report, the third in the series, sets out progress made in 2002. In addition to bringingtogether the latest data available up to the end of 2002 on the 15 headline indicators whichcomprise the ‘quality of life barometer’ (Chapter Three) and highlighting the main strategicdevelopments in 2002 (Chapter One), it also contains a wide range of case-studiesshowing some of the cross-cutting action being carried out across the UK to furthersustainable development (Chapter Two/Three).

The report covers developments within the European Union and in the wider internationalcontext, but focuses on progress in the UK within:

● central government;

● the devolved administrations;

● public bodies and local authorities; and

● the private sector and Non-Governmental Organisations.

Building on the extensive material on the Government’s sustainable development website –www.sustainable-development.gov.uk – it features some of the key highlights anddevelopments of 2002.These include:

● the World Summit on Sustainable Development, held in Johannesburg in August andSeptember;

● the International Conference on Financing for Development held in Monterrey in March,which resulted in the adoption of the Monterrey Consensus asserting the internationalcommunity’s resolve to eradicate poverty, achieve sustained economic growth andpromote sustainable development in the context of a fully inclusive and equitable globaleconomic system;

● the first meeting of Parties to the Aarhus Convention in Lucca in October which boughtinto force the UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation inDecision Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, and set out a new workprogramme in support of sustainable development and environmental democracy;

● a strengthening of the commitment to sustainable development at a Government anddepartmental level, with the launch of the Government Framework for SustainableDevelopment in July, and the publication of the First Annual Report on SustainableDevelopment in Government in November; and

● key developments within Government departments, such as the launch of theDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Sustainable Development Strategy,‘Foundations for our Future’, in June; and the Department for Work and PensionsSustainable Development Policy Statement in July.


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The fifteen headline indicators show progress being made across the three pillars ofsustainable development: economic, social, and environment.The assessments for four of theindicators have been split into two components to better reflect the trends within them; soin all there are now nineteen assessments.

In assessing progress since the Strategy the indicators show there are:

● ten green lights, indicating significant improvement (significant change in direction ofmeeting objective);

● five amber lights indicating no significant change;

● three red lights, indicating significant decline (significant change in direction away frommeeting objective); and

● one assessment for which there are no comparable data.

Although half the assessments are green lights, further progress is still required; these aresimply a reflection of the improvements made since the Strategy.

This report does not provide an update on every issue included in the Strategy; itconcentrates on cross-cutting initiatives which either contribute to or present a challenge tosustainable development.

For further information on sustainable development and any issues discussed in this reportvisit www.sustainable-development.gov.uk

CHAPTER ONE

Strategic Direction1.1 To make sustainable development a reality it must be built into policies and decisions at all

levels.We need specific measures to drive change, both at home and abroad.This Chapterlooks at some of the highlights and key developments of sustainable development in astrategic context in 2002, internationally and in Europe, but particularly in the UK.

1.2 A decade on from the Rio Earth Summit, the World Summit on Sustainable Development(WSSD) held in August-September 2002 in Johannesburg marked another important step onthe road towards achieving sustainable development.

1.3 Taken as a whole, the negotiations at Johannesburg were a success. Johannesburg recognisedthat progress in the last ten years had been limited. International political momentum hasbeen reinvigorated recently, with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Doha (November2001) agreeing an agenda for a development-focused World Trade Round, and agreements atthe Monterrey Conference on Financing for Development (March 2002) to increase thevolume and effectiveness of international aid. But the real successes will be measured by howthese agreements are translated into actions in the months and years to come; and how wellwe establish sustainable development and the objectives outlined above as our centraloperating principles for policy making.

1.4 WSSD secured commitments across a wide range of issues and sectors.The targets andwork programmes agreed at WSSD are of course aspirational, rather than legally binding.However they give a strong global mandate for action in these areas.The targets setstandards against which to measure progress, and they make it easier to be held to accountby other stakeholders.Whether the targets are reached and the work programmes achievetheir goals depends on the resources – human and financial – devoted to them by allgovernments and international bodies.

1.5 The UK has taken concrete steps to honour the pledge at Monterrey to increase officialdevelopment assistance (ODA) – following the 2002 Spending Review in July, the UK’s ODAbudget will increase by £1.5 billion to reach nearly £4.6 billion by 2005-06. In the same way,

What is sustainable development?

Sustainable development is about ensuring a better quality of life for everyone,now and for generations to come.This requires meeting four key objectives at thesame time in the UK and the world as a whole:

● social progress which recognises the needs of everyone;● effective protection of the environment;● prudent use of natural resources; and● maintenance of high and stable levels of economic growth and employment.

We need sustainable development because the need to develop is as great as ever, butfuture development cannot simply follow the model of the past, where economicactivity tended to mean more pollution and wasteful use of resources.This is true forthe world as a whole, and for every community in this country.

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the United Kingdom should also pioneer implementation of the World Summit outcomes.We are aiming for a rapid and effective implementation of what was agreed at the Summit,with the public sector taking an active lead in producing concrete results.The partnershipsformed before the Summit, and arising from it, remain a key focus.We will continue themomentum to drive these forward, but also use this opportunity to secure a step-change inthe delivery of our domestic policies.These commitments will impact across Government,with a range of departments taking the lead on specific commitments.

1.6 Rather than establishing a separate process for following up WSSD, the Government intendsto mainstream follow-up actions into departments’ work, building on existing processes.TheDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is working with other UKGovernment departments on their plans to translate WSSD commitments into their deliveryplans for Service Delivery Agreements (SDAs).The Government will also take WSSDoutcomes into account in the forthcoming review of ‘a better quality of life’, the Strategy forsustainable development for the UK. Government departments will also look for additionalopportunities to develop joint targets and delivery plans where responsibilities fall to morethan one department, for example, on corporate social responsibility, sustainable productionand consumption, and the Doha Development Agenda. Indeed on this latter point a jointtarget has already been agreed between the Department of Trade and Industry, theDepartment for International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

1.7 Internationally the UK will continue to work to improve the effectiveness of the internationaldevelopment effort so that poverty is reduced and the Millennium Development Goals areachieved.The agreements reached at WSSD – particularly on access to sanitation and theimportance of energy services – provide important additions to the existing internationalconsensus.We will continue to support the integration of environmental sustainability intothe Poverty Reduction Strategies of developing countries.We will also continue to supportthe United Nations and other institutions in the integration of sustainable development intheir operations and policies, focusing on implementation rather than further negotiation.

1.8 But as well as working with developing countries to encourage all development to besustainable development, we must also address our own policies.

1.9 The G8 and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) will beuseful fora for taking forward specific issues – these will be elaborated with partners over thecoming year.Within the European Union (EU) we will continue to push for policy coherenceand a focus on practical implementation of WSSD outcomes in the 2003 review of the EU’sSustainable Development Strategy.We need to reform trade-distorting and environmentally-damaging subsidies so that developing countries can compete in world markets, particularly inagriculture, fisheries and energy.

1.10 In the UK, the most important domestic commitment we made at WSSD was to shoulderour responsibility, as an industrialised country, to work towards sustainable patterns ofproduction and consumption – meeting our economic, social and environmental objectivesthrough more efficient use of resources and decoupling economic growth from environmentaldegradation.This is a potentially massive agenda, so a key challenge will be establishing a clearand practical vision for taking it forward. Over the next few months Defra will be workingwith others to develop a strategy for sustainable consumption and production, incorporatingresource productivity, which will set out what the Government is already doing and identifywhat more needs to be done. As this will form part of our follow up to WSSD, it will alsotake account of the work being pursued with our partners in the EU and by otherinternational bodies.

1.11 We also have key commitments to reach targets to increase renewable energy use and tosignificantly reduce the rate of loss of biodiversity. Outside of WSSD commitments, we alsoneed to take action on climate change.

Devolved administrations and the English Regions

1.12 Bringing government closer to the people through devolution is itself a policy for sustainabledevelopment: the idea of ‘thinking globally, acting locally’ has long been associated withsustainable development.The devolved administrations in Scotland,Wales and NorthernIreland have the opportunity to deliver sustainable development which reflects theirinstitutions, their landscape, their culture and way of life.

1.13 Each English Region has developed a sustainable development framework, through partnershipsof key stakeholders including Government Offices and Regional Development Agencies, andthey now face similar challenges and opportunities to the devolved administrations.

Sustainable development in Scotland

1.14 The Scottish Executive is committed to sustainable development – it has been a centralelement of their Programmes for Government and its key role was reaffirmed in the ScottishParliament on 9 January 2002.

1.15 The Executive’s commitment to sustainable development is driven forward by the CabinetSub-Committee on Sustainable Scotland (CSCSS), which is chaired by the First Minister, JackMcConnell. As well as drawing together key Ministers with responsibility for the environment,transport, planning, housing and finance the Sub-Committee has three external members –Kevin Dunion, Friends of the Earth Scotland; Mark Hope, Shell Expro; and Jan Bebbington,Aberdeen University.The remit of CSCSS is to identify priorities for action on sustainabledevelopment in Scotland, co-ordinate implementation action, support Cabinet colleagues inembedding sustainable development in their policies and programmes and to report progressto the Cabinet at regular intervals. Details of CSCSS are published on the SustainableScotland website: www.sustainable.scotland.gov.uk

1.16 Much of the Executive’s work in 2002 has been in delivering the four point action plan forsustainable development in Scotland announced in October 2001.That action plan included:

● developing a clear statement of what sustainable development means for the ScottishExecutive and how it will work towards greater sustainability;

● developing ways to measure progress towards sustainable development;

● setting up a Sustainable Development Forum to build broad partnerships to worktowards a sustainable Scotland; and

● appointing a third external member to CSCSS.

1.17 The First Minister made his first major speech on sustainable development at the ERMScotland Environment Forum in February 2002. He emphasised how important it is foreveryone to take responsibility for the environment, that caring about environmental issuescan no longer be seen as a luxury, and his own determination that government should leadby example. One of the means through which this may be realised, he said, was through theSpending Review (see below). Other early actions set out by Mr McConnell included those

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on setting higher targets for recycling and renewable energy. He also said that businessesneeded to be encouraged to become ‘good neighbours’.The speech challenged the assertionthat there need be a conflict between economic progress and environmental protection. Healso highlighted the importance of balancing these considerations with social justice andintroduced his commitment to environmental justice – that Scotland’s poorest and leastpowerful communities should not also be those that suffer the most from the worstenvironmental conditions.

Meeting the Needs

1.18 In April 2002, the Executive published ‘Meeting the Needs… Priorities, Actions and Targets forSustainable Development in Scotland’, which set out their vision for sustainable development inScotland. It identified resource use, energy and travel as the main priority areas for action onsustainable development, and policy-makers across the Executive are being encouraged totake these priority areas into account when policy decisions are made. ‘Meeting the Needs…’also sets out a range of actions being taken to address these priority areas, as well as listing aset of indicators and targets to help monitor progress.The indicators were chosen with aview to comparability with the UK headline indicators set out in this report.

Spending Review

1.19 Sustainable development, along with the Executive’s five priorities for action – health,education, crime, transport and jobs – and closing the opportunity gap were fixed as thepriorities for the Spending Review. Departments were tasked to produce draft aims,objectives and targets for their portfolios, along with a detailed assessment of what thespending in their area would achieve. As part of this, they were required to demonstrate howthey had taken account of these priorities. In September 2002, the Executive set out spendingproposals in ‘Building a Better Scotland’, including a number of major commitments tosustainable development in Scotland. Further details of the work of each department topromote sustainable development were published in November in ‘Building a SustainableScotland’. For further information visit www.sustainable.scotland.gov.uk

World Summit on Sustainable Development

1.20 The First Minister was part of the UK delegation to the World Summit on SustainableDevelopment in Johannesburg. Apart from attending the Summit he met leaders of the SouthAfrican government and his intensive programme concentrated on poverty alleviation,education, environmental justice and the role of industry. He was accompanied by a civicdelegation, drawn from local government, environmental and social justice Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and business.The Executive will publish a report of thecivic delegation which will set out their views on the implications of Johannesburg for theirsectors.The Scottish Executive is now considering how best it can not only follow up on thecommitments made at Johannesburg but also how the work of the Summit can be used asan impetus to the progress of sustainable development in Scotland.

Sustainable development in Northern Ireland

1.21 During the past year the Department of the Environment, which has lead responsibility forsustainable development in Northern Ireland, has been working closely with NGOs, localgovernment and community sectors to develop proposals for how sustainable developmentshould be approached.

1.22 As part of that work, Sustainable Northern Ireland Programme, a local independent NGO,has been working with communities and with local government to develop appropriateresponses to the sustainable development challenge.That has included work on communityvisioning, community indicators, local action planning, local economy projects and communitywaste minimisation projects.This work has been linked to local government throughsustainability indicator projects, corporate strategy development, sustainable developmentstrategy development and environmental management systems.

1.23 In addition, the Department of the Environment consulted on proposals for a sustainabledevelopment strategy for Northern Ireland and has engaged with a range of sectorsrepresenting a cross-cutting slice of public and civic society. By engaging with SustainableNorthern Ireland Programme the department has been able to use new methods ofconsultation and a totally new way to engage groups who would never before have met withpolicy officials from government.

1.24 Some examples include an Education Sector consultation with the School of the BuiltEnvironment, University of Ulster, and the School of Environmental Planning, QueensUniversity Belfast. In the case of the latter the students engaged the university community ofacademics and students in the consultation as part of their course.There was also a ruralprocess, facilitated by the Rural Community Network and consultation with the Youth Sectorinvolving the Youth Council and Youth NGOs. In total, eleven events were hosted withdifferent sectors and provided a two-way communication where each of the sectors wasbetter able to articulate their contribution to achieving sustainable development as well astelling government what it should be doing.The responses to the consultation are now beingexamined. For further information visit www.nics.gov.uk

Sustainable development in Wales

1.25 From its inception, the National Assembly for Wales has tried to take sustainabledevelopment into account in all its work, and this ‘mainstreaming’ approach has been takenforward by the Welsh Assembly Government in respect not only of its policies andprogrammes but also its internal decision-making processes.

1.26 Last year’s annual report outlined:

● the National Assembly for Wales’s statutory duties regarding sustainable development;

● the commitments in the Assembly’s Sustainable Development Scheme, especially that theAssembly will take sustainable development into account in everything it does;

“If anyone agrees with The Economist’s recent conclusion that sustainabledevelopment is ‘a rather woolly concept’, all very well in theory but impossible toput into practice, I’m putting them on the first train to Cardiff. …..That’s not tosay that Wales has all the answers to its serious and complex challenges… But itdoes seem that Wales is trying to tackle these issues with gusto and tenacity, in aholistic, long term way, looking for the mutually reinforcing economic,environmental and social benefits sustainable development requires.”

Chair of the UK Sustainable Development Commission,Jonathon Porritt, August 2002

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● the structures the Welsh Assembly Government has put in place to meet thesecommitments, including a Cabinet Sub-Committee on Sustainable Development (papersand minutes of which are published on the internet) and a 3-year partnership withForum for the Future;

● how the Welsh Assembly Government’s corporate plan, ‘Plan for Wales 2001’, andstrategic policies on economic development, farming, planning, transport, InformationCommunications and Technology and community regeneration are contributing tosustainable development;

● particular initiatives taking place in Wales, and

● the partnerships the Welsh Assembly Government is fostering to help deliver sustainabledevelopment ‘on the ground’.

1.27 Further details of these, and of the Welsh sustainable development indicators, are given in theWelsh Assembly Government’s annual report for 2001-02, available on the Assembly’ssustainable development website (the annual report for 2002-03 should be available theretoo in April 2003).

1.28 This report relates specifically to what has happened during the period from January toDecember 2002.

1.29 Building sustainable development into the Assembly’s mainstream programmes remains at theheart of its work. Over the course of the year, with help from Forum for the Future, theWelsh Assembly Government has developed and piloted a top-level sustainability appraisalmethodology, or integration tool, and (from September 2002) has started to roll it out for allpolicy-making.This draws on the ‘Plan for Wales 2001’. It sits alongside a suite of materialsdesigned to improve the formulation, consultation on, communication, implementation andevaluation of policy.

1.30 Sustainable development is taken into account in Assembly budget decisions.This year, for thefirst time, reducing Wales’s Ecological Footprint – the demands Wales places on the earth’sresources – was identified as one of the focal themes for the spending round.

1.31 A Green Policy Statement and Action Plan for the National Assembly for Wales werelaunched in June 2002, covering the Assembly’s own operations.Within a year, all electricityfor its largest site is to be procured from renewable sources, amounting to around 70 percent of the Assembly’s total electricity consumption.

1.32 A Compact was agreed in October 2002 between the Welsh Assembly Government and theWelsh Local Government Association, to provide a framework for working relationships topursue sustainable development co-operatively in Wales. It will be supported by structuredplans for action, updated regularly.

1.33 During the course of the year, the Welsh Assembly Government has supported moves toestablish an independent Sustainable Development Forum for Wales to become a catalyst forchange in all sectors of Welsh society, map the path towards sustainable development, andstimulate practical action. After engagement with a wide range of stakeholders, this wasestablished in December 2002 as a non-profit-making company limited by guarantee.

1.34 Amongst the specific initiatives mentioned in the 2001 report was a successful bid forEuropean Commission support for a €4 million programme, under the European RegionalDevelopment Fund Regional Programme of Innovation Actions.The four projects included inthe bid are now under way. For further information visit www.sustainableregions.net

1.35 Funding for a Pan-European Regional Network on Sustainable Development was confirmedby the European Commission in August 2002.This network (of which Wales is the designatedlead region) started work in October 2002. It will aim both to share and to developinnovation and good practice in sustainable development, drawing on ‘Innovative Action’projects in the partner regions.The founder members include twelve regions from EUmember states, and four partners from Accession Countries.

1.36 The Welsh Assembly Government is grateful to all its partners within Wales for their supportin preparing for, and following up on, the World Summit on Sustainable Development. Specialthanks are due to Oxfam Cymru and WWF Cymru, who co-hosted the preparatory ‘Wales& the World Conference’ with the Assembly in April 2002.With Assembly support, the Centrefor Alternative Technology and Techniquest combined to stage two conferences for youngpeople either side of the Summit.The first nominated a small group to represent the youngpeople of Wales in Johannesburg, and the second gave those who had gone an opportunityto report back and looked at how to carry the Summit’s deliberations forward within Wales.The City and County of Swansea, in conjunction with the Welsh Assembly Government,hosted a major conference in December 2002 on translating the Summit outcomes intopractical action.

1.37 The First Minister attended the World Summit in Johannesburg as part of the UK delegationand was able, whilst there, to help establish a global network of regional governmentscommitted to sustainable development.The Welsh Assembly Government co-sponsored aconference arranged by Stakeholder Forum for regional governments and associations ofregions, at which the First Minister chaired the session which agreed the Gauteng Declaration.This draws attention to the importance of regional and other sub-national governments inputting sustainable development into practice; commits its signatories to try to make all theirdevelopment sustainable development; and announces a global network of regionalgovernments building and exchanging good practice.

1.38 The Welsh Assembly Government looks forward to taking these and other initiatives forwardin 2003, with its partners at home and abroad. For further information visitwww.wales.gov.uk/themessustainabledev/index.htm orwww.cymru.gov.uk/themessustainabledev/index.htm

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European Union

1.39 Sustainable development requires international co-operation on matters such as trade, therelief of global poverty, and environmental protection. For the UK, the European Union isespecially influential.The following section focuses on the key developments in a Europeancontext in 2002: the EU Sustainable Development Strategy; progress being made inimplementing the Aarhus Convention; sustainability impact assessment; and the advancesin the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy.

EU Sustainable Development Strategy

1.40 At the Barcelona European Council on 15 and 16 March 2002, Heads of Government gave a brief review of progress on the EU’s Sustainable Development Strategy agreed inGothenburg in 2001.They agreed on the need to incorporate the global dimension ofsustainable development into the Strategy and to review the overall Strategy at their nextSpring meeting, focusing on implementing outcomes from the World Summit on SustainableDevelopment in Johannesburg.The European Commission produced its proposal for this

English Regional Development Agencies

Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) were formally launched in eight Englishregions on 1 April 1999.The ninth, in London, was established on 3 July 2000 followingthe creation of the Greater London Authority (GLA).

RDAs aim to co-ordinate regional economic development and regeneration, enable theEnglish regions to improve their relative competitiveness and reduce the imbalancesthat exists within and between regions to benefit the nation. RDAs work togetherat the regional level with the Regional Assemblies and Chambers to identify theoverarching sustainable development priorities in the regional sustainable developmentframework for their region and to ensure that they deliver on the targets they havesigned up to.

Each RDA has also co-ordinated the development of a Regional Economic Strategytailored to the particular circumstances of each region.These strategies are a primarydelivery mechanism for the delivery of sustainable economic development acrossEngland.They therefore aim to contribute to the delivery of the Government’sSustainable Development Strategy. In particular they will be a key driver forimprovements in economic outputs, investment, education and in combating povertyand social exclusion through the generation of employment opportunities.

All the RDAs have adopted an integrated approach to the delivery of economicgrowth, social progress, environmental protection and resource efficiency.This has ledto the development of innovative programmes and projects which aim to integrate thedelivery of economic, social and environmental goals.

The RDAs have developed mechanisms for ensuring sustainability is considered bothat a strategic, programme and project levels via sustainability appraisals.As part ofthis mainstreaming the London Development Agency is also undertaking a BestValue Review of Sustainability which has been designed to build on their existingSustainability Checklist to develop a wider set of tools and processes for integratingand raising awareness of sustainability throughout their programme development.For further information visit www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/search_by/sector/regional.htm

global dimension in February 2002, and the Development Council agreed conclusions drawingon this in May 2002.

1.41 Following the World Summit, the General Affairs and External Relations Council has agreedto oversee development of an implementation plan which will follow up commitments madeat Johannesburg.The UK supports this work and hopes it will identify actions which draw oncommitments already made by the EU as well as new undertakings from Johannesburg, toprovide a practical map of how the EU is addressing its global responsibilities.

Aarhus Convention

1.42 The EU have been making progress with their proposals to implement the AarhusConvention. A Directive on Public Access to Environmental Information, repealing CouncilDirective 90/313/EEC, was adopted in December 2002. A draft directive for publicparticipation in respect of the drawing up of certain plans and programmes relating to theenvironment has completed most of its stages in Brussels.We expect this to be adopted in2003. Meanwhile the European Commission have also consulted on proposals for a draftdirective providing access to justice in environmental matters and on proposals for applyingthe provisions of the Aarhus Convention to the institutions of the Community themselves.

Sustainability impact assessment

1.43 The UK sponsored an EU seminar in April 2002 to consider how the European Commissionmight carry out its commitment to undertake sustainability impact assessments of majorpolicy proposals, by looking at experience in different Member States.The Commissionproduced its proposal on impact assessments in June 2002 as part of an action plan forbetter regulation in the EU.The proposal incorporates much of the approach suggested atthe seminar, requiring policy-makers to assess the economic, social and environmental benefitsof their proposals, and will be phased in with initial assessments starting from 2003.Thesystem should be fully operational by 2004. For further information visit www.europa.eu.int

Common Agricultural Policy reform

1.44 The World Summit on Sustainable Development made clear the importance of agriculturalreform for delivering global sustainable development goals and urged World TradeOrganisation members to fulfil the commitments made in the Doha Ministerial Declaration.Despite the positive developments of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform agreementsover the past decade, the CAP still does not create a sustainable framework for ecological,social and economic development. Renewed efforts are needed to further integrateenvironmental concerns and to achieve sustainable development domestically and globally.

1.45 For this reason the UK supports the European Commission’s most recent proposals forreform of the CAP which will be the subject of intense negotiations into 2003. Internationally,reform is essential to rectify the distortions of world markets which flow from the CAP (andother developed country agricultural policies). It is among the very highest priorities fordeveloping countries who have consistently demanded that the EU reduce its subsidiessubstantially, in order to allow them to compete fairly on domestic and world markets andbecause of the damaging impact of EU subsidies and protection on their ability to developtheir agriculture sectors.

1.46 Implementation of the main elements of the Commission’s proposals is essential if we are toachieve our global sustainable development goals. But reform as proposed would also assistthe EU in reaching some of its domestic sustainable development objectives, including the

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production of high-quality food, the use of environmentally sustainable production methods,and the better protection of biodiversity. In particular, the proposals would bring producersmuch closer to the needs of the market and, over time, allow significant extra expenditure onpublic goods that the public wants and needs. For further information visitwww.defra.gov.uk/farm/capreform/index.htm

Sustainable Development in Government

1.47 This section covers the strategic progress this year within Government. It includes theintroduction of the requirement in the 2002 Government spending review for departmentsto provide information on the sustainable development impacts of their proposals for the useof public funds. It also highlights examples of progress within individual departments andacross Government where the first annual report on Sustainable Development in Governmentand the launch of the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate werethe key events of the year.

Spending Review – SR2002

1.48 Sustainable development was an overarching aim of SR2002. Each department with its ownPublic Service Agreement (PSA) participating in SR2002 was required to produce a separate,freestanding Sustainable Development Report (SDR) giving departments an opportunity toexplain in more detail the sustainable development implications of their bids and expand oninformation provided elsewhere in the SR2002 bid.The SDRs set out any anticipatedsignificant social, economic and environmental implications for each department’s five or sotop priorities. HM Treasury, for the first time, provided detailed guidance to departments onhow to incorporate sustainable development into their work.This guidance was made publiclyavailable in November 2001.

Government departments

1.49 Placing sustainable development at the heart of an organisation can be achieved in a numberof ways, including legislative approaches, policy directions by the relevant Secretary of State,or inclusion in non-statutory aims and objectives.This section will look at two key examplesof placing sustainable development at the core of central government departments in 2002.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)

1.50 In June 2002, Defra launched its departmental sustainable development strategy ‘Foundationsfor Our Future’ a high profile initiative designed to embed sustainable development at theheart of the department.The strategy was developed on the basis of wide-rangingconsultation, with stakeholders, staff and members of the public.The outcome of theseexercises directly influenced the structure and scope of the strategy.

“Sustainable development is a challenge for us all and cannot be delivered bygovernments alone. But this Government recognises the importance of showingleadership on sustainable development, at home and internationally. Thesignificant additional resources provided in this Spending Review for the deliveryof a better quality of life for all demonstrate that leadership.”

Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Paul Boateng, July 2002

1.51 The strategy provides a framework for how Defra will develop policies and states that thedepartment will:

● be more transparent and accessible;

● base decisions on sound science and analysis;

● include and learn from others as much as possible, recognising that the best outcomesusually result from a broad base of advice, evidence and opinion;

● take a long-term perspective of its work;

● ensure that the environmental, social and economic costs and benefits of its work areunderstood and addressed; and

● review progress every year with staff and stakeholders.

1.52 The strategy identifies a set of indicators which will be used to monitor Defra’s progress, andsets the tone for future policy documents.

1.53 Following the launch of the strategy the department is carrying out an awareness raisingcampaign that includes;

● professionally run discussions for Defra’s directorates to help staff fully understand theimportance of sustainable development and the contribution they can make to itssuccess;

● contact points in each division so information can be disseminated effectively to teams;

● ‘spotlight’ projects in a number of directorate generals, demonstrating how to put thestrategy into action, and to trial the use of the Integrated Policy Appraisal tool;

● the inclusion of sustainable development as a key theme in induction training;

● a new competency and skills framework reflecting Defra’s values, including thebehaviours needed to make sustainable development a reality;

● awareness raising and training on access to information; and

● new and improved information for staff on the intranet and the Defra website.

1.54 Defra is committed to working in partnership with the rest of Government, and the public,private and voluntary sectors to achieve its sustainable development goals; the strategy willhelp to achieve this. For further information visit www.defra.gov.uk

“This strategy marks the start of a process by which we hope to embed the tenetsof sustainable development deep within the culture of the Department and, byexample, within Government.”

Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs,Margaret Beckett, June 2002

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Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)

1.55 In July 2002, Baroness Hollis of Heigham and Sir Richard Mottram, the Permanent Secretaryof the Department for Work and Pensions, demonstrated their support for, and commitmentto, sustainable development by signing the Department’s new Sustainable Development PolicyStatement. Baroness Hollis, Green Minister for DWP, launched the new Policy Statement asan important milestone in the department’s contribution to the Government’s sustainabledevelopment objectives.

1.56 The new Policy Statement makes an important contribution to the integration of sustainabledevelopment at all levels within DWP and forms the bedrock for the strategy that iscurrently being developed.The Statement covers all of DWP’s business, from decision makingto delivery and has been made available to all staff by being posted on the department’sintranet, and on notice boards in all departmental buildings. For further information visitwww.dwp.gov.uk

Sustainable Development in Government First Annual Report 2002

1.57 The Sustainable Development in Government First Annual Report was launched by theMinister for Environment, Michael Meacher, at the Sustainability in Public Services Conferenceon 27 November 2002.This report signalled the transition from the Greening GovernmentInitiative to Sustainable Development in Government and a wider review of Governmentdepartments’ progress on the three broad priority areas agreed in 2001:

● integrating sustainable development into decision making;

“We have made real progress in reducing the Department’s impact on theenvironment, particularly in the areas of renewable energy, awareness, travel, andthe introduction of Environmental Management Systems, and this statementmarks an important milestone in our contribution to the Government’sSustainable Development objectives.”

Minister for Work and Pensions, Baroness Hollis, July 2002

Strategy for Sustainable Farming and Food

The Government is committed to delivering a better future for all those who live,work in and visit the countryside. It aims to create a framework of opportunities tohelp the farming and food industry meet the challenges it faces and become morecompetitive, diverse, responsive to consumers’ wishes, environmentally responsible andan integral part of the rural and wider economy.The independent Policy Commissionon the Future of Farming and Food was set up to advise the Government on how toachieve this objective in England.The Commission’s report, published in January 2002,made a substantial contribution towards a new strategy for sustainable farming andfood which was launched in December 2002.

The Strategy, which is integrated with wider Government goals, including sustainabledevelopment and rural polices, sets out a framework for building on existing policiesand working with the industry to develop new approaches to deliver genuinelysustainable farming and food industries.A full response to each of the PolicyCommission’s recommendations was published with the Strategy. For furtherinformation visit www.defra.gov.uk

● improving performance of the Government Estate; and

● promoting understanding of sustainable development across Government.

1.58 The report, covering the period 1 April 2001- 31 March 2002, showed good progress beingmade: there were continuing improvements in environmental performance on theGovernment Estate particularly in respect of energy and water use and waste emissions; aninter-departmental agreement was made on a new ‘Framework for Sustainable Development onthe Government Estate’ with targets for future progress on travel, water and environmentalmanagement systems; and all departments were being encouraged to integrate sustainabledevelopment into decision making, and to build on the increasing focus on sustainabledevelopment across all sectors of society arising from the World Summit on SustainableDevelopment.

1.59 In addition to measures focused on improving performance of the Government Estate, thereport set out how departments were being encouraged to integrate sustainabledevelopment into their policy making. Key initiatives include:

● all departments with a Public Service Agreement being required to submit separateSustainable Development Reports in support of their bids for resources in the 2002Spending Review;

● a selection of departments piloting the Integrated Policy Appraisal tool developed initiallyby the former Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions inassociation with Defra and the Department of Health;

● the Government beginning a review to consider the implications of climate change forthe full range of their policy and operational responsibilities;

● departments beginning to set up Sustainable Development Units to better co-ordinatesustainable development issues; and

● the Greening Government website being replaced by the Sustainable Development inGovernment website, which offers up-to-date guidance to departments and provides thegeneral public with information on Government commitments:www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/sdig/

Future priorities

1.60 Planned activities for the year ahead mainly build on projects initiated over the last year.Priorities include:

● the further development and piloting of Integrated Policy Appraisal tools acrossGovernment by the end of 2003;

● the development and publication of the remaining sections of the Framework forSustainable Development on the Government Estate during 2003;

● the complete consideration of scope for reporting on social impacts of GovernmentEstate during 2003.

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1.61 Last year’s Greening Government report signalled the Government’s intention to considerwider impacts beyond Greening Operations including the social impacts of the operation ofthe Government Estate. A Social Impacts Sub-Group of the Green Ministers Official WorkingGroup (GMOWG) has been established and Defra has also commissioned a consultancystudy to consider the benefits and burdens of social reporting to Government departments.Departments will consider the consultant’s recommendations over the next few months. Forfurther information visit www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/sdig/

Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate

1.62 The ‘Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate’ was launched in July2002 by Michael Meacher, along with publication of the first parts of the Framework whichinclude targets on environmental management systems, travel and water.The remaining parts,covering waste, energy, procurement, estate management, biodiversity and social impacts willbe built up in stages over the next year.The Framework also contains guidance to supportdepartments in achieving these targets.

1.63 This new approach covering central departments and executive agencies is the main vehiclefor systematically assessing, managing, reporting and improving the performance of theGovernment Estate.This is the first time that such an approach has been agreed across theGovernment Estate. For further information visit www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/sdig/

Procurement

1.64 The interdepartmental Sustainable Procurement Group (SPG) was established in November2001 by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, Margaret Beckett, toconsider how Government bodies can carry out the procurement of goods and services ina manner that supports the Government’s policy and objectives for sustainable development.It is envisaged that outcomes from SPG’s recommendations will inform the procurementsection of the Framework.

Environmental Audit Committee

1.65 The Environmental Audit Committee’s (EAC) remit is to consider how far Governmentpolicies are contributing to sustainable development and to audit its performance againstrelated targets. Issues examined this year have included: the headline indicators for sustainabledevelopment; sustainable energy; and Government timber procurement.

1.66 The World Summit on Sustainable Development has been a major strand of the Committee’srecent work. In March 2002, the Committee acknowledged that the Government was preparingwell for the Summit and a small EAC delegation to the Summit observed the UK in action.TheCommittee continues to monitor the Government’s implementation of Summit commitments.

1.67 The Committee has also continued to scrutinise the impact of Government expenditure andrevenue raising on sustainable development, largely through its examination of the annual Pre-Budget Report. Other strands of work, some of which will continue into 2003, haveincluded: an examination of the impact on sustainable development policy-making anddelivery of the post-election Whitehall reorganisation; the New Electricity TradingArrangements and the progress made in relation to the Voluntary Initiative on Pesticides; anda major examination of the effectiveness of the Government’s Waste Strategy.

1.68 The EAC’s reports, recommendations and details of current inquiries can be found atwww.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/environmental_audit_committee.cfm

Sustainable Development Commission

The Sustainable Development Commission is a UK-wide, non-departmental public body,reporting to the Prime Minister and the leaders of the devolved administrations. It is chairedby Jonathon Porritt.The Commission’s remit is to advocate sustainable development acrossall sectors in the UK, review progress towards it, and build consensus on the actions neededif further progress is to be achieved. Its mission is to inspire government, the economy andsociety to embrace sustainable development as the central organising principle.

For the Commission’s own part, we have been enacting our remit in the followingmain areas.

Coming ten years after Rio, the World Summit on Sustainable Development inJohannesburg represented the most important opportunity for a decade to putsustainable development at the top of the political agenda.We used the occasion tofocus attention on Sustainable Development here in the UK, including a challenge toGovernment departments to take effective action to follow up the Summit.

We have mirrored that theme in our input to the Government’s forthcoming EnergyWhite Paper, calling for a sustainable energy policy to stimulate a low carbon, competitiveeconomy, and seeking a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by at least some 60% byabout 2050.We have also initiated a partnership to develop ‘dCARB-uk’.This programmewill assess the feasibility of achieving deep carbon-reduction targets at a variety of spatialand sectoral levels in the UK.

And we’ve also recently completed an audit of the Government’s Climate ChangeProgramme. Our analysis shows that although the Government is on track to meet itsKyoto targets, it will fall well short of its goal for reducing emissions of CO2 by 20 percent by 2010 unless radical new measures are introduced in the forthcoming EnergyWhite Paper.

Following our submissions to the Policy Commission on the Future of Farming and Food,we have worked closely with Defra on its Strategy for Sustainable Farming and Food.Wehave also provided advice about sustainable food procurement within the NHS. (Seecomments by the Commission’s Chairman below).

We have sought to influence the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) onestablishing a statutory purpose for planning.We have also produced, and are followingup, a discussion paper ‘Vision for sustainable regeneration: environment and poverty – themissing link’, which included a set of principles for sustainable regeneration. Central to thisis the concept of environmental justice: equal access to a clean environment and equalprotection from possible environmental harm, irrespective of race, income or class.

We have started to investigate the degree to which the pursuit of conventionaleconomic growth is compatible with the Government’s other objectives for sustainabledevelopment, raising all sorts of issues regarding the measurement of well-being, qualityof life and resource productivity (for further information on this project please check our‘Redefining the Debate’ page on our website – address below).

For the future, the Commission intends integrating these work themes, to assess how, forexample, our work on climate change and regeneration can be linked particularly at alocal level.

More information about the Commission’s activities is contained in our flagshippublication ‘Agenda’. For further information visit www.sd-commission.gov.uk

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Jonathon Porritt, Chairman, Sustainable Development Commission

“Sustainable development should be the organising principle of all democratic societies,underpinning all other goals, policies and processes. It provides a framework for integratingeconomic, social and environmental concern over time, not through crude trade-offs, butthrough the pursuit of mutually reinforcing benefits. It promotes good governance, healthyliving, innovation, life-long learning and all forms of economic growth which secure the naturalcapital upon which we depend. It reinforces social harmony and seeks to secure eachindividual’s prospects of leading a fulfilling life.”

This is the most important principle against which the performance of the SustainableDevelopment Commission is likely to be measured at the end of our first five years.Since the Earth Summit back in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, and the emergence of the UK’sfirst sustainable development strategy under John Major as Prime Minister, sustainabledevelopment has lurked around the fringes of UK politics, occasionally warranting astarring role (as at last year’s World Summit on Sustainable Development inJohannesburg, for instance), but never quite making it into the big time.

I don’t think anyone should be too surprised by that. Sustainable development is stillpretty much a newcomer on the block, and as a cross-cutting, even all-embracingconcept, it will always be working against the grain of Whitehall, the skyline of whichremains as dominated today by its vertical policy silos as in any precedingadministration.A succession of admirable efforts to get more of the “joined-up” feelbetween the silos has certainly helped, but it’s still the case that policy gets sorted andbudgets spent without a great deal of cross-cutting co-ordination.

So Ministers outside of Defra have to go the extra mile to factor in the challenge ofdoing whatever they do in a more sustainable fashion. Persuading them to do thatinvariably needs leadership from on high, and it has to be said that this particular politicalcommodity has been in somewhat inconsistent supply when it comes to sustainabledevelopment. But the optimist in me is persuaded that this is now beginning to change.Indeed, it would be unduly cynical not to be encouraged by the following statements:

Tony Blair: “We know the problems, and we know the solution: sustainable development.The issue is the political will.”

John Prescott: “Sustainable development is not just about the environment, it’s also aboutsocial justice and economic development within a sustainable framework. It is also aboutpartnership between rich and poor countries. Between governments and civic society. Betweenscientists, business and NGOs.At home and abroad.”

Gordon Brown:“We talk a great deal about the 1944 economic objectives that governmentsacross the western world have followed: high and stable levels of growth and employment.With the understanding we have now, I believe that these objectives are better expressed ashigh and stable levels of growth, employment and sustainable development”.

And you will have seen for yourself Margaret Beckett’s commitment to promoting sustainabledevelopment across Government in her Foreword.The challenge now is to convert thathigh-level commitment into policies that really begin to make a difference on the ground.

The first manifestation of this has to be the Government’s new Strategy on SustainableFarming and Food.The crisis in UK farming is now so deep that even those farmerswho are not yet personally persuaded of the need for radical change can see thewriting on the wall. Sooner or later, the CAP will come to the end of its unnatural life,to be replaced by something which ensures that public money is used to generaterural benefits that the public really wants – in terms of protected landscapes, easieraccess, enhanced biological biodiversity, thriving rural economies and so on.

Unfortunately, the speed with which this transition can be effected is not completelywithin our control. In a move that took policy-makers completely by surprise,President Chirac and Chancellor Schroeder stitched up a deal at the EU Summit inOctober last year which means that CAP expenditure, excluding rural development,will be constrained at 2006 levels (plus 1% inflator) until 2013.This does not go as faras the UK was arguing for.The UK has been in the vanguard of those EU countriesseeking to reform the CAP, not just in terms of sorting out a more sustainable set ofpolicies for our own farmers, but in terms of meeting our obligations to developingcountries whose farmers are so adversely affected by continuing subsidies in both theEU and the US. But the Mid-Term-Review proposals are still on the table. If agreed,these will delink subsidies from production and reduce some commodity prices, with apositive impact on developing countries.

There should be no such barriers as far as the DTI is concerned in fashioning agenuinely sustainable energy strategy for the UK. It’s had all the advice it could possiblyneed from the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (advocating the adoptionof a target to reduce CO2 emissions by 60 % by around 2050), the Performance andInnovation Unit in Number 10, the Carbon Trust and the Sustainable DevelopmentCommission itself – all recommending an unambiguous shift to renewables, energyefficiency and CHP as the fundamental elements in a new sustainable strategy.

What matters most is that all the different options (including coal, gas, nuclear,renewables, efficiency, Combined Heat and Power (CHP) and hydrogen) should beassessed against the same sustainable development criteria – making like-for-likecomparisons on economics, security of supply, environmental issues, employmentimplications and so on.There should be no “special deals” this time round. If nuclear, forinstance, doesn’t perform well against these criteria (and our own appraisal indicates thatit certainly doesn’t), then there is no logical justification for continuing to spend billionsof pounds of public money on a supply option that simply can’t deliver the goods.

And if, as we believe, the combination of renewables, energy efficiency and CHP can bedemonstrated to deliver “best value” on all counts in terms of a sustainable strategy,then Government must pursue these options with vigour and single mindeddetermination.Any perpetuation of the incoherent, contradictory and half-heartedapproaches that have dominated the scene until now would be disastrous.

If we could sort out both agriculture and energy, which affect so many peoples’ livesdirectly and indirectly, then the principle with which this article started can be broughtto bear on many other policy areas. It’s clear, for instance, that both Number 10 andthe Treasury are now seriously engaged in sorting out some of the most vexed issuessurrounding waste minimisation and recycling – issues that have kept us embarrassinglyclose to the bottom of the EU’s recycling league tables ever since the Government waselected in 1997.And that leads into the whole area of resource productivity – drivingdown inputs of energy and raw materials for each unit of production or value added –on which all today’s enduring assumptions of reconciling the pursuit of conventionaleconomic growth with genuine sustainability so optimistically rest.

Then urban regeneration; housing; environmental justice; planning and land use;aviation; public transport; public health; education – as I said, sustainable developmentis not just cross-cutting but all-embracing! That’s what makes it such a devil to dealwith for hard-pressed Ministers, but it’s also what gives it such integrating power.

Which is why we often find ourselves speculating, on the Sustainable DevelopmentCommission, why it’s taking so long for this Government to realise they don’t need tofabricate phoney “big ideas” – they’ve already got the most authentic of big ideas tohand, which they’re just beginning to make a fist of.

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CHAPTER TWO

Guiding Principles andApproaches

2.1 The following Chapter introduces the ten guiding principles and approaches outlined in theStrategy for sustainable development for the UK that underpin the achievement ofsustainable development. Four of the principles and approaches are considered in more detail– Transparency, information, participation and access to justice; Using scientific knowledge; Theprecautionary principle; and Taking a long term perspective – charting key developments inthese areas in 2002 and featuring related case-studies.

1. Putting people at the centreSustainable development must enable people to enjoy a better quality of life, now andin the future. In the words of the Rio Declaration, ‘human beings are at the centre ofconcerns for sustainable development.They are entitled to a healthy and productivelife in harmony with nature.’

2.Taking a long term perspectiveSustainable development thinking cannot restrict itself to the life of a Parliament, orthe next decade. Radical improvements have to begin now to safeguard the interestsof future generations.At the same time we must meet today’s needs – for example,people need warm homes, which, at present, means using predominantly fossil fuels.

3.Taking account of costs and benefitsDecisions must take account of a wide range of costs and benefits, including thosewhich cannot easily be valued in money terms. In pursuing any single objective, weshould not impose disproportionate costs elsewhere. Public values, the timing of costsand benefits and risks and uncertainties should be taken into account.

4. Creating an open and supportive economic systemSustainable development requires a global economic system which supports economicgrowth in all countries.We need to create conditions in which trade can flourish andcompetitiveness can act as a stimulus for growth and greater resource efficiency.

5. Combating poverty and social exclusionEradicating poverty is indispensable for sustainable development.We must helpdeveloping countries to tackle widespread abject poverty. In this country, everyoneshould have the opportunity to fulfil their potential, through access to high qualitypublic services, education and employment opportunities, decent housing and goodlocal environments.

6. Respecting environmental limitsSerious or irreversible damage to some aspects of the environment and resourceswould pose a severe threat to global society. Examples are major climate change,overuse of freshwater resources, or collapse of globally significant fish stocks. In thesecases, there are likely to be limits which should not be breached. Defining such limits isdifficult, so precautionary action needs to be considered.

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Transparency, information, participation and access to justice

2.2 Sustainable development is the responsibility of everyone, not just every level of government.Improved awareness of sustainable development can be a powerful tool for change.To ensurea long term perspective, people from all sectors must be aware of the influence they canhave on the local and global environment, and the improvements that this can make to theirown quality of life and that of generations to come.

2.3 The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000 requires all public authorities to makeinformation available pro-actively. Central Government departments and Non-DepartmentalPublic Bodies were required to have Publication Schemes in place by the end of November.These schemes give details of the information that an authority makes available, and how toaccess it.The Lord Chancellors Department (LCD) provided guidance in July for Governmentdepartments and NDPBs on what to consider in producing their schemes. Other publicauthorities will be preparing Publication Schemes in 2003.

2.4 In 2002 Defra went out to consultation on draft regulations to replace the existingEnvironmental Information Regulations (EIRs) 1992. More than 2000 public authorities, Non-Governmental Organisations and other stakeholders were consulted and this was followedby meetings and discussions in the autumn.The intention is to implement the requirements ofpillar 1 of the Aarhus Convention on access to environmental information and also toimplement the new EU Directive.The new regulations are now being prepared.They will beaccompanied by updated guidance. An awareness raising campaign to ensure that officials inpublic authorities and members of the public are aware of their information responsibilitiesand rights will follow, co-ordinated in parallel with work by the LCD to raise awareness andunderstanding of the FOIA.

7.The precautionary principleThe Rio Declaration defines the precautionary principle as ‘where there are threats ofserious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as areason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation’.Precautionary action requires assessment of the costs and benefits of action, andtransparency in decision-making.

8. Using scientific knowledgeWhen taking decisions, it is important to anticipate early on where scientific advice orresearch is needed, and to identify sources of information of high calibre.Wherepossible, evidence should be reviewed from a wide-ranging set of viewpoints.

9.Transparency, information, participation and access to justiceOpportunities for access to information, participation in decision-making, and accessto justice should be available to all.

10. Making the polluter payMuch environmental pollution, resource depletion and social cost occurs becausethose responsible are not those who bear the consequence. If the polluter, orultimately the consumer, is made to pay for those costs, that gives incentives to reduceharm, and means that costs do not fall on society at large.At the same time, it maynot always be possible for everyone to bear all such costs, particularly for essentialgoods and services.


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2.5 In October 2002 the Magistrates’ Association Annual General Meeting focused onenvironmental crime.The session, named ‘Costing the Earth’, identified the domestic and globalcosts of environmental crime as well as regulatory costs. Staff from across Defra, as well asfrom local authorities and the Environment Agency, supported the Association’s work whichaimed to raise magistrates’ awareness and understanding of sustainable development and togive a better understanding of the breadth of environmental law; the amounts of moneyinvolved; and the harm being done to our environment.The meeting was a complete success.Presentations were well received.This event was followed in November by a press launch byMichael Meacher of a training package for magistrates on environmental crime.The pack,developed by the Magistrates’ Association, aims to help magistrates deliver effective sentencesfor environmental offences. Environmental crime affects the quality of our lives, now and forgenerations to come.The magistrates can therefore play a key role.

2.6 An International Symposium on Environmental Law for Judges was held in October 2002.TheSymposium was attended by senior judges from across the world, many of whom spokeabout the system and problems in their country. For example, Chief Justice Mahla Pearlmanspoke about the New South Wales Land and Environment Court in Australia.The discussionsshowed the amount of serious international interest in the subject.

Using scientific knowledge

2.7 The Sustainable Development Research (SDR) Network is a Defra funded initiative co-ordinated by the Policy Studies Institute (PSI) in collaboration with the Centre forSustainable Development (CfSD) at the University of Westminster and the Centre for theStudy of Environmental Change and Sustainability (CECS) at the University of Edinburgh.The Network’s goal is to contribute to sustainable development in the United Kingdom byfacilitating the better use of evidence and research in policy-making.

2.8 As well as organising regular meetings and workshops, through its academic Advisory Groupand research User Forum, the SDR-Network hosts an Annual Sustainable DevelopmentResearch Conference and publishes an online database of UK sustainable developmentresearch activities.The proceedings of the Network’s 2001 conference were published thisyear as part of a Joseph Rowntree Foundation report ‘Sustainable Development and SocialInclusion’ reviewing the linkages between social exclusion, environmental justice andsustainable development.

2.9 Interest in the SDR-Network’s activities has grown rapidly, with some seven hundredindividual researchers, policymakers and practitioners subscribing to the Network’s electronicnewsletter – the SDR-Network Mailing.

2.10 A key task of the SDR-Network over the last year has been liaising with funding bodies topromote support for crosscutting sustainable development research. In May 2002 theNetwork published ‘A New Agenda for UK Sustainable Development Research’.This set out achallenging agenda for funders and researchers alike to develop the institutional frameworks,research programmes and specific projects necessary to better equip the UK on the path to

“Sustainable development is all about integration and this Network is anexcellent example of taking an integrated approach to solving multi-dimensionalproblems and cross-cutting issues”

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sustainable development.The Network is continuing to develop this agenda through detaileddialogue with Research Councils UK, individual funding bodies and Government departments.For further information visit www.sd-research.org.uk

The precautionary principle

2.11 The Strategy for sustainable development for the UK makes it clear that precaution is not justrelevant to environmental damage – it is relevant also in the fields of health and safety. Itemphasises that precautionary action requires assessment of costs and benefits of action,transparency and proportionality; and that decisions should be reviewed to reflect betterunderstanding of risk as more evidence becomes available.

2.12 The Interdepartmental Liaison Group on Risk Assessment (ILGRA) was commissioned byMinisters to develop guidance on a more consistent approach to application of the principleacross Government.This guidance was set out in the paper ‘The Precautionary Principle: Policyand Application’, published by ILGRA in June 2002. It makes the following key points:

● The precautionary principle should be invoked when:

– there is good reason to believe that harmful effects may occur to human, animal orplant health or to the environment; and

– the level of scientific uncertainty about the consequences or likelihood of the risk issuch that the best available scientific advice cannot assess the risk with sufficientconfidence to inform decision-making.

● The precautionary principle should be distinguished from other drivers that requirecaution such as society’s view on the extent of protection afforded to children or othersconsidered to be vulnerable, or the wish to ensure that conventional risk assessmenttechniques deliberately over rather than under-estimate risk.

● Action in response to the precautionary principle should accord with the principles ofgood regulation, i.e. be proportionate, consistent, targeted, transparent and accountable.

● Applying the precautionary principle is essentially a matter of making assumptions aboutconsequences and likelihoods to establish credible scenarios, and then using standardprocedures of risk assessment and management to inform decisions on how to addressthe hazard or threat.

Research Council funding for sustainable development

In recent years the UK Research Councils have invested significant collaborativefunding in multidisciplinary centres and programmes (such as the Tyndall Centre forClimate Change and Sustainable Technologies Initiative) relevant to sustainabledevelopment.

Together the Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council (BBSRC), theEngineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the Economic and SocialResearch Council (ESRC) and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)have an annual spend of some £61.8 million on research relevant to sustainabledevelopment (BBSRC – approx. £22 million; EPSRC – approx. £20 million; NERC –approx. £16.8 million; ESRC – approx. £3 million).


32

● Decision-making should bring together all relevant social, political, economic and ethicalfactors in selecting an appropriate risk management option.

● Invoking the precautionary principle shifts the burden of proof in demonstratingpresence of risk or degree of safety towards the hazard creator.The presumption shouldbe that the hazard creator should provide, as a minimum, the information needed fordecision-making.

For further information visit www.hse.gov.uk/dst/ilgra/ilgra.htm

Taking a long term perspective

2.13 Civil society is often better at taking a long term view. Education is needed to ensure thateach new generation can learn from our experience and understand sustainabledevelopment. For sustainable development to become a reality, individuals, communities,businesses and Government need to develop the skills and commitment to live and behavesustainably, together with the vision and understanding of why it is necessary to do so.Thissection features four case-studies dealing with different aspects of sustainable developmenteducation. For further information visitwww.defra.gov.uk/environment/sustainable/educpanel/index.htm

Learning to Last

In 2000 the Government set up the Learning and Skills Development Agency (LSDA)to support the development of post-16 education and training, advising the nationalLearning and Skills Council (LSC) and its 47 local councils. LSDA’s ‘Learning to Last’project focused on integrating sustainability principles and practices into all levels ofpost-16 education.

Early in 2000 three seminars on Citizenship, Sustainability and Social Inclusion, Educationfor Sustainable Economic Development and Responsibility in Education in a Risk Society inLondon and Birmingham kicked off the initiative.These involved formal presentationsby leading figures in education and sustainable development and workshops thatfacilitated creative multi-disciplinary dialogues. Key findings were published at a launchconference focusing on practical and policy issues raised during the seminars.

This complemented a 2001-02 LSC initiative funding projects at 11 Further Educationcolleges to devise and promote best practice in education for sustainabledevelopment.This proved so successful that the LSC has made further fundingavailable and 12 new projects have been planned, including a joint Cornwall Collegescheme with the Eden Project, and work on key skills for sustainable development atSt Helen’s College.

For further information visit www.lsda.org.uk/pubs/ (put “learning to last” in thesearch box) or for the “Dissemination of good practice in Sustainable DevelopmentEducation” www.lsda.org.uk/research/activeproj.asp


33

Workplace sector guidelines on sustainable development

The Sustainable Development Education Panel, with support from the Department forEducation and Skills and the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, havedeveloped a set of guides designed to promote education for sustainable developmentacross a range of workplace sectors where organisations are keen to embracesustainable development but do not know how to get started.

Guides for professions and sector skills councils were launched on 24 September2002; over 30 representatives of the sectors attended the launch. Key representativesput their names to a ‘Sign Up for Sustainable Development’ pledge board, promising topromote sustainable development through education and awareness raising in theirsectors.

“This is a much needed initiative to help employers and employees meet the challenge ofsustainable development in the workplace, particularly in the light of the World Summit.”

Minister for Environment, Michael Meacher, September 2002

For further information visit www.dfes.gov.uk

UK universities and colleges sectoral sustainability strategy

The Higher Education Partnership for Sustainability is a 3-year project funded by UKhigher education funding councils. Its purpose is to help 18 universities and collegesdeliver their own strategic objectives through a positive engagement with sustainabledevelopment and to share that experience with the sector.

One of the key outputs of the partnership is the development of a sustainabilityreporting system for the sector. Designed to celebrate the diversity of the sector, thesystem will track the contribution universities and colleges can make to sustainabilitythrough their teaching and research programmes as well as how they run their estatesand relate to their local community. Finance Directors working in the sector are alsoconsidering how green accounting techniques can help not only reduce costs, energyuse and waste, but also manage risks.

An important step in helping the sector integrate sustainability issues into thestrategic planning process will be the new Sustainable Development Strategy Groupset up by UUK/SCOP (the body that represents the sector’s Vice Chancellors andPrincipals).

For further information visit www.heps.org.uk


34

Keira Knightley and Lloyd Owen in ‘The Seasons Alter’.

Communicating sustainable development

FUTERRA is a not-for-profit organisation originally sponsored by the NationalEndowment for Science Technology and the Arts. Dedicated to the effectivecommunication of sustainable development, one of their first activities was thecreation of two short films to be used by business, local government and educators.These films, launched in July 2002, explore sustainable development themes in verydifferent styles.

‘One Minute’ is about coaxing people into realising the immense impacts we all have inour everyday decision-making.The theme of the film is the forgotten power each of uswields, whether it’s deciding to favour renewable energy for our domestic electricitysupply, buying fairly traded goods like coffee, or choosing ethical investment funds.‘The Seasons Alter’ is a contemporary short film interpretation of a sequence fromWilliam Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.The vision for this film centres onthe famous ‘weather’ speech by Titania.

“It is still not enough just to describe the term ... [sustainable development]. People need tounderstand what it means to them in practice if they are going to be engaged in its activities.”

Minister for Rural Affairs,Alun Michael, July 2002

For further information visit www.futerracom.org

35

CHAPTER THREE

Headline Indicators3.1 In the Strategy for sustainable development for the UK, the Government made a

commitment to report annually on progress against a set of 15 headline indicators1 – aquality of life barometer – in order ‘to provide a high level overview of progress, and be apowerful tool for simplifying and communicating the main messages for the public.’ In addition,the Government stated that its ‘aim is for all the headline indicators to move in the rightdirection over time or, when a satisfactory level has been reached, to prevent a reversal’.

3.2 This chapter gives an overview of the progress being made in each of the headline indicators,and provides related case-studies showing the range of activities being carried out acrossgovernment and by stakeholders at all levels of society to further sustainable development.

3.3 The indicators are divided into three sections: economic, social, and environmental. Progress ishighlighted for each individual indicator by the use of ‘traffic light’ assessments. In most casesthere is information in the text or a graph providing a forward look, reflecting either theexpected or desired outcome of policies or actions in place or planned, or targets orobjectives to which the Government is committed, or a combination of these.The case-studies illustrate how these policies can affect the individual headline indicators, as well aslooking more widely at their cross-cutting implications.There is also information on publicattitudes2 to some of the issues behind the indicators, taken from the ‘Survey of publicattitudes to quality of life and to the environment’, published in October 2002.

Assessment of the indicators

3.4 Table 3.1 overleaf provides a summary of the latest ‘traffic light’ assessments for each of theindicators based on information available up to the end of 2002.These are on two bases: thelatest data compared with the position in 1990, ‘Change since 1990’; and the latest datacompared with the baseline position of the data available at the time of the Strategy in 1999,‘Change since Strategy.’ In most cases the baseline related to one or two years prior to theStrategy.

3.5 Progress is indicated by green (significant change, in the direction of meeting the objective),amber (no significant change), and red (significant change, in the direction away from meetingthe objective).Year to year fluctuations in the individual indicators – in the right and wrongdirections – are to be expected, even when the long-term trend is showing good progress.

3.6 It should be emphasised that the traffic lights only signify progress compared with the 1990and Strategy baselines. A green ‘traffic light’ does not mean that we have now reached ourgoals, only that we are making progress in the right direction.

1 The headline indicators are part of a larger set of indicators, ‘Quality of life counts’, published inDecember 1999 to provide a baseline assessment against which progress towards sustainabledevelopment can be measured.

2 Survey of public attitudes to quality of life and to the environment – 2001’, Defra 2002(www.defra.gov.uk/environment/statistics/pubatt/index.htm)


36

Summary of progress

3.7 Compared with the position in the 2001 annual report, individual indicators that continue tomake good progress and show green ‘traffic lights’ since the Government introduced theStrategy include ‘Economic output’ (H1), the selected indicators on ‘Poverty and SocialExclusion’ (H4) and ‘River water quality’ (H12).There has also been significant progress, andhence green ‘traffic lights’ both since the Strategy and since 1990, for ‘Land Use’ (H14). Inaddition, new data have, for the first time, allowed an assessment for ‘Housing’ (conditions)(H7) since the Strategy to be made – this too is a green ‘traffic light’.

3.8 The indicators for ‘Employment’ (H3), ‘Crime’ (burglary from dwellings and thefts of or fromvehicles) (H8), and ‘Climate change’ (H9) still show good progress – and hence show green‘traffic lights’ – since the Strategy, but recent progress has slowed or has changed direction.‘Wildlife’ (woodland birds) (H13), shows good progress. However, access restrictions relatedto the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak severely restricted data collection in 2001.It is not possible, therefore, to provide a meaningful update of the headline indicator for 2001.

3.9 Indicators for ‘Investment’ (H2), ‘Education’ (H5) and ‘Air Quality’ (H10) previously showedgood progress since the Strategy, but figures updated during 2002 show little change –indicated by amber ‘traffic lights’ – compared with the position at the time of the Strategy.

3.10 For most indicators, the recent figures have not justified changing the longer-term assessmentof ‘Change since 1990’ originally made in the year of the Strategy. However, in addition to theprogress in the ‘Land use’ (H14) indicator, ‘Change since 1990’ for ‘Investment’ (H2) nowshows an amber ‘traffic light’, rather than a red and ‘Change since 1990’ for ‘Housing’(conditions) (H7) now shows a green ‘traffic light’ rather than amber.

3.11 As also proposed in the 2001 report, the ‘violent’ component of the ‘Crime’ (H8) indicatorhas been refined to ‘robbery’ – a subset of violent crime. However, this has not affected thered ‘traffic light’ assessments for this component, rather, recent trends in robbery reinforce thisas an area of particular concern.

3.12 The indicator for ‘Road traffic’ (H11) has previously caused some confusion as to whetherassessments were based on absolute traffic levels or rates of growth.The position is nothelped by the weak relationship between the indicator and the overall objective againstwhich the assessment is made.We will be reviewing this objective, and the most appropriateheadline indicator to reflect it, ahead of the next report. In the meantime, in order to removeany ambiguity, a new split assessment has been introduced. One component highlights thecontinuing pressures that increasing road traffic volumes continue to generate.The secondcomponent highlights progress in weakening the association between traffic and economicgrowth which has prevailed strongly over the last few decades.

3.13 The assessment of ‘Waste’ (H15) has also been split, as it is not currently possible to updatefigures on all waste arisings and management. A separate red ‘traffic light’ assessment istherefore made for household waste, which reflects the continual increase in the levels ofwaste generated.This and the changes mentioned above are explained in more detail in thesupporting text for each indicator.

3.14 Putting some of these indicators on a sustainable path will not happen overnight. As theStrategy explains, however, a key test of whether progress is being made towards sustainabledevelopment is whether improvements are to be found across the three pillars of social,economic and environmental indicators. As Table 3.1 shows, this is still the case.

37

Table 3.1 Headline indicators – assessment of progress since baselines– based on information available up to the end of 2002

(Full explanations of assessments are given in the individual indicator sections)

Headline Indicator Change since Change since1990 Strategy

Economic

H1 Economic output ✔ ✔

H2 Investment ≈ ≈H3 Employment ≈ ✔

(3)

Social

H4 Poverty and social exclusion ≈ ✔

H5 Education ✔ ≈H6 Health ≈ ≈H7 Housing – conditions ✔ ✔

H8 Crime – robbery ✘ ✘

– theft of, or from vehicles and domestic burglary ✔ ✔(3)

Environment

H9 Climate change ✔ ✔(3)

H10 Air quality ✔ ≈H11 Road traffic – total road traffic volumes ✘ ✘

– road traffic intensity (traffic per GDP) ✔ ✔

H12 River water quality ✔ ✔

H13 Wildlife – farmland birds ✘ ≈– woodland birds ✘ ✔

H14 Land use ✔ ✔

H15 Waste – household waste ✘ ✘

– all arisings and management ... ...(4)

Key

Significant change, in direction of meeting objective ✔

No significant change ≈Significant change, in direction away from meeting objective ✘

Insufficient or no comparable data ...

3 Recent progress has slowed or has changed direction, but not sufficiently to change the assessmentof progress since the Strategy

4 New data are expected in 2004


38

Economic indicators

3.15 A better quality of life for all will require better, more widely available goods and services:decent housing, efficient household equipment; safe and nutritious food; and access to agrowing range of leisure activities.We have to meet those needs in ways which deliver overallsustainable development objectives on social progress, the environment, resource use, andeconomic growth and employment.

3.16 To do so requires a stable and competitive economy.We must continue to increase theproductivity and efficiency with which we use resources. Also, goods and services must beproduced in ways that treat people fairly, give them the opportunity to fulfil their potentialand make the best use of their skills and knowledge.

3.17 The following section looks at the progress made by the end of 2002 as shown by the threeeconomic headline indicators: ‘Economic output’ (H1), ‘Investment’ (H2) and ‘Employment’(H3). It features related policy examples and case-studies from a range of stakeholdersshowing the importance of action at all levels and the need for a joined up approach toachieving sustainable development.

The Bank of England

UK Priority Areas identified in the Strategy for sustainable development for the UK –a better quality of life (1999):

We need more growth – not less. Although, compared with many countries, the UK’s economyis highly productive and our average incomes are high, we have steadily been overtaken byother nations in both respects.

That growth must be of a higher quality than in the past. It needs to be achieved whilereducing pollution and the use of resources.

Headline Indicators

39

H1 – Economic output

Objective: Our economy must continue to grow.

Change since 1990: Output of the economy per head grew by 25 per cent, ✔

2.1 per cent per year on average, between 1990 and 2001.[data: UK, 1990-2001]

Change since the Output of the economy rose by 2.7 per cent in 1998, ✔

Strategy: 2.1 per cent in 1999, 2.9 per cent in 2000 and 1.6 per cent in 2001. [data: UK, 1998-2001]

3.18 Maintaining high and stable levels of economic growth is one of the key objectives ofsustainable development, the quality of that growth is just as important as the quantity.

Public Service Agreement target relevant to H1

HMT: Raise the trend rate of growth from the current estimate of 2.55 per cent and makefurther progress towards increasing trend growth up to 2006.

Related Public Service Agreement target

Joint DTI, HMT & ODPM: Make sustainable improvements in the economic performance ofall English regions and over the long term reduce the persistent gap in growth rates betweenthe regions, defining measures to improve performance and reporting progress against thesemeasures by 2006.

GDP and GDP per head*

5 The economic projections presented in Budget 2002 are anchored on a neutral assumption of 2.75per cent for annual trend output growth over the period.This revised estimate underpins the mid-points of the Budget 2002 economic forecast ranges and is in line with those produced by a numberof independent organisations, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004

Ind

ex (1

970

= 1

00)

United Kingdom

2002 PSA target: Demonstrate progress on raising the trend rate of growth from the current estimate of 2.5 % by 2004 and make further progress towards increasing trend growth up to 2006. Arrow shows 2.5% annual growth from the base year 1999.

Source: Office for National Statistics

GDP

GDP per head

*Based on constant 1995 prices

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

240

260

3.19 Economic progress should not conflict with social and environmental goals.The followingsection looks at some of the predominant policies and processes for a sustainable economy,balancing quantity and quality of growth. One of the priorities recognised at the WorldSummit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) was the need to make our patterns ofconsumption and production more sustainable.

Sustainable production and consumption

3.20 The implementation plan agreed at WSSD included a commitment to “encourage andpromote the development of a 10-year framework of programmes in support of regional andnational initiatives to accelerate the shift towards sustainable consumption and production ...delinking economic growth and environmental degradation through improving efficiency andsustainability in the use of resources and production processes”.

3.21 This is potentially a massive agenda, so a key challenge for the Government is to establish aclear and practical vision for taking it forward. Over the next few months Defra will beworking with others to develop a sustainable consumption and production strategy which willset out what the Government is already doing and identify what more needs to be done.

3.22 At the strategic level, we will need to work out priorities with our European Union partnersand integrate those with other relevant strategies for sustainable development, innovation andgrowth.The Government will play a full part in this strategic work, and in getting clarity aboutthe wider international role of bodies like the Organisation for Economic Co-operation andDevelopment (OECD) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

3.23 Within the UK, there are a number of existing programmes which help to supportsustainable production and consumption – such as the Sustainable Technologies Initiative,Envirowise, the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), the Market TransformationProgramme and the work of the Carbon Trust. Further important work is already in progress,for example in following up the Strategy Unit’s reports on resource productivity and wasteand in the forthcoming White Paper on energy.We shall also be looking hard at the futurerole of public procurement, in the light of a review currently being carried out withingovernment.

3.24 Initial discussions have been held with stakeholders about the priorities the Governmentshould be considering for further action. Our advisory committees working in this field willalso have recommendations to make.There is undoubtedly a lot of work to be done toshape this into a focussed and practical plan of action. However, we are well-positioned to getthe necessary coherence over the coming year, to lay the ground for what WSSD envisagedas being a full 10-year initiative.


40

Headline Indicators

41

Resource efficiency

3.25 At the heart of achieving a sustainable economy is resource efficiency; it is what the Strategycalls a ‘key to change’. Often it is the environmental impacts of resource use which are ofmost concern. Fossil fuel use is already causing climate change; we are producing volumes ofwaste which can be expansive and increasingly difficult to dispose of and generating moretraffic than roads and many communities can cope with.This was the subject of a researchproject commissioned by DETR/Defra from the Wuppertal Institute6 in collaboration withthe Office for National Statistics. Amongst other things the study showed that:

● economic growth in the UK is becoming de-coupled from the total use of materials(Total Material Requirement7) [see figure below];

● resource use per capita in the UK has remained fairly stable over the past three decades,despite a steady increase in the output of the UK economy; and

● UK resource productivity is within the top five of the European Union.

UK Business Council for Sustainable Energy

Following WSSD, the UK Business Council for Sustainable Energy (UKBCSE), togetherwith its US, European and Australian equivalents launched a new strategic alliancebetween the organisations for promoting sustainable energy internationally includingtaking forward outcomes of Johannesburg.

The UKBCSE worked with other business organisations to demonstrate a crediblebusiness voice supporting an international framework for action, specifically calling onworld leaders in Johannesburg to:

● support a global target for renewable energy; and● keep the focus on new renewable technologies to build market confidence.

This was supported by the Business Council organisations, and UKBCSE companies inJohannesburg such as Shell and BP. Other organisations such as the Brazilian BusinessCouncil for Sustainable Development and the Canadian Environmental IndustriesAssociation also supported the call for a global renewable energy target.

For further information visit www.bcse.org.uk

6 The full report of the study, ‘Total Material Resource Flows of the United Kingdom’ is available onrequest from Defra, by contacting: [email protected]

7 The Total Material Requirement (TMR) measures the total material basis of the economy.That is tosay the total primary resource requirements of all the production and consumption activities. Itincludes not only the direct use of resources for producing exports, but also indirect flows associatedwith domestic extraction and the production of goods imported into the UK from other countries.Although TMR is widely favoured as a resource use indicator, the estimates of indirect flows are lessreliable than those for materials directly used by the economy, and the indicator therefore needs tobe considered alongside other indicators.

3.26 The development of such an overarching measure anticipated one of the recommendationsof the Performance and Innovation Unit (PIU, now Strategy Unit) report on resourceproductivity ‘Making more with less’8. In this connection the PIU report also includedrecommendations for developing simple proxy measures to track progress on resourceproductivity, considering the use of long term indicative targets, and reflecting resourceproductivity and other aspects of sustainable development in Government procurement.

3.27 As work on developing a strategy for sustainable consumption and production incorporatingresource productivity proceeds, it needs to take account of other parallel workstreams.Theseinclude the recently published Strategy Unit report on waste, the work of the SustainableProcurement Group and the Energy White Paper.

3.28 While the UK has been making progress in decoupling growth from resource use muchremains to be done.

3.29 Every year, industry and commerce in the UK produces more than 70 million tonnes ofwaste, equivalent to over £1 billion in disposal costs alone and up to £20 billion every yearthrough the inefficient use of resources.

3.30 To encourage action by individual businesses Government funds the ‘Envirowise’, resourceefficiency best practice programme.This aims to help UK businesses become more resourceefficient, by offering free, independent advice on ways to reduce costs, convert more turnoverto profit and improve environmental performance.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Population,Total Material Requirement(TMR), and Direct Material Input (DMI) in the UK 1970 to 2000


42

8 ‘Resource Productivity: making more with less’, November 2001,Cabinet Office www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/innovation/2001/resource/report

United Kingdom

Source: Defra/Wuppertal Institute

Ind

ex (1

970

= 1

00)

0

50

100

150

200

250

PopulationDirect MaterialInput

Gross DomesticProduct

Total MaterialRequirement

2000199519901985198019751970

Headline Indicators

43

3.31 In 2001, the programme helped UK business to make resource efficiency savings of over£217 million and reduce solid waste by 1.6 million tonnes. Information about these servicesand of the many guides and case studies can be accessed via the Envirowise website or fromthe freephone helpline (0800 585794). For further information visit www.envirowise.gov.uk

Corporate Social Responsibility

“We can’t afford to see economic success as being necessarily in conflict with social andenvironmental goals, and we don’t need to see those things as being in conflict either.We havelearnt that creating a fairer society and a dynamic economy go together. And that caring for theenvironment can create jobs.”

Minister for e-Commerce and Competitiveness, Stephen Timms, October 2002

3.32 The Government has an ambitious vision for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): to seeprivate and public organisations in the UK take account of their economic, social andenvironmental impact, and take complementary action to address key challenges based ontheir core competences – locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.

3.33 In May 2002, the Government published it’s second Corporate Social Responsibility report‘Business and Society.’ It sets out what the Government has been doing to promote CSR andhighlights examples of initiatives at national and international level. For further informationvisit www.societyandbusiness.gov.uk/2002/report

Environmental reporting by business/corporate disclosure

3.34 In October 2000, the Prime Minister challenged the top 350 UK companies to produceenvironmental reports by the end of 2001. Environmental reporting involves the publicationin a company’s annual report and/or self-standing reports of general environmental policystatements, usually including details of environmental performance such as greenhouse gasemissions, waste, water use and other relevant impacts giving quantified data andimprovement targets.

3.35 Defra reported back to the Prime Minister in July 2002 and estimated that 99 companies inthe FTSE 350 have met the Prime Minister’s challenge by reporting on their environmentalpolicies and publishing some environmental performance data. A further 144 have taken thefirst steps although they are not as yet publishing a full environmental report.

3.36 The Government is continuing to encourage business to measure, manage and report on itsenvironmental performance, including through the White Paper on Modernising CompanyLaw published in July.The proposals would make it a requirement for larger businesses toreport on a range of non-financial issues where the directors judge them to be material to anunderstanding of the business.The White Paper stressed that company directors need toconsider the company’s impact on the environment as ‘first among equals.’

3.37 The Government is appointing an independent group of experts to provide guidance on howdirectors can assess whether an item is material to their company and hence must beincluded in their report.The Group will aim to produce guidance by autumn 2003.

Sectoral strategies

3.38 Much can be achieved by concerted action by business sectors.Through the ‘PioneersGroup’, Defra and the DTI have been encouraging some 20 trade associations or sectorbodies to develop sectoral sustainability strategies.These provide a practical framework foridentifying key issues facing their industry and priorities for action.To date six sectors havepublished strategies: motor manufacturing; oil and gas; retail; civil engineering; brickmanufacturing and steel construction.The chemical industry is building on its existing‘Responsible Care’ programme, while others, the Non-Ferrous Alliance and Water UK, havefocused on developing environmental/sustainability indicators.

3.39 The ‘Pioneers Group’ have developed best practice toolkits for producing a strategy andreporting on progress, whilst the Sustainable Development Commission have published a self-assessment guide to assess draft strategies. All of these documents can be downloaded fromthe DTI website. For further information visit www.dti.gov.uk/sustainability

Food and Drink Federation Sustainable Development Report

On 15 August 2002, the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) published its SustainableDevelopment Report, in effect an industry blueprint to help companies develop moresustainable policies.This was prepared following extensive consultation with a widerange of stakeholders. It has been sent to over 160 individuals and is available on theFDF website.

The Report reviews progress by the industry in tackling sustainable development sinceRio 1992, set against the Government’s four sustainable development objectives andidentifies some of the remaining challenges and future goals for the industry.

Most importantly, the Report sets out FDF’s Sustainable Development GuidingPrinciples together with Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to enable companies tomeasure and report on their performance and practical steps that companies can taketo improve their performance. FDF is encouraging its members to implement the KPIsand hopes that widespread adoption will enable the sector to measure and report onprogress made towards sustainable development.

FDF is also initiating dialogue with other parts of the food supply chain, principally theBritish Retail Consortium and the National Farmers Union, on the need to developcommon initiatives to increase sustainability of the food supply chain and to measureprogress.

For further information visit www.fdf.org.uk


44

Headline Indicators

45

H2 – Investment

Objective: Investment (in modern plant and machinery as well as research anddevelopment) is vital to our future prosperity.

Change since Total investment at constant prices as a percentage of GDP fell from1990: 18.1 per cent in 1990 to 17.2 per cent in 1997, but was

18.0 per cent in 2001. [data: UK, 1990-2001] ≈

Change since Total investment at constant prices as a percentage of GDP wasthe Strategy: 18.0 per cent in 2001, down slightly from 18.9 per cent in 1998. ≈

[data: UK, 1998-2001]

The latest data for social investment is for 1998 when it was estimated tobe around two per cent of GDP.

3.40 The slowdown in the global economy during 2001 clearly had a marked impact on UKbusiness investment and, amidst heightened global uncertainties, business investment hasweakened further in 2002. Business investment has now declined for seven consecutivequarters, with the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) industrial trends survey indicatingthat uncertainty about demand has remained the key factor holding back investment.

3.41 While significant global downside risks remain, investment growth is forecast to pick up fromnext year. Strengthening global demand, reduced uncertainty and improvements in corporatefinances are expected to encourage firms to replace existing assets, bring deferred capitalspending back on stream and begin expanding capacity again. Government investment isforecast to show further strong expansion in 2003, providing support for whole economyinvestment, as the Government’s spending plans continue to deliver sustained spendingincreases on priority public services.

Investment as a percentage of GDP

Social investment(current prices)

Total investment(constant prices)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

2000199819961994199219901988198619841982198019781976197419721970

United Kingdom

Source: Office for National Statistics

Per

cent

age

of

GD

P


46

3.42 Investment is vital to our future prosperity, but in the past the UK has invested too little inour future, and our competitiveness has suffered.

3.43 The latest data show that total investment has increased in real terms by almost 3 per centsince 1998, but GDP has increased by over 7.5 per cent, so that total investment as aproportion of GDP has fallen.

3.44 As was proposed in the 2001 annual report, the way ‘total investment’ is reported has beenchanged from ‘current’ to ‘constant’ prices. In recent years, Information Technology (IT) andrelated goods and services have become increasingly important to investment. However, thecost of IT has fallen sharply, so measuring investment in relation to GDP on a constant ratherthan current price basis better reflects the volume of investment taking place. Socialinvestment is only available at current prices, and includes public and private (including PrivateFinance Initiatives (PFIs)) investment in social assets such as railways, hospitals, schools andinvestment in water and sewerage services.

Financing the Future – The London Principles of Sustainable Finance

The City of London is home to an immense concentration of environmentalexpertise.The insurance industry were conducting research on the possible effects ofthe Greenhouse Effect a decade before the term became common currency, andinvestment bankers have long been assessing the environmental risk associated withcapital.

The Corporation of London, the body that provides the local authority function forthe City of London, believes sustainable development presents a range of businessopportunities to the City. In conjunction with Defra, the Corporation developed theUK’s financial services submission to WSSD. In response, the London Principles Projectwas developed, which from the start generated a great deal of interest in the financeindustry both at home and abroad.

The London Principles were given high level exposure at several events at WSSD,including a dedicated round table on finance, and specific coverage by the PrimeMinisters in his post-plenary speech.The Project benefited from the fact that it wasthe only major financial initiative to have a presence at the Summit.

As a result of this project, and the exposure afforded by WSSD, the City’s lead in thismarket area has been firmly established on the international stage. Future action willinclude discussions with other major financial centres, particularly New York, and thedevelopment of the relationship with the United Nations Environment Programme.

For further information visitwww.cityoflondon.gov.uk/living_environment/sustainability/sustainable_development.htm


Joint FCO-DTI: Maintain the UK as the prime location in the EU for foreign directinvestment.

Headline Indicators

47

H3 – Employment

Objective: Maintain high and stable levels of employment so everyone can sharegreater job opportunities.

Change since The percentage of working age people in work was 74.6 per cent 1990: in 2002 compared with 74.7 per cent in 1990. ≈

[data: UK, 1990-2002]

Change since The percentage of working age people in work was 74.6 per cent the Strategy: in 2002, unchanged since 2001 and up from 74.0 per cent in 1999. ✔

[data: UK, 1999-2002]

3.45 The number of people in work and the employment rate have both risen significantly in thelong economic upswing since 1993, with the employment rate recently being one of thehighest on record.There have also been a number of structural reforms over this period thataim to improve the functioning of the labour market and reduce the equilibrium level ofunemployment.The employment rate is now at about the same level as it was in 1990, at thepeak of the previous economic cycle.

3.46 The latest figures show that Labour Force Survey (LFS) employment stands at a near recordlevel of 27.8 million (September-November 2002).We have the lowest International LabourOrganisation unemployment rate of any of the G7 major industrialised countries and claimantunemployment is now 3.1 per cent (December 2002), which is around the lowest levelsince 1975.

3.47 The Government’s key labour market objective is to achieve high and stable levels ofemployment so everyone can share in growing living standards and greater job opportunities.The highly successful ‘New Deals’ scheme provides people with individually tailored help tomoving into work, and ‘Jobcentre Plus’ is now up and running.The Government hasintroduced the Working Families’Tax Credit and the National Minimum Wage to make surethat work pays. For further information visit www.dwp.gov.uk

Percentage of people of working age who are in work*

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

2000 2002199819961994199219901988198619841982198019781976

Men

All

Women

197419721970

United Kingdom

Source: DWP, ONS Labour Force Survey *Percentage in May-July quarter each year

Per

cen

t

Public Attitudes Survey

People’s attitudes to economic issues9

● Health, education and crime were more frequently mentioned as an issue forgovernment than the economy.

● Money was regarded as the most likely issue to affect quality of life.● Investment was regarded as less important than all but one of the headline issues,

although nine out of ten respondents regarded it as being at least fairly important.● People also regarded their jobs as an important factor in their quality of life.● Employment/jobs was regarded as a very important headline issue by four out of

five people.

The South Acton Skills and Arts Collaborative

The South Acton Skills and Arts Collaborative (SASAC) aims to give local people –often women and their families new to this country – the skills and confidencenecessary to improve their employment and educational prospects and to developtheir ability to enhance the lives of their families. Based in a community room on theSouth Acton Estate and run by Sydoney Massop, SASAC does this in an ever-increasingnumber of innovative and practical ways.

● Due to the successes of SASAC the idea has spread and new groups are startingup. Participation between groups helps to build up a support network, crucial forthe sustainability of the project and for students to gain and build on the skillsthey need.

● The physical environment of the estate has been improved by the project.Stairwells and the lobby have been cleaned and painted.

● To achieve genuine sustainability, SASAC needs to become a social enterprisewhere people can make a living from it.This is the next aim for SASAC and forother groups that will emerge from it.

For further information visit www.london21.org

Related Public Service Agreement targets

Joint DWP-HMT: Demonstrate progress by Spring 2006 on increasing the employment rateand reducing the unemployment rate over the economic cycle.

DWP: Over the three years to Spring 2006, increase the employment rates of disadvantagedareas and groups, taking account of the economic cycle – lone parents, ethnic minorities,people aged 50 and over, those with the lowest qualifications, and the 30 local authoritydistricts with the poorest initial labour market position – and significantly reduce the differencebetween their employment rates and the overall rate.


48

9 Survey of public attitudes to quality of life and to the environment – 2001, Defra 2002.

Headline Indicators

49

Social indicators

3.48 The following section looks at the progress by the end of 2002 as shown by the five socialheadline indicators: ‘Poverty and social exclusion’ (H4), ‘Education’ (H5), ‘Health’ (H6), ‘Housing’(conditions) (H6), and ‘Crime’ (H8). It features related policy examples and case-studies froma range of stakeholders showing the importance of action at all levels and the need for ajoined up approach to achieving sustainable development.


Prosperity must be shared more widely and fairly: some parts of the country and somegroups are falling too far behind.

Our towns and countryside contribute significantly to our quality of life.We need to make ourtowns and cities better places to live and work, and to retain the special characteristics of ourlandscape which we most value.

H4 – Poverty and social exclusion

Objective: Tackle poverty and social exclusion.

Change since The overall assessment since 1990 of the selected poverty and 1990: social exclusion indicators is that there has been no significant ≈

change. However, there has been more recent progress from the levels seen in the 1990s.

● the proportion of working-age people who live in households where no-one works has fallen from a peak of 14.1 per cent in the mid 1990s to 11.7 per cent in 2000 and since then has remained broadly constant.

● There has been steady progress in the proportion of working-agepeople without a qualification, which has fallen from 26.4 per cent in 1993 to 15.4 per cent in 2002.

● The proportion of single elderly households experiencing fuel poverty fell from 77 per cent in 1991 to 50 per cent in 1998.

● The proportion of children living in households with relative low-incomes fell between 1996/7 and 2000/1, from 34 per cent to 31 per cent.

[Working age people in workless households: GB, 1990-2002][Working age people with no qualifications: GB, 1993-2002][Single elderly households experiencing fuel poverty10: Eng, 1991, 1996, 1998][Children living in low-income households: GB, 1994/5-2000/1]

Selected indicators of poverty and social exclusion for working age people,children and the elderly


50

0

Great Britain

Source: DWP Opportunity for All, Defra/DTI (fuel poverty) *England

Per

cen

t o

f re

leva

nt p

op

ulat

ion

Children living in households with relative lowincomes (after housing costs)

Single elderly households experiencing fuel poverty*

(before housing benefit and income supportfor mortgage interest)

Working age people with no qualifications

2002 PSA Target: Reducethe number of children inlow income households byat least a quarter by 2004(Base year 1998)

Working age people in workless households10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

2005200420032002200120001999199819971996199519941993199219911990

10 Before housing benefit and income support for mortgage interest.

Headline Indicators

51

Change since The overall assessment of the selected poverty and socialthe Strategy11: exclusion indicators is that there have been significant ✔

improvements in recent years.

● The percentage of working age people in workless householdsfell from 12.8 per cent in 1998 to 11.8 per cent in 2002.

● The percentage of working age people with no qualifications fell from 16.7 per cent in 1999 to 15.4 per cent in 2002.

● The proportion of single elderly households experiencing fuel poverty tell from 61 per cent in 1996 to 50 per cent in 1998.

● The percentage of children living in relative low-income households fell from 34 per cent in 1996/7 to 31 per cent in 2000/1.

[Working age people in workless households: GB, 1998-2002][Working age people with no qualifications: GB, 1999-2002][Single elderly households experiencing fuel poverty12: Eng, 1996, 1998][Children living in low-income households: GB, 1996/7-2000/1]

3.49 The fourth DWP ‘Opportunity for all’ report sets out the main elements of the Government’sstrategy for tackling poverty and social exclusion. A comprehensive list of indicators is used tomonitor progress against this strategy.The key policies highlighted in the report aim at:

● making work possible, making work pay and making work skilled;

● ensuring financial support for those unable to work;

● investing in services for children to break cycles of deprivation; and

● tackling inequalities by improving public services, particularly in deprived areas.


Joint: DWP–HMT: Reduce the number of children in low-income households by at least aquarter by 2004, as a contribution towards the broader target of halving child poverty by 2010and eradicating it by 2020.

DWP: Reduce the proportion of children in households with no one in work over the 3 yearsfrom Spring 2003 to Spring 2006 by 6.5 per cent.

ODPM: Promote better policy integration nationally, regionally and locally; in particular towork with departments to help them meet their PSA floor targets for neighbourhood renewaland social exclusion.


DfES: Improve the basic skill levels of 1.5 million adults between the launch of Skills for Life in 2001 and 2007, with a milestone of 750,000 by 2004.

Defra: Reduce fuel poverty among vulnerable households by improving the energy efficiency of600,000 homes between 2001 and 2004.

11 These indicators were introduced in Quality of life counts.

12 Before housing benefit and income support for mortgage interest.

3.50 These indicators monitor progress in key parts of the strategy for children and working ageadults.There are now 1.5 million more people in employment than in 1997 and around250,000 fewer children in workless households. Due to changes in tax and benefits introducedin the last Parliament since October 2001 all families with children are better off in real termsby, on average, £1,200 a year compared with 1997. In ‘Opportunity for All’ and ‘Households BelowAverage Income’, the number of ‘Children in households with relative low incomes’ is monitoredboth before and after housing costs, using a range of low-income thresholds. Here, the 60 percent of contemporary median income threshold is used.The figures after housing costs arepresented above. Before housing costs, 21 per cent of children were living in households withrelative low incomes in 2000/1, down from 26 per cent in 1996/97.

3.51 A key part of the Government’s strategy to prevent poverty and social exclusion is toencourage lifelong learning, so that people can acquire the skills to help them find a job orbroaden their career opportunities.The Government is determined to continue its fight againstpoverty and it will introduce new measures including a child tax credit and a working tax creditin 2003, helping those who are in low paid work. For further information visit www.dwp.gov.uk

Faith in the Future

This project, receiving funding from the Special Grants Programme of the Office of theDeputy Prime Minister Urban Policy Unit, utilises faith community resources fordeveloping social inclusion. It is responding practically to the Policy Action Team 7(PAT 7) recommendation in the Report on Unpopular Housing that ‘regenerationmodels involving faith communities be piloted in some areas as an alternative strategy’. It willalso show that housing associations can help to implement neighbourhood renewalstrategies while facilitating community participation in service delivery.

On one London estate with high unemployment, poor spoken English and low levelsof community participation, the project is providing English for speakers of otherlanguages (ESOL), football training for children – keeping them off the streets afterschool – and classes enhancing educational attainment.

Similar work continues at other London estates and locations, including IT classes foryoungsters lacking home IT access, and a play scheme for 8-14 year olds from differentbackgrounds who otherwise would never have played together.Youth workshops arecountering crime, drugs and gang culture.All three project areas participated in ayouth seminar on these issues, and the Faith in the Future project officer conductsoutreach work while establishing local contacts.

Further work with the Housing Corporation will focus on Registered Social Landlord(RSL) training and empowering local people and communities. Local people shouldsoon be running such schemes independently.

For further information visit www.urban.odpm.gov.uk/community/sgp/index.htm

“We are making progress. Employment is at record levels… We are making goodprogress towards our target to reduce by a quarter, by 2004, the number ofchildren in low-income households – we are a third of the way there after athird of the time….We know that we have a lot more to do.Tackling the rootcauses of poverty takes time as well as sustained commitment and investment.”

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions,Andrew Smith, September 2002


52

Headline Indicators

53

Social exclusion, accessibility and transport

3.52 The Social Exclusion Unit has been undertaking a major project examining the links betweensocial exclusion, transport and the accessibility of services and activities, such as work,learning, healthcare and food shopping.The study emphasises that improvements inaccessibility can be both through changes in the planning and delivery of local transport andchanges in the location and delivery of non-transport services.

3.53 The study has identified the need for a more systematic process for identifying disadvantagedgroups or areas with poor access to key services. It also emphasises the importance of localauthorities and other local service providers and agencies working together more effectivelyto develop a strategy for tackling these accessibility problems. Recommendations arising fromthe project will impact on a number of key departments (e.g. Departments for Transport,Education & Skills, Health, and Work & Pensions).

Neighbourhood renewal

3.54 The ‘National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal (2001)’ set out the Government’scommitment to improving public service outcomes in the most deprived areas of thecountry, and narrowing the gap between these areas and the rest so that no-one bedisadvantaged by where they live.To drive delivery of improved outcomes in deprived areas,Government departments were set a number of ‘floor’ (minimum standard) targets coveringhealth, education, crime reduction, housing and employment.The Neighbourhood RenewalUnit leads on co-ordinating the implementation of the National Strategy across Government.

3.55 Spending Review 2002 saw the suite of floor targets rolled forward and strengthened andsignificant additional resources made available to improve public service delivery over thethree years to 2006. For further information on the Government’s approach toneighbourhood renewal visit www.neighbourhood.gov.uk

Urban Summit

3.56 The Urban Summit 2002, which took place on the 31 October and 1 November 2002,discussed progress with urban renaissance since publication of the Government’s White Paper‘Our Towns and Cities; the Future’ in November 2000. Hosted by the Deputy Prime Minister,the Summit provided delegates from a wide range of sectors – professionals, private sector,local national and regional government, academics, media, and community and voluntarygroups – with the opportunity to share experiences of urban regeneration, discuss whatworks and what does not, and outline priorities for the future.

3.57 In the themed session on social exclusion, participants were given four different perspectiveson social exclusion from grass roots experiences to policy making at national level.Theperspectives formed the basis of a broader discussion, with participants invited to thinkabout:

● ways to refocus services on preventative action;

● practical steps to help partners to effectively deliver joined-up services;

● designing and delivering services that meet the needs of the hardest to reach groups;

● striking a balance between rights and responsibilities for socially excluded people; and

● delivering minimum standards in public services and more for those who need it most.

For further information visit www.socialexclusionunit.gov.uk

Fuel poverty

3.58 Between 1996 and 2000, it is estimated that about one million households in the UK wereremoved from fuel poverty (a fuel poor household is one that cannot afford to keepadequately warm at reasonable cost).This is as a result of improved incomes, lower energyprices and better housing. Provisional analyses indicate that the number of fuel poorhouseholds in England may have fallen by a further half a million as a result of income policesin the period 2000-2002.

3.59 Fuel poverty can be assessed on two bases – before or after housing benefit and incomesupport for mortgage interest (ISMI).The indicator in the chart represents single elderlyhouseholds experiencing fuel poverty before housing benefit and ISMI. After these are takeninto account, 52 per cent were experiencing fuel poverty in 1996, falling to 40 per centin 1998.

3.60 The Government’s ‘UK Fuel Poverty Strategy’ was published in November 2001. It sets outmeasures to ensure that no vulnerable household will be in fuel poverty by 2010.

3.61 Progress in tackling vulnerable households continues through a number of different routes:

● in England the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme, now marketed as Warm Front Team,provides measures to improve the comfort of homes and the quality of life forvulnerable households in the private sector. Since its inception in June 2000 the schemehas assisted over 400,000 vulnerable households. Similar schemes exist in each of thedevolved administrations;

● households in the social sector will be assisted primarily through work to bring all socialhousing up to a decent standard by 2010;

● five pathfinder Warm Zones have been established across England.Warm Zones is amajor Government-sponsored initiative to systematically address fuel poverty on a localarea basis.The aim is to substantially deal with fuel poverty in a locality within 3 years,using a range of approaches aimed at proactively identifying and helping fuel poorhouseholds within the area;

● in line with a commitment made in the UK Fuel Poverty Strategy a scoping study is nowunderway to assess the potential use of alternative technologies in combating fuelpoverty in England; and

● the Fuel Poverty Advisory Group (FPAG) was set up following the publication of the UKFuel Poverty Strategy to advise the Government about delivery of its target oferadicating fuel poverty. FPAG is an Advisory Non-Departmental Public Body jointlysponsored by Defra and DTI. It has a range of representatives from bodies in the energysector, local government, the health sector and Non-Governmental Organisations. Itsprimary task is to report on the progress of delivery of the Government’s Fuel PovertyStrategy and to propose and implement improvements to regional or local mechanismsfor its delivery.

For further information visit www.dti.gov.uk/energy/consumers/fuel_poverty/


54

Headline Indicators

55

Sunderland Fuel Poverty Strategy

Sunderland’s Strategy has arisen from the Healthy City Initiative which works todeliver the Health Improvement and Modernisation Plan.This identified that FuelPoverty action could lead to reducing local health inequalities. Consequently a Forumwas established to develop an Affordable Warmth Strategy in 2002, its membershipbeing drawn from public, private and voluntary sector organisations, including utilities.

The Strategy is designed to eliminate Fuel Poverty across Sunderland and aims toconnect with the most vulnerable groups affected whilst deliberately allowing forduplication and overlapping as some of those defined as vulnerable fall into more thanone category.

Key aims include:

● To reduce the numbers of families with young children (under 16) in Fuel Poverty –families with children account for 17 per cent of Fuel Poor households – coldhomes can also affect educational attainment and access to employment; and

● To assist GAP households and the Fuel Rich – The GAP programme is designed toassist those who are in Fuel Poverty but are not eligible for assistance.This groupare often overlooked but may benefit from advice and assistance.

Other key aims include the reduction of the number of people suffering in the privaterented and social housing sectors, and people suffering from health related illness anddisabilities.There is also an emphasis on black and ethnic minority groups includingasylum seekers.

The Strategy is successful in attracting funding and resources, eg. New Deal forCommunities, particularly where area programmes are developed and guided bycommunity led steering groups, a ‘Citizens Panel’ and the City’s SustainableDevelopment Strategy.

For further information visit www.sunderland.gov.uk

H5 – Education

Objective: Equip people with the skills to fulfil their potential.

Change since The percentage of 19 year olds with level 2 qualifications (e.g. five 1990: GCSEs at grades C or above, NVQ level 2 or equivalent) was

75.6 per cent in 2002 compared with 52 per cent in 1990. ✔

[data: UK, 1990-2002]

Change since The percentage of 19 year olds that have level 2 qualifications has the Strategy: remained relatively unchanged from 74.5 per cent in 1999 to

75.6 per cent in 2002, having fallen slightly from a peak of 75.9 ≈in 2001. [data: UK, 1999-2002]

3.62 A substantial proportion of young people are not achieving the level 2 equivalent throughschool and a minority (5.4 per cent) are achieving no qualifications at all.There is no overallUK target for this indicator and, therefore, future projections cannot be shown on the chart.The following targets have been set for the proportion of 19 year olds achieving a level2 qualification:

● England: increase the proportion of 19 year olds attaining a level 2 qualification at theend of 2002 by three percentage points by the end of 2004, and by a further threepercentage points from 2004 to 2006;

● Wales: one in five 19 year olds without a level 2 qualification by the end of 2002;

● Scotland: there is no equivalent target in Scotland; and

● Northern Ireland: target not currently available.

For further information visit www.dfes.gov.uk

Percentage of 19 year olds in the UK with level two qualificationseg: five GCSEs or above at grades A* to C


56

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100 United Kingdom

Source: DfES

Per

cen

t

Spring quarter each year

2002200019981996199419921990198819861984

Headline Indicators

57

Flying Start Initiative

Luton’s Flying Start initiative was introduced in 2000 to tackle under-achievement inyoung children, especially those from the local Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities.It is led by Luton’s Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership working withLuton Council, and implemented through a Borough wide group which also includeshead teachers, early years staff from schools and pre-schools, communityrepresentatives, family workers and health visitors.

Flying Start delivers full time education for all four year olds in the area; part-timeeducation for all 3 year olds – where there is seen to be insufficient provision in thearea; a family worker in each school to support families; and wider community use ofschool premises for activities like family and adult learning and out of school childcare.

The initiative is being delivered on a four to five year cycle, concentrating initially onneighbourhoods with the greatest social need. In the first eight Flying Start areas, 292new part time education places were created for 3 year olds and 26 people fromminority ethnic backgrounds were appointed to new posts in pre-schools or as familyworkers.

Pending the results of some external research now up and running, there is stronganecdotal evidence of the many and wide ranging benefits of Flying Start.Theseinclude: redressing inequalities in early education provision; allowing schools to play akey role in community regeneration; facilitating family learning in child developmentand behaviour; encouraging families to be closely involved with their children’seducation; and providing increased adult education opportunities leading to furthertraining and employment.

For further information visit www.luton.gov.uk/learning/schools/


DfES: Raise standards in schools and colleges so that the proportion of 19 year olds whoachieve qualifications equivalent to 5 GCSEs at grades A* to C rises by 3 percentage pointsbetween 2002 and 2004, with a further increase of 3 percentage points by 2006.

DH: Improve life chances for children by improving the level of education, training andemployment outcomes for care leavers aged 19, so that levels for this group are at least 75 percent of those achieved by all young people in the same area, and at least 15 per cent ofchildren in care attain five good GCSEs by 2004.

Learning and Skills

Learning and Skills covers key providers such as further education and sixth formcolleges, schools with sixth forms, local authority and adult education institutions andprivate and voluntary sector providers.The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) isresponsible for funding and planning education and training for those over 16 yearsold, excluding higher education, in England. Its mission is to raise participation andattainment through high-quality education and training which puts learners first. Listedbelow are two examples of the type of projects carried out by LSC.

Tyne & Wear Learning and Skills Council

Tyne and Wear LSC held a provider event in April 2002 on improving retention andachievement.The event brought together work based learning providers, colleges,schools with sixth forms, employers, Connexions, Learning Partnerships and EducationBusiness Partnerships. Ninety-one per cent of participants rated the event as ‘excellent’.

The event covered issues on approaches to student support, creative collaborationbetween providers, how e-learning could improve retention and achievement andparticular strategies for work based learning.Workshops were held on: tools availableto providers, curriculum design and teaching, recruitment and induction, addressing theneeds of the disadvantaged and Sunderland College’s experiences of a pilotprogramme for student mentors.

Cumbria Learning and Skills Council

Cumbria Learning and Skills Council is currently funding a participation strategy forthe land-based industries (value of £300,000 – through European Social Fund (ESF) co-financing).The project is varied and will make a significant impact on the sector,particularly in the wake of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD).

The project builds on 500 skills check analyses that have already been carried out, byproviding learning/re-training and diversification skills to individuals employed in thesector. It is anticipated that 500 individuals will gain qualifications at level 2 and 3 inInformation and Communications Technology (ICT) and business management, as wellas sector specific training in coppicing, driving, instructional techniques and first aid.The project will also provide a kick start towards a Workforce Development Strategyfor the sector in Cumbria.

During the summer break in 2001 and 2002, Cumbria Learning and Skills Councilfunded a summer programme for young people covering a range of different shortcourses (value of £100,000 p/a – through ESF).The benefits of this have beensignificant. Each year, some 700 learners have taken part in post-compulsory provisionand many have subsequently decided to remain/re-enter learning. Of particular note in2001, is that young people had the opportunity to undertaking learning and gain skills– when there were still many restricted areas due to FMD.

For further information visit www.lsc.gov.uk


58

Headline Indicators

59

H6 – Health

Objective: Improve health of the population overall.

Change since Between 1990 and 1999 healthy life expectancy increased only 1990: slightly, from 66.1 to 66.6 years for men and from 68.3 to 68.9 ≈

years for women. [data: GB, 1990, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999]

Change since Between 1995 and 1999 healthy life expectancy increased only the Strategy: slightly from 66.4 years to 66.6 for men and from 68.7 years to ≈

68.9 for women. [data: GB, 1997, 1999]

3.63 Between 1981 and 1999 average life expectancy in Great Britain increased from 70.9 to 75.1years for men (by 4.2 years) and from 76.8 to 80.0 years for women (by 3.2 years). Over thesame period healthy life expectancy increased from 64.4 to 66.6 years for men (by 2.2 years)and from 66.7 to 68.9 for women (by 2.2 years). So whilst overall life expectancy hasincreased, this is in part owing to an increased life expectancy whilst in poorer health.


DH: Reduce substantially the mortality rates from major killers by 2010: from heart diseaseby at least 40 per cent in people under 75; from cancer by at least 20 per cent in peopleunder 75.

Joint Defra – DfT: Improve air quality by meeting the Air Quality Strategy targets for carbonmonoxide, lead, nitrogen dioxide, particles, sulphur dioxide, benzene and 1-3 butadiene.

Life expectancy and expectancy of years spent in good or fairly goodgeneral health

Great Britain

Source: ONS, Government Actuary’s Department

50

55

60

65

70

75

80

85

Males

Year

s Life expectancy

Healthy life expectancy

Females

Life expectancy

Healthy life expectancy

19991995199019851981 19991995199019851981

3.64 ‘Tackling Health Inequalities – The Results of the Consultation Exercise’ was published in June2002 by the Department of Health and identified a number of key themes that need to beaddressed in tackling health inequalities.These included:

● the need for strong government leadership and more co-ordination of policies andpolicy mechanisms;

● the need to look beyond the NHS to the wider determinants of health inequalities;

● the crucial importance of effective partnerships at all levels; and

● the potentially pivotal role of Primary Care Trusts in drawing the NHS into the healthinequalities agenda.

3.65 This consultation also contributed to the cross-cutting spending review (CCSR) on healthinequalities undertaken as part of the 2002 Spending Review.The consultation and the CCSRwill provide the basis for the Government’s delivery plan on health inequalities due to bepublished in 2003.

3.66 There is a significant body of work already underway which is tackling health inequalities onthe ground.This work is helping to influence both the health objective as well as HeadlineIndicators relating to Poverty and social exclusion (H4), Employment (H3) and Housing(conditions) (H7). For further information visit www.doh.gov.uk

Ladywood Healthy Living Centre

The Ladywood Healthy Living Centre Partnership was awarded over £900,000 by theNew Opportunities Fund during the summer of 2002 to develop its ‘Bridging the Gap’project. ENCAMS’ (Environmental Campaigns) Sustainable Communities Programme wasinstrumental in developing the project which aims to ‘bridge the gap’ between thestatutory and voluntary sector to reduce health inequalities in the Ladywood areaof Birmingham.

The project is engaging with the local community to promote healthy living and willhave a significant impact on local people’s basic health requirements by promotinghealthy food, encouraging physical activity and increasing safety. It has been developedthrough extensive community consultation and is now managed by the Board ofManagement (strategic and policy direction), Project Team (operational management)and action groups (developing, appraising and delivering projects).

As part of the Food Action Plan,The Human City Institute will implement theNeighbourhood Participation Project to engage targeted groups who have a poor dietto develop healthier eating habits.A Community Café Project has been set up by SureStart and ‘Our Health and Employment Link’ (HEAL).This project links with the citycolleges to enable communities at risk of Coronary Heart Disease and other diseasessuch as diabetes to address dietary needs and help people choose and prepare healthymeals.This activity links with the establishment of a Food Co-operative which offersthe advantages of bulk buying.


60

Headline Indicators

61

The Procter & Gamble (P&G) Osteoporosis European Tour – Health and Business

Awareness of osteoporosis, a debilitating bone disease that affects one in threewomen worldwide, received a major boost in 2002 through the launch of the‘OsteoTruck’, sponsored by P&G Pharmaceuticals and the International OsteoporosisFoundation. P&G’s Actonel team started an exciting project called ‘The OsteoporosisEuropean Tour’.The tour features the ‘OsteoTruck’, an impressive mobile diagnosiscentre providing on-the-spot ultrasound bone measurement testing, information, andreferrals to local specialists.

In addition, P&G Actonel have also spent time in helping with the implementation ofthe National Service Framework (NSF) for Older people to help improve the lives ofsenior citizens. P&G have undertaken extensive customer research to betterunderstand how the local NHS management is adapting to the new demands of thiskey Government strategy.The results of this work were widely distributed throughoutthe NHS and copied to the Chief Medical Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson. P&G have alsoworked with experts in the field of falls and fractures to develop a HealthImprovement and Modernisation Plan (HIMP) to simplify the implementation of theNSF for Older People.This initiative was supported by The Royal Society for thePrevention of Accidents (RoSPA) and the British Geriatric Society (BGS).

For further information visit www.pg.com/sr

The Physical Activity Plan has been led by ENCAMS and will target communities wholead sedentary lifestyles and have been identified by GP’s to take leisure activity.‘Leisure buses’ and volunteer drivers will take communities to leisure centres andshort guided walks in and around Ladywood.The Safety Action Plan work will becarried out with different sectors and agencies to address street safety issues such asneighbourhood watch, racial harassment and self-defence as well as drugs and alcoholabuse. Befriending and Practical Help will improve the home safety of the elderly andparents who are isolated.

For further information visit www.encams.org

H7 – Housing

Objective: Improve the condition of housing stock.

Change since Between 1991 and 1996 there was no significant change across a 1990: broad range of condition measures. As housing conditions have

changed for the better since 1996 (see below), the overall ✔

assessment is that there has been an improvement since 1990.

Change since Between 1996 and 2001 there was an improvement in the the Strategy: condition of housing in England as assessed against the decent

home standard (in 1996, 46 per cent of dwellings were non-decent, compared with 33 per cent in 2001).This improvement was seen in both the private and social sectors – 52 per ✔

cent of social housing was non-decent in 1996 compared with 38 per cent in 2001 and 32 per cent of private sector stock was non-decent in 2001, falling from 45 per cent in 1996.[data: Eng 1996 and 2001]

3.67 Although this indicator only covers the condition of houses, the Government is alsoconcerned about provision. In order to create and maintain sustainable, thriving communities,we need a balance in the housing market, and housing pressures must be addressed.To thatend, the Government is taking action to increase overall housing supply where it is needed.For example, it is working with regional and local partners to accelerate existing proposals forgrowth in the four key priority areas of the Thames Gateway, Ashford, Milton Keynes and theLondon-Stansted-Cambridge corridor. As many as 200,000 homes could be created in thegrowth areas as a result of this process. In addition, it has significantly increased investment inaffordable housing through the Housing Corporation’s Approved Development Programme –spending has almost doubled to over £1.2bn in the three years to 2003/4. All headlineindicators are reviewed to ensure that they remain relevant to key priority areas, and thecoverage of this indicator will be considered accordingly.

Percentage of households living in non-decent housing


62

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Social

Private

All Stock

20011996

Source: ODPM English House Condition Survey

Per

cen

tEngland

Headline Indicators

63

3.68 Since the figures for 1996 were published in the last sustainable development report, we haveconsulted upon and made refinements to the detailed definition of the decent homestandard. Prior to these refinements 47 per cent of the social sector, 40 per cent of theprivate sector and 41 per cent of all housing was non-decent.The changes maintain the linkbetween the indicator and the PSA target.

3.69 A decent home is one that meets all of the following criteria:

● is above the current statutory minimum standard for housing;

● is in a reasonable state of repair ;

● has reasonably modern facilities and services; and

● provides a reasonable degree of thermal comfort.

3.70 In March 2002, the Homelessness Directorate’s report ‘More than a Roof ’, was launched,outlining the Government’s plans to tackle homelessness.This includes a £35 millionprogramme to help local authorities ensure that by March 2004 no homeless family withchildren is in a Bed and Breakfast hotel other than in an emergency, and even then for nomore than 6 weeks. Statistics show that at the end of June 2002 over 12,000 householdswere living in Bed and Breakfast in England alone, of which around 6,500 were families withchildren.

3.71 In addition, all local authorities will benefit from recent changes to Housing Benefit subsidylevels, worth up to £10 million, which provide an incentive to lease private sector homes as abetter quality alternative to B&B hotels.

For further information visit www.homelessness.odpm.gov.uk

“Too often, homeless people are housed in Bed and Breakfast hotels. They aretotally the wrong place to give children the right start in life.The environmentsput pressure on families and are bad for children’s education and health. In thetwenty-first century this is completely unacceptable and we must help councilsfind decent alternatives.”

Former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions,Alistair Darling, March 2002


ODPM: By 2010, bring all social housing into decent condition with most of this improvementtaking place in deprived areas, and increase the proportion of private housing in decentcondition occupied by vulnerable groups.

EcoHomes – Hastoe Housing Association

Holister Close consists of a mixed tenure scheme of 5 homes for rent and 12 homesfor shared ownership.The scheme was built by Hastoe Housing Association on landowned by English Partnerships to provide affordable housing.The scheme forms part of the Amphion Consortium, which has developed an off site manufacturingprocess for timber framed housing in the UK.The consortium is a partnershipbetween 24 housing associations and Partnerships First. It is part of the HousingCorporation’s ‘Kick Start’ programme.

In accordance with Hastoe Housing Association’s Environmental Policy, that of EnglishPartnerships, and targets set by the Housing Corporation the scheme also aimed toreduce its environmental impact and energy costs in use.The scheme had to prove itsenvironmental credentials through EcoHomes, the BRE’s (Building ResearchEstablishment Ltd) environmental assessment for housing.This seeks to minimise theadverse affects of new building on the environment, whilst promoting healthy indoorconditions for the occupants.The environmental implications of the scheme wereindependently assessed at the design stage.

This was Hastoe Housing Association’s third scheme to achieve an environmentalrating using a BRE environmental assessment method.

The houses were constructed of timber cassettes.Whole walls were made andinsulated in the factory, transported to site and craned into position.The homes have amixture of brick and lightweight cladding.All windows are timber with a low emissivitycoating to reduce heat loss through the glazing. Materials achieved a high environmentalrating and the timber for construction was sourced from managed forests.

Energy efficient heating systems with low NOx condensing boilers, coupled with highlevels of insulation ensure the homes benefit from affordable warmth and lowpollution levels.The thermal performance of the buildings is 40 per cent better thanthat required by Building Regulations.

To further reduce energy consumption advice is provided to residents on theselection of Eco-labelled white goods and low energy lighting has been installed insideand out.

Access to safe and easy pedestrian links to local shops, services and bus routes ispossible, providing the potential to reduce the dependence on the car. Provision for ahome office has also been designed in.

To assist householders in reducing the amount of waste that goes to landfill sites,segregated boxes are provided for the storage of bottles, cans, paper, cardboard andplastics.These materials are collected through a kerbside recycling scheme by the localauthority.Advice of the collection times will be given to the residents.

A full ecological assessment was carried out on site and steps were taken to enhancethe ecological value of the site through the development.As a result of this hedgehogand bird boxes were introduced.

For further information visit www.hastoe.com


64

Headline Indicators

65

H8 – Crime

Objective: Reduce both crime and fear of crime.

Change since Robbery1990: Between 1990 and 2001/2 the number of robberies recorded

by the police increased by 235 per cent from approximately ✘

36,000 to 121,000. [data: Eng & Wales, 1990-2001/2]

Theft of, or from vehicles and domestic burglaryBetween 1990 and 2001/2 recorded vehicle crime fell by 22 per cent, and burglary in dwellings fell by 19 per cent. ✔

[data: Eng & Wales, 1990-2001/2]

Change since Robberythe Strategy: Recorded robberies increased by 82 per cent from 68,000 in ✘

1998/9 to 121,000 in 2001/2, increasing by 28 per cent in 2001/2. [data: Eng & Wales, 1998/9-2001/2]

Theft of, or from vehicles and domestic burglaryRecorded vehicle crime fell by 9 per cent overall between 1998/9 and 2001/2, however it increased by 1.5 per cent in 2001/2. Domestic burglary also fell by 9 per cent overall between 1998/9 and 2001/2, but increased by 7 per cent in ✔

2001/2, although about half of this rise is estimated to be as a result of the National Crime Recording Standard.[data: Eng & Wales, 1998/9-2001/2]

Total number of crimes recorded by the police 1970–2001/2*

England and Wales

Source: Home Office

*1970 to 1998/9 data are for the number of crimes recorded in that financial year using the coverage and rules in use until 31 March 1998.After 1998/9 data are for the number of crimes recorded in that financial year using the expanded coverage and revised counting rules that came into effect on 1 April 1998.

0

200,000

400,000

600,000

800,000

1,000,000

1,200,000

1,400,000

1,600,000

1,800,000

2006/72001/21997/81994199019861982197819741970

Robbery

Burglary in dwellings

Theft of or from vehicles

2002 PSA Target:Reduce vehicle crime

by 30% by 2004(Base year 1998/9).

2002 PSA Target: Reduceburglary by 25% by 2005

(Base year 1998/9)

Num

ber

of

crim

es

3.72 The use of total figures, rather than crimes per 100,000 population as previously used, isconsistent with recorded crime figures contained in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin 07/02:Crime in England and Wales 2001/2002. Recorded crime figures are likely to have beenaffected by changes to police recording practices. Figures for 2001/2 in particular have beenaffected by the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS). Some police forces adopted theprinciples of the standard prior to the national implementation in April 2002 and it isestimated that this caused total recorded crime levels to be uplifted by 5 per cent in 2001/2.

3.73 The British Crime Survey, which measures people’s actual experiences of crime, can provide abetter reflection of crime as it includes crimes that are not reported to the police. Publishedin July 2002, ‘Crime in England and Wales 2001/2’ is the first in a new annual publication thatcombines the reporting of police recorded crime and British Crime Survey results.This willensure that the public has the most comprehensive picture of crime in England and Walesavailable in a single volume and at the same time.

3.74 British Crime Survey data for all vehicle thefts showed a 32 per cent decrease between 1991and 2001/2, from 3,825,000 to 2,597,000 and burglary fell by 28 per cent, from 1,373,000 to991,000 in the same period.There has been a 14 per cent and 23 per cent fall respectively,since 1999.

3.75 The 2000 British Crime Survey found that 19 per cent of people had high levels of worryabout burglary, 21 per cent about car crime, and 24 per cent about violent crime.Thosefigures had fallen to 15 per cent, 18 per cent, and 22 per cent respectively in 2001/2.

3.76 Previously recorded violent crime per 100,000 of the population was included in the H8 –Crime indicator. Police records show that recorded violent crime increased by 34 per centbetween 1998/9 and 2001/2. However the increase in recorded violent crime was notreflected in findings from the British Crime Survey. For example, the 2001/2 British CrimeSurvey estimated that the number of violent incidents had fallen by 17 per cent since 1999and by 22 per cent since 1997.The reasons for the rise in recorded violent crime arecomplex, but are likely to include changes in public attitudes towards reporting violent crime,as well as changes in police reporting, both of which will have increased the number ofviolent crimes being reported.

3.77 As a consequence, recorded violent crime may not be a reliable indicator of progress intackling violent crime, and by extension, assessing progress towards sustainable development.Therefore, the H8 Crime Indicator now includes an indicator on recorded robberies, a subsetof violent crime, for which recording is more reliable. For further information visitwww.homeoffice.gov.uk


66

Headline Indicators

67

Street crime

3.78 The formation in April 2002 of the Street Crime Initiative is a clear demonstration of thecommitment across Government to tackle street crime. Its goals are to target and fast-trackall robbery offenders at every stage of the criminal justice process and ultimately reduce thenumber of robberies in the ten police force areas with the worst robbery problem.

3.79 Achievements so far include:

● specialist street crime courts in the ten areas to fast track street crime cases and provideseparate facilities and support to victims and witnesses;

● strengthening the powers of the courts to deal with young people on bail by introducingelectronic tagging in the ten areas; and

● work to ensure that street crime offenders with drug problems are fast tracked to drugtreatment services.

3.80 There are key roles not only for the police, Crown Prosecution Service, and the courts, butfor departments like Health, Education and Skills,Transport,Work and Pensions, CultureMedia and Sport, and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. On 14 October 2002, theHome Secretary announced the results of the initiative.The figures show that, since the startof the initiative, street crime has fallen by 16 per cent during April to September 2002. Forrobbery, the more serious offence, the number of offences in September was 25 per centlower than in March for the ten forces as a whole.The figures also show that, whencompared to the same period last year, there has been a reduction in robbery of 10 per cent.


HO target contributing to Criminal Justice System PSA:

● Reduce crime and the fear of crime; improve performance overall, including by reducing thegap between the highest Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership areas and the bestcomparable areas; and reduce:

● vehicle crime by 30 per cent from 1998-99 to 2004;

● domestic burglary by 25 per cent from 1998-99 to 2005; and

● robbery in the ten Street Crime Initiative areas by 14 per cent from 1999-2000 to 2005;and maintain that level.


Joint HO-CPS-LCD target contributing to Criminal Justice System PSA: Improvethe delivery of justice by increasing the number of crimes for which an offender is brought tojustice to 1.2 million by 2005-06.

HO: Protect the public and reduce re-offending by 5 per cent:

● for young offenders;

● for both adults sentenced to imprisonment and adults sentenced to community sentences;and

● maintain the current low rate of prisoner escapes, including Category A escapes.

● contributing to Criminal Justice System PSA

DH: Improve life chances for children by narrowing the gap between the proportions ofchildren in care and their peers who are cautioned or convicted.

Transport crime

3.81 The Government is committed to reducing crime and the fear of crime wherever it occurs inthe transport system, including in the pedestrian environment.

3.82 During 2002 the Department for Transport issued good practice guidance to bus operatorson improving personal security on buses for both passengers and staff.The Departmentrecently launched the Safer Travel on Buses and Coaches Panel.This group brings togetheroperators, unions, transport and local authorities and the police, as well as Department forTransport, DfES and Home Office officials, to consider how best to tackle bus and coach-related crime and to spread good practice throughout the industry.The Department also hasa joint project with the Strategic Rail Authority underway on ways to improve personalsecurity in train travel. Earlier in the year, the Department held a series of seminars aimed atraising the profile of transport crime as an issue which Crime and Disorder ReductionPartnerships need to address.


People’s attitudes to social issues13

● Poverty and social inequalities was regarded as a very important headline quality oflife issue by 6 out of 10 people.

● Three out of four people regarded their standard of living as being fairly or verygood.

● Education has increased in perceived importance as an issue that the Governmentshould be dealing with.

● However Education was not frequently mentioned as one of the factors mostaffecting quality of life.

● Health and social services was regarded as the most important issue for government.● Health was also regarded as the most important headline quality of life issue.● Housing was mentioned by just over 1 in 10 respondents as one of the issues most

affecting their quality of life.● Over half the respondents thought housing quality was a very important issue

amongst the Government’s headline quality of life issues.● Concern about crime, as an important issue for government, has increased.● One in four people said crime affects their quality of life.● More than 8 out of 10 people regarded crime as a very important headline quality of

life issue.

“We cannot leave the fight against street crime to the police and criminal justicesystem alone. We need to support them through extending the actions of everyGovernment Department to this vital task…..We must target those both at risk ofoffending and of victimisation though schools, employment opportunities, thehealth service, the transport system and even sport.We are joining-up the wholeof Government to deal with the problem on our streets.”

Home Secretary, David Blunkett, March 2002


68

13 Survey of public attitudes to quality of life and to the environment – 2001, Defra 2002

Headline Indicators

69

Environmental indicators

3.83 The following section looks at the progress made by the end of 2002 as shown by the sevenenvironmental headline indicators: Climate Change (H9), Air Quality (H10); Road Traffic(H11); River Water Quality (H12);Wildlife (H13); Land Use (H14); and Waste (H15). Itfeatures related policy examples and case-studies from a range of stakeholders showing theimportance of action at all levels and the need for a joined up approach to achievingsustainable development.

Caen Hill Lock Flight, Devizes

UK Priority Areas identified in the Strategy for Sustainable Development for the UK –a better quality of life (1999):

That [economic] growth must be of a higher quality that in the past. It needs to be achievedwhile reducing pollution and use of resources.

H9 – Climate change

Objective: Continue to reduce our emissions of greenhouse gases now, and plan forgreater reductions in the longer term.

Change since Emissions of the ‘basket’ of six greenhouse gases fell by 13 per 1990: cent between 1990 and 2000. [data: UK, 1990-2000] ✔

Change since Between 1997 and 2000, emissions of the ‘basket’ of six the Strategy: greenhouse gases fell by 5 per cent, although there was no ✔

change between 1999 and 2000. [data: UK, 1997-2000]

3.84 The assessment of progress for this indicator is based on the emissions of a ‘basket’ of sixgreenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons,perfluorocarbons and sulphur hexafluoride. Estimates for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions areavailable a year ahead of estimates for all six of the gases making up the ‘basket’.

3.85 The projections to 2010 were made before the provisional 2001 CO2 emission estimates.The 2001 CO2 estimates are relatively high, increasing by 1.5 per cent from the level in 2000,due to short-term factors including a shift to coal in electricity generation as a result of lowercoal and higher gas prices, and colder weather than in the preceding two years. However,these factors are not expected to change the direction of the longer term trend in CO2emissions away from that shown in the projections to 2010.


Joint DTI – Defra: Improve the environment and the sustainable use of natural resources,including through the use of energy saving technologies, to help reduce greenhouse gasemissions by 12.5 per cent from 1990 levels and moving towards a 20 per cent reduction incarbon dioxide emissions by 2010.

Emissions of greenhouse gases


70

United Kingdom

Source: National Environmental Technology Centre (NETCEN)/Defra/DTI

Mill

ion

tonn

es (c

arb

on

equi

vale

nt)

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

2020201820162014201220102008200620042002200019981996199419921990

Basket projections plus impact ofClimate change programme

Basket, new projections

CO2 projections plus impact ofClimate Change programme

CO2, new projections

Kyoto target for greenhousegases by 2008-2012

Domestic CO2 goal by 2010

Basket of greenhouse gases

Carbon Dioxide (CO2)

Headline Indicators

71

Kyoto Protocol

3.86 The UK climate change programme, published in November 2000, sets out a wide rangingpackage of policies and measures that will be good for the environment, good for people andgood for the economy. It is estimated that these policies could reduce the UK greenhouse gasemissions to 23 per cent below 1990 levels by 2010. On the basis of policies that can bequantified, the programme could also deliver a cut of 19 per cent in carbon dioxide by 2010.This is significantly beyond the UK’s Kyoto greenhouse gas target of a 12.5 per cent reductionbelow 1990 levels by 2008-2012 and a long way towards the government’s domestic 20 percent goal of reducing CO2 emissions.

3.87 The European Union Member States, including the UK, demonstrated their politicalcommitment to tackling climate change by ratifying the Kyoto Protocol on 31 May 2002.Ratification by the EU helps bring the Kyoto Protocol much nearer entry into force.The UKhas been working hard to encourage other countries to ratify and has shown internationalleadership on this issue. Once the Kyoto Protocol has entered into force, the UK and otherdeveloped countries which have ratified and which have targets, will be legally bound to meettheir reduction targets. For further information visitwww.defra.gov.uk/news/issues/climatechange.asp

The UK Emissions Trading Scheme

The UK Emissions Trading Scheme is the world’s first economy wide greenhouse gasemissions trading scheme and is a key component of the Government’s ClimateChange Programme.As well as securing significant reductions in emissions the Schemeprovides UK business and government with early experience in emissions trading.

The scheme went live on 2 April 2002 with the launch of an internet based registry;34 companies successfully bid as direct participants through an auction in March 2002,pledging over 4 million tonnes of CO2 emission reductions over the 5 years of thescheme in return for a financial incentive provided by the Government totalling £215m.

Participation is increasing – around 6000 companies with Climate Change Agreementshave the opportunity to trade in the scheme to meet their reduction targets or sellany over achievement. It is also planned for approved UK based emission reductionprojects to provide a third route of entry to the scheme.

For more information visit www.defra.gov.uk/etr

“EU ratification of the Kyoto Protocol sends an important message to the worldthat we are committed to the Protocol and to tackling climate change… The UKhas been central to negotiations on the Protocol and we are making strongdomestic progress in implementing a strategic and innovative programme ofaction to reduce the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions. The UK’s Climate ChangeProgramme strikes a balance between ambitious action to tackle climate changeand safeguarding and enhancing UK competitiveness...”

Minister for Environment, Michael Meacher, May 2002

Climate change scenarios

3.88 We already have evidence that the UK’s climate has changed. In Central England, the1990s were exceptionally warm by historical standards and about 0.6°C warmer than the1961-1990 average. New climate change scenarios, launched by Defra in April 2002, showthat this warming will continue and will be followed by a suite of other climate-related effects.The scenarios were developed by the Tyndall Centre for the UK Climate Impacts Programme(UKCIP), using predictions from the Hadley Centre Regional Climate Model (50-kmresolution).They improve on the previous set of scenarios (produced in 1998) by providingmore comprehensive information on changes in climate at local and regional scales, betterestimates of changes in extreme weather events, and the first UK application ofinternationally-recognised scenarios of greenhouse gas emissions.

3.89 The scenarios show that average annual temperatures across the UK may rise by between2° and 3.5°C by the 2080s. Summers may become drier across all of the UK and winters willbecome wetter, while the amount of snow could decline substantially. In addition, relative sealevels will continue to rise around the coast. Some types of extreme weather events willbecome more frequent, such as heat-waves, extreme coastal high water levels and heavyspells of rain.The scenarios provide invaluable information for more detailed studies on theimplications of climate change for different sectors and regions within the UK. In this way, allof us – government, public and private organisations, and individuals alike – can ensure thatwe have taken adequate steps to prepare for the impacts of climate change. For furtherinformation visit www.ukcip.org.uk/scenarios.

Renewable energy

3.90 The UK-led Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) was launched in August2002, at WSSD. It is a partnership of progressive governments, businesses and organisationsthat are committed to accelerating the development and deployment of renewable energyand energy efficiency systems. Considerable input has been provided by Brazil, the CzechRepublic, Ghana, Iceland, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Shell and the World WideFund for Nature and interest has already been shown by EU Member States, notably by Italy,as well as officials from Austria, France, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden.

3.91 The UK sees the REEEP as the main vehicle for taking forward the energy agreements in theWSSD Plan of Implementation, including the commitment to urgently and substantiallyincrease the share of renewable energy within the energy supply mix.We believe that it isalso a key vehicle for helping to translate the EU inspired declaration ‘The Way Forward onRenewable Energy’ into concrete actions.


72

Headline Indicators

73

Reducing vehicle emissions

3.92 The Government’s Powering Future Vehicles Strategy was launched in July 2002.The Strategy– which was produced jointly by DfT, HM Treasury, Defra and the DTI – is aimed atpromoting the UK’s shift to low-carbon vehicle technologies and fuels, to reduce transport’simpact on the global and local environment.

3.93 It sets out ambitious Government targets that by 2012 ten per cent of new cars sold in theUK will be low-carbon vehicles, defined as 100 or less grams of CO2 per km at the tailpipe(compared with the current new car average of 178gm). It also sets the target that by 2012600 new buses joining the fleet yearly (around 20 per cent) will also be low-carbon.

3.94 These targets make the UK the first country to set itself a target for shifting its mainstreammotoring to low-carbon – as distinct from targets for niche vehicles or technologies.TheGovernment is supporting the shift to low-carbon by linking mainstream vehicle taxation –i.e. the graduated Vehicle Excise Duty introduced in 2001, and graduated company cartaxation, introduced in 2002 – to carbon dioxide emissions.

Centre for Alternative Technology – bring renewable energy home

Community groups in the Dulas and Dyfi valleys of Mid Wales have set up one of themost exciting and innovative renewable energy projects in Britain. From the foundingof the Dulas Valley Community Wind Partnership in 1999 to the construction of the75kW turbine in June 2002 the project has been forging new paths in communitymanaged energy production.

In September 2001 Bro Dyfi Community Renewables Ltd (BDCR) was established outof the initial partnership. It raised funds for the turbine by selling shares to localindividuals and community groups.The shareholders are the ultimate owners of theturbine, having managerial control through their elected Board, as well as financialinvestment. BDCR now provides day-to-day management and is responsible fordistributing the scheme’s profits in the form of dividends to investing members,keeping money circulating within the local economy.

In addition to the capital raised by selling shares, grants were obtained from theEnergy Saving Trust, the European Regional Development Fund and the Scottish PowerGreen Energy Trust.The Dyfi Eco Valley Partnership, Powys Energy Agency, ForestEnterprise and the Baywind Energy Co-operative also played important support roles

The Energy Saving Trust also bought some of the shares.The dividend income fromthese shares will go into a locally-managed fund to reduce energy consumption in thevalley, further reducing the amount of CO2 released by the Dyfi valley.

The turbine is located at Pantperthog near Machynlleth in Powys on Forest Enterpriseland just above the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) – a visitor and educationcentre promoting sustainable technologies. Engineers from CAT were commissionedto erect the Vestas V17 turbine and the Centre has signed a 15-year power purchasingagreement, surplus electricity being exported to the local grid.

It is hoped that this project will be seen as a model for community wind powerschemes in other parts of the UK.

For further information visit www.cat.org.uk


74

3.95 Delivering these objectives involves more than one part of Government, and the PrimeMinister has set up a ‘Ministerial Low Carbon Group’ to oversee the delivery of the low-carbon agenda.The Ministerial Group will report annually to Parliament.

3.96 The Strategy looks further forward to the long-term shift to ultra-low carbon vehicles andultimately to zero emission transport.The Government will put in place further targetsbeyond the decade, accelerating the shift towards technologies such as hydrogen fuel cells.For further information visit www.roads.dft.gov.uk/vehicle/environment/futurepower/index.htm

Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership

The Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership (LowCVP) is an action and advisory group. Itsrole is: to promote the UK’s shift to low carbon vehicles and fuels; to help industry,consumer, environment and other organisations participate in the shift; and tomaximise the potential competitive advantage for UK business. LowCVP will play a keyrole in carrying through the UK’s Powering Future Vehicles Strategy.

The Partnership’s members are drawn from a wide range of organisations with a stakein the move to cleaner vehicles and fuels.These include not only car manufacturersand others in the auto supply chain, but also the after-sales sector, transportoperators, those concerned with fuel supply and infrastructure, research bodies,technology providers, consumer and environmental organisations, the investmentcommunity, and regulatory/planning bodies.

The Partnership’s tasks are: to encourage industries and other stakeholders to engageproactively in the move to low-carbon vehicles and fuels; to provide a forum in whichstakeholders can work together in overcoming market barriers affecting the shift tonew vehicles and fuels; to provide a forum for Government, industry and otherpartners to liaise on upcoming policy developments and regulatory issues; and toprovide Government with independent input to and feedback on the progress andeffectiveness of the ‘Foresight Vehicle’ and other low-carbon research programmes.

For further information visit www.lowcvp.org.uk

Headline Indicators

75

H10 – Air quality

Objective: Reduce air pollution and ensure air quality continues to improve throughthe longer term.

Change since Urban air quality has improved significantly since 1993, from 1990: 59 days of moderate or higher air pollution on average per site

to 21 days in 2001. [data: UK, 1993-2001]

Rural air quality has also improved from 48 days of moderate or ✔

higher air pollution on average per site in 1990 to 30 days in 2001.[data: UK, 1990-2001]

Change since Year on year variations to air quality, which is strongly affected the Strategy: by the weather, mean that several years’ data are needed before

a trend becomes clear. 2000 saw the best air quality to date, but the average number of days of moderate or higher air pollution at urban sites increased from 16 to 21 days in 2001, compared with 22 days in 1998. [data: UK, 1998-2001]

For rural sites, air pollution depends mainly on ozone levels, which ≈

can vary widely, so there is no clear trend since the strategy.The average number of days of moderate or higher air pollution was 30 in 2001, compared with 26 in 1998 and 42 in 1999, and 25 in 2000. [data: UK, 1998-2001]

Days when air pollution was moderate or higher

United Kingdom

Source: National Environmental Technology Centre (NETCEN)/Defra

Ave

rag

e nu

mb

er o

f d

ays

per

site

2002200120001999199819971996199519941993199219911990198919881987

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Urban sites

Rural sites


76

3.97 The above assessments reflect figures updated during 2002 for the previous year. Provisionalfigures for air quality in 2002 show a reduction in the number of days when air pollution wasmoderate or higher.

3.98 It is estimated that air pollution in the UK brings forward the deaths of between 12,000 and24,000 people each year. Air pollution is also responsible for discomfort and many hospitaladmissions. Government sponsored research, published this year, highlights that it is oftenpoorer people living in poor areas who are exposed to the highest levels of air pollution.A report into the links between social deprivation and air pollution in four UK cities (London,Birmingham, Belfast and Cardiff) shows that, in three of the cities, air pollution tends to behighest in the most socially deprived areas.

3.99 In August 2002, the Government announced tighter air quality targets for particles, benzeneand carbon monoxide and introduced, for the first time, a new target for polycyclic aromatichydrocarbons.These will complement the other targets already in place for the main airpollutants contained in the Government’s national Air Quality Strategy ‘Working Together forClean Air’ and which sets out policies and action for delivering cleaner air.The new target forparticles will, by 2010, have cut the amount of particles pollution in air by at least 50 per centfrom present levels.

3.100 Air quality is getting better.The 2001 results for the Government’s Headline Indicator of airquality, published in May 2002, reinforced earlier findings that the number of days ofmoderate or higher air pollution has declined substantially at urban sites since 1993.Thenumber of days of poor urban air quality per year has fallen by about two thirds since 1993,consistent with the reductions in emissions of key pollutants over the last decade. Actions atinternational, national and local level have all contributed to this improvement. For example,emissions of air pollutants from road transport have fallen by 50 per cent or so over the lastdecade as a result of progressively tighter EU standards for new vehicles and fuels. Relativeemissions from transport are, however, growing as emissions from other major sources, suchas power generation and industry, have also declined in response to, for example, reductiontargets introduced through the National Emissions Ceiling and Large Combustion PlantDirectives.

3.101 In 2002, the new Air Quality Expert Group started work to help the Government tackle airpollution by examining sources and levels of pollution, analysing trends and suggestingpotential priority areas for research.The group are part of the Government’s commitment todeliver clean air for the UK and help future reviews of the Air Quality Strategy by improvingthe understanding of levels and sources of pollution.


Defra: Improve air quality by meeting Air Quality Strategy targets for carbon monoxide, lead,nitrogen dioxide, particles, sulphur dioxide, benzene and 1-3 butadiene.

It is not possible to produce targets for the Headline Indicator directly from the nationalobjectives for individual pollutants.Work is being carried out to develop a robust approach toestimate the impact that meeting the objectives will have on the Headline Indicator.

Headline Indicators

77

3.102 Air pollution does not recognise borders between countries and international commitmentsplay a key role in meeting air quality targets.The UK continued to play a prominent andsupportive role in discussions and negotiations on measures to cut air pollution. Several EUDirectives to reduce emissions of air pollutants were transposed into UK law during 2002.These include the National Emission Ceilings Directive, which sets ceilings for UK emissions ofvarious pollutants; the Large Combustion Plant Directive, which will reduce emissions fromlarge industrial plants; and the Second Air Quality Daughter Directive, which sets limits fortwo key pollutants. Full public consultation was undertaken on the Government’s proposalsfor ratifying important international agreements on further reductions of air pollution.

3.103 Local authorities have continued to make good progress with their air quality managementduties. Practically all authorities have completed their first round of reviews and assessmentsto check whether the air quality targets will be met. Over 100 authorities have designated AirQuality Management Areas and have started preparing action plans to tackle problemsidentified.

3.104 It is important that people can access information about levels of air pollution to check anyimpact on their health and judge whether the Government measures to reduce levels areworking. An improved public air pollution information service was launched in May 2002 toreport hourly up-dates and 24 hour forecasts on air quality in sixteen regions and sixteenurban areas of the UK. Information is readily available from freephone 0800 556677, teletextand the internet. At the same time, a new, much improved, user friendly website for peopleto view current and historical data on air pollution was launched.

For further information visit www.airquality.co.uk/archive/index.php

“Levels of most pollutants have fallen considerably over the last few yearsthrough measures to cut emissions from industry and traffic. But the latest healthevidence shows that we cannot afford to be complacent. Further action is neededto cut air pollution levels, in particular in our congested towns and cities, whichcontinue to have a significant impact on our health. The new targets we haveannounced [today] represent a significant strengthening of our air quality targetsfor particles and other important air pollutants.”

Minister for Environment, Michael Meacher,August 2002


78

Air quality and transport

3.105 Road transport is a major source of local air pollution, particularly in our towns and cities. Airquality and transport policy measures have already led to significant improvements in local airquality and will continue to lead to further improvements. Key transport initiatives include:

Regulatory measures and standards to reduce vehicle emissions and improve fuels.This includes the Euro standards emissions testing as part of the MOT, and the RoadTraffic Vehicle Emissions Regulations 2002 which allow local authorities with air qualitymanagement areas to undertake roadside emissions testing.

Tax based measures that encourage people to supply and use cleaner fuels and alsoencourage them to buy more environmentally-friendly vehicles. Fuel duty differentialsfavouring Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG), Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), biodiesel andultra-low sulphur petrol and diesel encourage people to use these cleaner fuels.Sulphur free fuels offer further air quality and fuel efficiency benefits over ultra-lowsulphur fuels and the Government intends to introduce duty incentives favouringsulphur-free fuels in 2003.The company car and Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) taxationregimes offer discounts for alternatively powered vehicles, such as electric, hybrid andLPG/CNG.

PowerShift and CleanUp programmes administered by the Energy Saving Trust.The TransportEnergy PowerShift programme has been set up with the aim of kick-starting the market for clean fuel vehicles (CFVs) in the UK. PowerShift promotes CFVsand can offer grant support to help with the purchase of vehicles which are proven tooffer emissions benefits and which have been shown to be technically viable.Theseinclude vehicles running on natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas and electricity (includinghybrids).The TransportEnergy CleanUp Campaign aims to improve air quality inpollution “hotspots” by encouraging the fitting of emissions reduction equipment to themost polluting vehicles.

Newcastle City Council greens its vehicle fleet

In February 2000 Newcastle City Council produced a Green Transport Plan to meetits air quality objectives. Before the plan, nearly all of the fleet ran on ultra low sulphurdiesel (ULSD), but it was decided that more could be done to reduce pollution and sonow all these vehicles are being replaced on a rolling basis by cleaner electric andLiquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) models. By choosing TransportEnergy PowerShift-approved vehicles – including Ford Transits,Vauxhall Vectras and Citroen Berlingos –the council has received grants of £349,000, significantly reducing the additionalpurchase cost of the LPG vehicles.

Brian Fothergill, Engineering Services Manager at Newcastle City Council and advisorto the council’s air quality department is delighted with the progress so far and said:“We now have 312 clean fuel vehicles– that’s a massive 42 per cent of our fleet. Notonly are we saving significant amounts of money because LPG is half the price ofpetrol but we are making a major contribution to reducing levels of health-damagingpollutants such as particulate matter.The more clean fuelled vehicles we operate, themore money we save and the less pollution we create.”

For further information visit www.local-transport.dft.gov.uk/travelplans/index.htm

Headline Indicators

79

H11 – Road traffic

Objective: Improve choice in transport; improve access to education, jobs, leisure andservices; and reduce the need to travel.

Change since Total road traffic volume – main chart1990: Between 1990 and 2001 road traffic increased from ✘

411 billion to 474 billion vehicle kilometres, or 15 per cent.

Road traffic intensity – inset chartRoad traffic intensity, measured by vehicle kilometres per GDP,fell by 10 per cent between 1990 and 2001. Road traffic and ✔

economic growth have historically been strongly linked, but a fallin the intensity measure shows that this is a weakening or “decoupling”.[data: GB, 1990-2001]

Change since Total road traffic volume – main chartthe Strategy: Road traffic volumes increased from 459 billion vehicle kilometres ✘

in 1998 to 474 billion in 2001, or 3 per cent.

Road traffic intensity – inset chartRoad traffic intensity, measured by vehicle kilometres per GDP,fell by 4 per cent between 1998 and 2001, showing some ✔

“decoupling” between road traffic and economic growth.[data: GB, 1998-2001]

Road traffic

Great Britian

Source: DfT

Bill

ion

vehi

cle

kilo

met

res

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

201020082006200420022000199819961994199219901988198619841982198019781976197419721970

Road traffic in Englandprojected to increaseby 17% (2000-2010)with the effect of10 year plan

Traffic intensity(vehicle km per unit of GDP)

60

80

100

Ind

ex 1

970

= 1

00 120

140

20012000199519901985198019751970


80

3.106 For the reasons explained in paragraph 3.12, the assessment for the Road traffic HeadlineIndicator has been split. A new, separate assessment is now made for road traffic volumes,which have continued to rise, albeit more slowly than in earlier years, and which constitute acontinuing pressure against our objectives to deliver reductions in congestion and pollution.The second assessment reflects the relationship between traffic and economic growth, as anintensity measure, and shows that the close association between the two seen in recentdecades has weakened. Since 1993 traffic intensity (the ratio of traffic growth to economicgrowth, measured as the amount of traffic generated per unit of GDP) has fallen steadily,following a significant increase during the previous decade.

3.107 In July 2000, the Government published its 10 Year Plan for transport.This long terminvestment strategy was aimed at improving transport systems, to ensure that people andgoods can move around the country freely and efficiently, whilst tackling the adverse impactsof congestion and pollution.The amount that will be spent on transport over the ten yearscovered by the Plan is now more than £180 billion. Since the Plan was published, theGovernment has been working to ensure this significant increase in funding is translated intoreal improvements on the ground. A report on progress with delivering the Plan [DeliveringBetter Transport: Progress Report, DfT 2002 (www.dft.gov.uk/trans2010/index.htm)] waspublished on 17 December 2002.


DfT: Reduce congestion on the inter-urban trunk road network and in large urban areas inEngland below 2000 levels by 2010.

DfT: Secure improvements in rail punctuality and reliability with a 50 per cent increase in railuse in Great Britain from 2000 levels by 2010.

DfT: Secure improvements to the accessibility, punctuality and reliability of local publictransport (bus and light rail), with an increase in use of more than 12 per cent by 2010compared with 2000 levels.

DfT: Cut journey times on London Underground services by increasing capacity and reducingdelays. (Specific targets will be agreed with the Mayor after the Public Private Partnership hasbeen established.)

DfT: Reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured in Great Britain in roadaccidents by 40 per cent, and the number of children killed or seriously injured by 50 per cent,by 2010 compared with the average for 1994-98, tackling the significantly higher incidence indisadvantaged communities.

Headline Indicators

81

Public transport

3.108 It is currently difficult to register bus routes that do not have a timetable or specified startand finish points, for example door to door and demand responsive services.TheDepartment for Transport embarked on a public consultation exercise in August 2002 onproposals to address this.They suggested that, in order to register a flexible route, anoperator should define the area of operation and pre-booking arrangements rather thanspecifying a precise timetable.These measures would be restricted to subsidised services andthose run by not-for-profit organisations, although the consultation also asked whethercommercial operators might find them attractive to run.

3.109 Three new types of bus service were included in the proposals.These are:

● The ‘many to one’ service – picking up individual passengers from a location specified bythem (perhaps their home), and taking them to a single, fixed destination. An examplecould be a minibus that picks up passengers from any address in a group of villages andtakes them to a fixed stop at the supermarket in an adjacent town;

● The ‘one to many’ service – the above example in reverse. Passengers are picked upfrom fixed boarding points and taken to disparate destinations, on demand; and

● The ‘many to many’ service – this offers maximum flexibility, allowing the service to pickup passengers from various locations, on demand, and taking them to disparatedestinations (within a defined geographical area of operation), again on demand.

Pan European Programme

The UK played a leading role in the decision taken at a United Nations EconomicCouncil for Europe High Level Meeting in Geneva on 5 July 2002, to establish a PanEuropean Programme, listed as one of the Type 2 Partnerships drawn together atWSSD, for working towards more sustainable transport in the region.

The new programme will focus on a set of key priorities for ensuring that theenvironmental and health impacts of transport are tackled fully and properly. Itsadoption marks an important step towards achieving the quality of transport forwhich the people of Europe are calling. It should provide a means of responding toactual practical needs, in particular those of Europe’s countries who face the challengeof economies undergoing radical transformation.

The UK played a full part in the multi-lateral discussions which have taken place overthe last year, and which have led to the adoption of this programme.We will besupporting its development, through some targeted funding, through the disseminationof good practice and expertise developed at a national and local level here in the UK,and through our working inputs to specific projects which will go forward under theprogramme.


82

Light rail

In the right conditions, such as along high-volume transport corridors in major cities,light rail schemes can bring about cost-effective improvements in public transport.They can also secure significant benefits in congestion reduction, local air quality andsafety and help to promote economic regeneration and social inclusion.Typically,15 per cent of light rail passengers used to rely on cars for the same journeys.

Light rail schemes are already running in London (Docklands Light Railway (DLR) andCroydon),Tyne and Wear, Greater Manchester, Sheffield, and the West Midlands – aswell as the historic Blackpool tram.The Sunderland extension to the Tyne and WearMetro opened in spring 2002.The first phase of the Nottingham Express Transit willstart operating in late 2003.

Three more schemes are now in procurement. Phase 3 of Manchester Metrolink willconnect the city centre to Oldham and Rochdale,Ashton-under-Lyne, and ManchesterAirport. Leeds Supertram will serve three key corridors into the city centre andprovide a loop line round it. South Hampshire Rapid Transit will connect Fareham andGosport to Portsmouth through a new tunnel under Portsmouth Harbour.

Bristol and South Gloucestershire Rapid Transit, Merseytram line one, and twoextensions to the Midland Metro have also been approved in principle.

Headline Indicators

83

H12 – River water quality

Objective: Improving river quality.

Biological river quality

Rivers of good or fair chemical quality

Source: Environment Agency of England and Wales,Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA),Environment and Heritage Service (NI) (EHS)

*Scottish river classification network changed in 2001

Per

cent

age

of

rive

r le

ngth

s

200120001999199819971996199519941993199219911990

Scotland(new basis)*

Scotland

Northern Ireland

England

Wales

80

85

90

95

100

Per

cent

age

of

rive

r le

ngth

s

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

200120001995

Scotland

199020012000

Northern Ireland

1995

<2,500 km 5,000 km Old rivernetwork

New rivernetwork

Oldclassification

Newclassification

19912000

Wales

1990

Fair

2000

England

2000

Combined length of tested river lengths

1995

‘General Quality Assessment’ classification

19951990

Source: Environment Agency of England and Wales,Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA),Environment and Heritage Service (NI) (EHS)

Good Moderate Fair

Good Good

Change since The most significant improvements in both chemical and 1990: biological river quality since 1990 have been in English rivers,

bringing more of them up to the quality seen in the rest of the UK.The percentage of river lengths of good or fair chemical quality increased from 84 per cent in 1990 to 94 per cent in 2001 in England, from 97.6 to 98.4 per cent in Wales, from ✔

95 to 96 per cent in Northern Ireland and was 96 per cent in Scotland in 2001 (after a change in river classification). In 2001 66 per cent of English river lengths had good biological river quality, compared with 43 per cent in 1990.[Chemical river quality: Eng,Wales & Scotland 1990-2001, NI 1991-2001][Biological river quality: Eng & Wales 1990, 1995, 2000, Scotland,1990, 1995, 2000, 2001, NI 1991, 1995, 2000, 2001]

Change since Ninety-four per cent of English river lengths were of good or fair the Strategy: chemical quality in 2000 compared with 89 per cent in 1998.The

chemical quality of rivers in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland ✔

have remained relatively stable over this period.[Chemical river quality: Eng,Wales & Scotland, NI: 1998-2000][Biological river quality: Eng & Wales, 1995, 2000, Scotland, NI: 1995, 2001]

3.110 Most UK rivers are of good or fair quality. River water quality is important because rivers area major source of water used for drinking and by industry.They also support a wide varietyof wildlife and are used extensively for recreation.

Sustainability monitoring of the Kennet and Avon Canal

Canals and waterways provide major opportunities for taking an integrated approachto achieve sustainable development.The 87 mile-long Kennet and Avon Canal and itsassociated corridor provide major opportunities for a variety of recreational uses,form an important wildlife corridor and provide opportunities for economicdevelopment.

The Canal was the subject of a £29 million project funded by British Waterways, theHeritage Lottery Fund and a number of other partners.This project secured thefuture of the waterway in the long term and greatly improved the management of theCanal corridor.

River water quality target

Monitored river lengths have a baseline assessment called the River Quality Objectives (RQO),which is the level of water quality that a river should achieve in order to be suitable for itsagreed uses.

The Government set a target to increase RQO compliance in England and Wales from 82 percent in 1997 to at least 91 per cent in 2005 (by 2000, RQO compliance had increased to 90.4per cent).

The relationship between movement towards the RQO target and improvement in the waterquality headline is not straightforward.A river length that changed quality to meet its RQOobjective would affect the headline if its quality changed from ‘poor’ to ‘fair’ or from ‘fair’ to‘good’, but not if it moved up a class within either the ‘fair’ or ‘good’ categories.


84

Headline Indicators

85

Environment Agency – Commonwealth Gold in Salford Quays

In July 2002, the once polluted waters of the Manchester Ship Canal were the venuefor international athletes competing for gold in the Commonwealth Games triathlonevent.

Salford Quays hosted the long distance swimming leg of the gruelling three-stage eventin the Games.The event, in which athletes must prove themselves in long distanceswimming, cycling and running, attracted a wide field.

Branching off the Manchester Ship Canal, the Quays were, until recently, in a state ofterrible decline – the docks were so contaminated that fish could not survive andwater sports were completely out of the question.

In 2001, the Environment Agency directed a £4 million scheme to pump 30 tonnes ofoxygen a day into a 3km stretch of the canal around the Quays, counteracting theeffects of pollution. Since then, the Quays have been used regularly for watersports.

The clean-up is part of the wider regeneration work started back in the 1980s by theSalford Quays Management Corporation, and which has created a completelyrevitalised environment and thriving waterfront area.

The Environment Agency’s work is part of a concerted and intensive pollutionprevention programme across Manchester and the North West.

For further information visit www.environment-agency.gov.uk

As part of British Waterways’ corporate approach to sustainable development, a pilotproject is being carried out on the Canal looking at sustainability monitoring.A comprehensive programme of monitoring sees recreational activities such aswalking, cycling, boating and angling measured alongside landscape change, ecology,water quality, water resources, and economic benefits.The purpose of the monitoringis to establish a baseline against which change can be measured in the future.

The overall programme seeks to identify issues along the Canal and to identify keyactions to be incorporated into the annual business plan. Rather than monitor thewhole length of the Canal, 12 pilot lengths have been established for detailedmonitoring.These are areas that are particularly sensitive or well used or where somemajor work has taken place.

For further information visit www.british-waterways.com

H13 – Wildlife

Objective: Reverse the long-term decline in populations of farmland and woodlandbirds.

Change since The overall population of British breeding birds has been 1990: relatively stable over the last two decades, but farmland and

woodland birds have declined significantly. Between 1990 and 2000 the population of farmland birds fell by 17 per cent and ✘

the population of woodland birds by seven per cent.[data: UK, 1990-2000]

Change since Farmland birdsthe Strategy: Farmland birds decreased by 2 per cent in 2000, after a

3 per cent increase in 1999. [data: UK, 1998-2000] ≈

Woodland birdsWoodland birds increased by 4 per cent in 1999 and 5 per cent in 2000, reaching their highest level ✔

since 1990. [data: UK, 1998-2000]

3.111 Wild birds are good indicators of the health of the wider environment, because they arewide ranging in habitat distribution and tend to be at or near the top of the food chain.TheHeadline Indicator comprises indicators of the populations of common species of farmland,woodland and all native species.The overall population of British breeding birds has beenrelatively stable over the last two decades, however, there have been significant declines infarmland and woodland species.The Government’s objective is to reverse these trends.

3.112 The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and the British Trust for Ornithology(BTO) report that access restrictions related to the Foot and Mouth Disease outbreakseverely restricted data collection in 2001 and they judge that it is not possible to provide ameaningful update of the Headline Indicator for 2001.

Populations of wild birds


86

United Kingdom

Source: Defra, Royal Society for the Protection of BirdsRSPB), British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) Figures in brackets denote the number of species included in each category

Ind

ex (1

970

= 1

00)

50

60

70

80

90

100

110

120

2000199819961994199219901988198619841982198019781976197419721970

Farmland species (19)

Woodland species (33)

All Species (105)

Headline Indicators

87

3.113 In October 2002 the Government published England’s Biodiversity Strategy, ‘Working with thegrain of nature’.The Strategy builds on the foundations laid by the UK Biodiversity Action Plan(1994) and seeks to integrate biodiversity considerations into a range of key policy areas,setting out programmes of action for the next five years in agriculture, water and wetlands,woodland and forestry, towns, cities and development and marine and coastal issues. It alsolooks at ways of ensuring that biodiversity is built into the concerns and behaviour of societyas a whole.

3.114 The Strategy brings together a series of biodiversity indicators for each of the sectorsconsidered. Many are already part of the ‘Quality of life counts’ series, such as the populationsof wild birds, progress with Biodiversity Action Plans and river water quality.Where possibleand appropriate, the indicators will use data for England and be broken down by sector. A fullreport on the biodiversity indicators will be published in 2003.

Woodland birds survey

Over the last 30 years a number of our woodland birds have declined, some by 80 percent. Protecting them has seen specialists from 14 organisations join forces to launch amajor new survey.The £600,000 Woodland Birds Survey, launched in June 2002, willlook at changes in woodland birds on 350 plots across England,Wales and parts ofScotland. It is a four year project with principal funding from Defra, the ForestryCommission and English Nature.

Numbers of woodland birds have been shown to decline by 20 per cent among 33 species over the past 25 years, with lesser spotted woodpecker and spottedflycatcher populations falling by over 80 per cent. It is a statistic that prompted thesetting up of the Woodland Bird Group through which the Royal Society for theProtection of Birds and British Trust for Ornithology will carry out the survey.Thefirst step in the project is to identify the factors leading to the decline, such as changesin woodland size and condition, so conservation measures can be implemented.Thiswork will complement the initiatives being taken to address the decline in farmlandbirds and lead to the development of better joined up policies to benefit all wild birds.

For further information visit www.english-nature.org.uk


Defra: Care for our natural heritage, make the countryside attractive and enjoyable for all, andpreserve biological diversity by reversing the long-term decline in the number of farmland birdsby 2020, as measured annually against underlying trends.


Defra: Care for our natural heritage, make the countryside attractive and enjoyable for all, andpreserve biological diversity by bringing into favourable condition by 2010 95 per cent of allnationally important wildlife sites.


88

Agri-environment scheme

3.115 Defra is developing a pilot scheme to take forward the Policy Commission on Farming andFood’s recommendation for an “entry level” agri-environment scheme.

3.116 The new Entry Level Scheme is designed to achieve high uptake amongst farmers and broadcoverage of a high proportion of farmland. It will be simple to administer for both farmer andGovernment and will not be competitive.

3.117 The scheme will be piloted for two years, starting early 2003.We hope that it will be rolledout across England in 2005/6. Many partner organisations have been involved in designing thepilot scheme, and will continue to be involved at all stages of the project.

3.118 As the scheme will be implemented across a broad area, it will be able to addressenvironmental problems which cannot be solved by focusing on isolated areas, such as diffusepollution, loss of widespread species like brown hare and farmland birds, loss of landscapecharacter and damage to archaeological sites.

3.119 The new scheme will include incentives for wildlife friendly farming practices, such assympathetic hedgerow management, over a much larger scale than at present.We expect thisto have a strong positive effect on the wild bird populations that make up Headline IndicatorH13 (wildlife), especially the farmland species that have declined by more than 40 per centsince 1970.We also intend that the scheme will address resource protection issues, and hopethat it will have a positive effect on Headline Indicator 12 (river water quality). For furtherinformation visit www.defra.gov.uk/erdp/schemes/schemesindex.htm

Urban regeneration – Black Redstarts

The Black Redstart is listed as a species of conservation concern in the UKBiodiversity Action Plan (1995). It is unique as a rare breeding bird in Britain as itspopulation is concentrated, in the main, in our urban centres.

The two principle areas are Greater London and Birmingham and the Black Country.According to the ‘Atlas of Breeding Birds’ the population varies between 60-100 pairsannually, although the last estimate was 35 pairs in 1999. Most Black Redstarts breedin areas that are targeted for regeneration.

English Nature has been supporting a project initiated by the London BiodiversityPartnership to develop guidelines and mitigation strategies to help conserve BlackRedstarts in urban regeneration schemes. Mitigation projects focus on the provision ofsuitable habitat such as green roofs and other innovative, non-traditional landscapingschemes.Working with planners, developers and architects and landscape designersthe project has resulted in the completion of several demonstration projects.Theprovision of Black Redstart habitat has other environmental benefits includingprovision of greenspace; creating green corridors; recycling (of demolition waste); andcontributions towards sustainable urban drainage schemes.

For further information visit www.blackredstarts.org.uk

Headline Indicators

89

National Parks sustainability fund

3.120 Sustainable development is central to the proper conservation of National Parks as itintegrates the environment, community and economy, and thus their statutory purposes andobligations.

3.121 The National Parks Sustainable Development Fund, which was launched in July 2002, aims todevelop and test new ways of achieving a more sustainable way of living in countrysides ofgreat natural beauty and diversity, and which enhance and conserve local culture, wildlife,landscape, land use and community.When the best ways of achieving sustainability have beenidentified, they can then act as examples for other rural areas to follow.

3.122 The Fund is open to individuals or organisations from the public, private or voluntary sectorsfrom within or outside the National Park.

3.123 A few examples of current or completed sustainable development projects in the NationalParks are: the ‘Greater Exmoor Woodland Initiative’ (a scheme to increase the area ofwoodland management and employment in woodland related industries); a bike and canoehire network scheme in the Norfolk Broads to support the holiday industry; the ‘DistinctlyCumbrian Rural Regeneration Programme’ aimed at supporting the production, distributionand marketing of Cumbrian products; and the Environmental and Economic Development ofthe Hadrian’s Wall corridor.

UK Biodiversity Action Plan – Natterjack Toads

The Natterjack Toad is a priority species under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan and issubject of a species action plan led by the Herpetological Conservation Trust.TheNatterjack, which is smaller than British Common Toads, gets its name from thedistinctive mating call made by the male.

The Natterjack has quite specific habitat requirements needing areas of short grass,sandy soil and shallow pools in order to hunt, breed and hibernate.There are nowonly 50 Natterjack colonies throughout Britain, 22 of which are found in Cumbria.Most colonies in Cumbria have been declining but the Countryside StewardshipScheme has helped farmer Richard Irving reverse this trend on his Anthorn Farm.TheScheme has encouraged land management practices which support the requiredhabitat and has seen significant increases in the toad population. From around 20-30specimens ten years ago, over 150 toads can now be found using the breeding pools,showing that if the right conditions are maintained then successful sustainable coloniescan thrive.

For further information visit www.herpconstrust.org.uk

H14 – Land Use

Objective: Re-using previously developed land, in order to protect the countryside andencourage urban regeneration.

Change since The percentage of new homes built on previously developed 1990: land or through conversion of existing buildings increased from ✔

54 per cent in 1990 to 61 per cent in 2001.[data: England, 1990-2001]

Change since In 2001 61 per cent of new homes were built on previously the Strategy: developed land or through conversion of existing buildings14.

This compares with 57 per cent in 1996, after which there ✔

has been a steady increase from 1997 onwards.[data: England, 1996-2001]

3.124 New developments within existing urban areas contribute to the revitalisation ofcommunities and enable people to live near shops and employment, reducing the need totravel. Building homes on previously developed land wherever possible is also important forthe protection of the countryside.

Percentage of new homes built on previously developed land


90

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

70England

Source: ODPM

Per

cen

t

2001200019991998199719961995199419931992199119901989

14 In ‘Quality of life counts’ these statistics were based on the Land Use Change Statistics definition of‘land in urban uses.’The publication of Planning Policy Guidance Note 3: Housing (PPG3), introduceda concise definition of previously developed land – ‘land in urban uses’ plus defence buildings and landfor mineral extraction and waste disposal.The headline series was re-based on the PPG3 definition.

Headline Indicators

91

Millennium Communities

The Millennium Communities Programme was initiated in 1997 with the launch of thedevelopment competition for Greenwich Millennium Village.The programme aims toproduce tangible, living examples of sustainable mixed-use development – providing anew, environmentally friendly way of living.They incorporate good public transportlinks, innovation in building technology, energy efficiency and challenging ecological andenvironmental strategies.A range of different types of site have been chosen todemonstrate that energy efficient, environmentally responsible development isachievable regardless of geographic location.

The Greenwich Millennium Village in South London was the site of the largest gasworks in Europe and is now being developed by Greenwich Millennium Village Ltd, ajoint venture between Taylor Woodrow and Countryside Properties. From the outset,the development of a community infrastructure was seen as installing the physicalinfrastructure.At Greenwich Millennium Village the school and health centre werebuilt and open within 12 months of the first residents moving in and a dedicated busroute existed before the first homes were sold.The full integration of affordablehousing both in terms of design and location promotes social inclusion.Those needingaffordable housing are not relegated to the periphery of the village and are living inunits indistinguishable from those for sale.A number of demanding targets for theenvironmental performance and construction have been set. Good progress is beingmade towards these.

For further information visit www.englishpartnerships.co.uk

Sherwood Energy Village

Sherwood Energy Village is a unique initiative owned and developed by a communitydriven Social Enterprise, a national example of living, working and playing withoutharming the environment

The development arose from the closure of Ollerton Colliery, in March 1994,devastating the community and leaving a 91 acre scar on the landscape.The localcommunity driven concept of the Sherwood Energy Village grew out of a desire tofind a new use for the site that would not have the environmental impacts of mining.

Eight years on, the Sherwood Energy Village is a visionary, innovative enterprise.Theformer colliery has been reclaimed for industry, commerce, housing, education andrecreation.The site is being developed to sustainability and energy efficiency bestpractice standards, providing a better quality of life for all those who live, work andplay there.

Key initiatives include biomass power generation, use of renewable energy sources,carbon neutral housing and industry, areas of natural beauty, education and conferencefacilities, plus the largest sustainable urban drainage system in the UK.

For further information visit www.sev.org.uk


92

H15 – Waste

Objective: Move away from disposal of waste towards waste reduction, reuse, recyclingand recovery.

Waste arisings and management 1997/8

Household waste and recycling: 1983–2001

EnglandEngland and Wales

Kilo

gra

ms

per

per

son

per

yea

r

waste not recycled/composted

Source: Defra

waste recycled/composted

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

2000/1

1999/001998/9

1997/81996/7

1995/61994/5

1993/41992/3

1991/21990/1

1989/901988/9

1987/81986/7

1985/61984/5

1983/4

Recycling

Energy recovery

Other recovery

Other disposal

Landfill

United Kingdom

Total controlled waste arisings from households,industry and commerce: 170 – 210 million tonnes

Source: Defra and others

58%

2%

7%

2%

30%

Headline Indicators

93

Change since Household waste1990: Household waste accounts for about one sixth of all controlled

waste. Between 1991/2 and 2000/1, the amount of household waste generated that was not recycled or composted increased ✘

from 414 to 447 kilograms per person, or eight per cent.[data, Eng & Wales 1991/2, 1993/4, 1995/6, Eng, 1996/7-2000/1]

All waste arisings and managementIn 1997/8 it was estimated that between 170 and 210 million tonnes of controlled waste was produced in the UK by households,commerce and industry (including construction and demolition).Nearly 60 per cent of this was disposed of in landfill sites.

There are no earlier data available with which to make a ...

comparison with 1990, and it is not possible to estimate the likely trend as there have been significant changes in the manner in which waste is dealt with in some industries, such as in construction and demolition. [data, UK, 1997/8]

Change since Household wastethe Strategy: Between 1997/8 and 2000/1, the amount of household

waste generated that was not recycled or composted increased ✘

from 435 to 447 kilograms per person or three per cent.[data, Eng, 1997/8-2000/1]

All waste arisings and managementThere are currently no data since the Strategy for all controlled waste streams with which to make an ...

assessment. New data are expected in 2004.

3.125 Owing to the lack of new data on all controlled waste arisings, a separate assessment hasbeen made for household waste, which accounts for about a sixth of the total. Although theamount of household waste that was not recycled or composted has increased, there hasbeen significant improvement in the proportion of household waste that is recycled orcomposted, rising from 2.6 per cent of the total in 1991/2 to 11.2 per cent in 2000/1.

3.126 Tackling our growing mountain of waste is one of the biggest environmental challenges weface.We need to reduce the waste we generate, while at the same time ensuring the safedisposal of wastes for which efficient re-use, recycling or recovery solutions have not yetbeen found. In the long term, decoupling the link between waste growth and economicgrowth will require concerted action from governments, local authorities, businesses, andindividuals.

Targets in the 2000 Waste Strategy

To recover value from 45 per cent of municipal waste and to recycle 30 per cent of householdwaste by 2010.To reduce landfill for industrial and commercial waste to 85 per cent of the1998 level by 2005.


Defra: Enable 25 per cent of household waste to be recycled or composted by 2005-6.


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3.127 Following the Waste Summit in November 2001, the Cabinet Office Strategy Unit has beenlooking at what additional measures we may need to meet our obligations under the LandfillDirective. Previous annual reports have included, in the graph showing all controlled wastearisings, estimates for 2010 based on the existing measures within the Waste Strategy.Estimates have not been included this year pending the results of the Strategy Unit’s review.

3.128 Defra has strengthened its support for local authority waste minimisation and recycling,including through the ring-fenced fund of £140 million. Under a voluntary agreement, the UKnewspaper industry has succeeded in boosting the recycled content of their output to over60 per cent.They have exceeded their target for 2001, and are on track to meet the 70 percent target for 2006. For packaging waste, the UK achieved a recovery rate of 47.9 per centin 2001, compared with 33.4 per cent in 1998 and a recycling rate of 42 per cent in 2001, asignificant increase on the 1998 rate of 28.9 per cent.

3.129 Action to improve resource efficiency and waste management will be crucial in takingforward the work on sustainable production and consumption proposed at WSSD (seeHeadline Indicator 1). For this to succeed, action is required at all levels.The following casestudies give some examples of the different work being carried out across the UK.

Green Alliance waste indicators

For two years, Green Alliance, in consultation with waste management companies,researched and refined a set of performance indicators that could be applied acrossthe waste sector.The indicators were launched in November 2001, with thepublication of ‘Indicating Right’, and since then over half the UK’s waste industry havesigned up.

The indicators cover all the major environmental impacts of waste management, andrepresent a big step forward in improving the environmental performance, andtransparency, of the waste sector.The Environmental Services Association, therepresentative body for the industry, has ‘unanimously endorsed’ the indicators.

For further information visit www.green-alliance.org.uk/WasteIndicators.htm

“I see these indicators as being key to tackling the UK’s growing waste problem ... togetherwith specific targets, the indicators are an effective means of driving improvements inperformance and the environment.”

Chief Executive of the Environment Agency, Barbara Young, November 2001

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Archway School

Archway School took part in the ‘Action on School ’ project for secondary schools.Global Action Plan trained an Action Team consisting of students, teachers, caretakingand kitchen staff and governors, plus the local council’s recycling officer.

Global Action Plan helped them to carry out their first audit.A campaign then tookplace to reduce the amount of rubbish thrown away.This consisted of a launch event,poster campaigns, the introduction of recycling facilities, and a student visit to a landfillsite.The second audit was carried out five months later and showed a massivereduction of 65 per cent, saving them £1,800 on their annual waste-collection bill.

Archway School was awarded its United Nations certificate, followed by a celebrationevent.Around 100 students have been directly involved in the programme and manymore have been involved through curriculum work.

For further information visit www.globalactionplan.org.uk

British Telecommunications (BT) waste management

The production and correct disposal of waste from operations are key environmentalissues for BT. In 2001/2 the company produced more than 90,000 tonnes of waste; tomaintain the ISO 14001 certification, it is essential to have efficient, effective andenvironmentally friendly waste management systems.

A major new initiative introduced this year, Materials Recycling Facilities (MRFs), hashelped to significantly increase the amount of waste recycled for some of the wastestreams.At an MRF site, general waste is sorted at a waste station before being sentto landfill.Any items which can be recycled (such as cardboard, metals, uncontaminatedplastics etc) are taken out and only the remainder goes to landfill.

For example, non-lead acid battery recycling has increased by 150 per cent andcardboard recycling increased by 114 per cent to 2,250 tonnes. Eight-hundred andthirty-two tonnes of PC equipment for recycling was also recovered, the amount ofwaste sent to landfill was reduced by 22.5 per cent and the total amount of wasterecycled was increased to 21 per cent.The income from recycling was £4.1 million.That together with landfill tax savings reduced the waste disposal costs by over50 per cent.

For further information visit www.bt.com/betterworld


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Further work on indicators

3.130 In the Strategy for sustainable development for the UK, the Government envisaged a fullreview of both the Strategy and all of the indicators in ‘Quality of life counts’ after five years.We therefore intend to review and produce a revised set of both the Headline Indicatorsand the wider core set of 150 indicators.The review, which will commence soon, will includecoverage, presentation, interpretation, assessment and relevance to sustainable developmentfor all the indicators, and will involve consultation with a wide range of stakeholders.


People’s attitudes to environmental issues15

● Virtually all respondents had heard of climate change, global warming, or the greenhouse effect.

● Most people were at least fairly convinced that climate change is happening.

● Half of the people thought that climate change was a very important headline quality of lifeissue; a further third thought it was fairly important.

● Climate change, or one of its potential effects, was the second most common environmentalconcern for the future.

● Three out of four respondents thought air quality was a very important headline quality of lifeissue.

● Concern has increased about future air pollution.

● Road traffic was regarded as fairly or very important, as a headline quality of life issue, by nineout of ten people.

● Over half of all respondents were very worried about urban traffic exhaust fumes and urbansmog. Over two fifths were very worried about traffic congestion.

● Six out of ten people thought that river water quality was a very important headline quality oflife issue.

● Over half of all respondents were very worried about pollution in rivers, bathing waters andbeaches.

● Water pollution was regarded as an issue of concern for the future.

● Half of the people thought that wildlife was a very important headline quality of life issue.

● Half of all respondents were very worried about loss of wildlife or habitats.

● More than half of all respondents encouraged wildlife in their gardens or regularly avoided usingpesticides.

● Eight out of ten respondents were fairly or very worried about the loss of Green Belt land.

● Eighty-five per cent of respondents either strongly supported or slightly supported legislation torestrict building on greenfield sites.

● Three in five respondents thought waste disposal and recycling was very important to qualityof life.

● Three quarters of respondents were fairly or very worried about household waste disposal,including a third that were very worried.

● Inadequate recycling facilities was cited as reasons for not recycling.


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3.131 As part of the indicator development process, several indicators that were ‘to be developed’at the time of the 1999 report have now had a data source identified or developed.

3.132 For example:

● Quality of life counts (core indicator) – K7: Access to local green space: In 2001, 84 percent of respondents perceived they could easily access local green space or countryside.

● Quality of life counts (core indicator) – S8: Access to the countryside: In 2001 80 per centof survey respondents had visited the countryside for enjoyment in the preceding 12months.

● Quality of life counts (core indicator) – C9: Low Pay: In 2001 1.3 per cent of people inwork aged over 18 were earning less than the minimum wage – down from 6.4 per centin 1998.

3.133 The presentation of the Headline Indicators has been improved on the sustainabledevelopment website, and is updated when new data become available. A ‘Quality of LifeBarometer’ leaflet summarising the latest position in the headline indicators has been updatedseveral times during the year, and Regional Quality of Life Counts16 – regional versions of theheadline indicators – have been updated and published.

3.134 The full results of the Survey of public attitudes to quality of life and to the environment – 200117

were published in October 2002, providing an insight into people’s attitudes and behaviourregarding sustainable development issues. Some of the results have been included in thepreceding Headline Indicator sections.

3.135 The Audit Commission has produced and piloted a set of local quality of life performanceindicators18 to assist local authorities in monitoring progress towards sustainable developmentin their areas.The indicators were strongly influenced by the menu of Local quality of lifecounts19 produced jointly by the Central Local (government) Information Partnership (CLIP)Task Force on Sustainable Development.

3.136 A Government response20 to an Environmental Audit Committee report on the 2001Headline Indicators was published on 6 November 2002, and reinforced the Government’scommitment to reporting progress towards sustainable development, particularly through aset of Headline Indicators.

3.137 The UK has continued to play an active role in the development of a set of indicators tomonitor sustainable development across the European Union.

16 Regional quality of life counts – 2001 (2nd Edition), Defra 2002


18 Using Quality of Life Indicators, Audit Commission 2002 (www.audit-commission.gov.uk)

19 Local quality of life counts, DETR 2000

20 The Government’s Response to the Environmental Audit Committee Fourth Report (2001-02): Measuringthe Quality of Life:The 2001 Sustainable Development Headline Indicators,TSO 2002


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Geographical coverage

3.138 The Headline Indicators use data for the whole of the UK, wherever possible. However insome instances data are not available for all the constituent countries of the UK, on acomparable basis, or for the full period required, or at all.To avoid overly complicating theoverview of progress provided by Headline Indicators the most appropriate combination ofconsistent data have been used, which allows for clear explanations of the ‘traffic light’assessments and graph presentations.

3.139 The devolved administrations have, in some cases different policies and targets, or indeedlegal bases.Their data collection mechanisms have, therefore, rightly been established tocollect the relevant information with which to monitor their own progress that may differfrom that in other countries in the UK.

3.140 The National Assembly for Wales published its own set of sustainable development indicatorsSustainable development indicators for Wales21 in March 2002 and Scotland’s sustainabledevelopment indicators were published in April 2002 in ‘Meeting the Needs…Priorities, Actionsand Targets for sustainable development in Scotland’22.The Headline Indicators produced forWales include most but not all of the UK Government’s Headline Indicators, plus someothers of particular relevance to Wales.

3.141 In Northern Ireland, the results of a consultation on a sustainable development strategy arebeing evaluated, and this will begin the process of dialogue on an appropriate set ofmonitoring indicators for Northern Ireland.

3.142 The devolved administrations do take comparability with other parts of the UK into accountwhen developing their own sets of indicators, but they must also reflect their own particularneeds.

21 www.wales.gov.uk/keypubstatisticsforwalesheadline/content/sustainable/2002/hdw200203274-e.htm

22 www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/rural/mtnsd-00.aspt.htm

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The release of Headline Indicators in 2003 will follow a similar pattern to 2002(see Table 3.2)

Acronyms of policy departments used in this chapter

CPS: Crown Prosecution Service

DETR: former Department of the Environment,Transport and the Regions

Defra: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

DTLR: former Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions

DWP: Department for Work and Pensions

DfES: Department for Education and Skills

DH: Department of Health

DfT: Department for Transport

DTI: Department of Trade and Industry

FCO: Foreign and Commonwealth Office

HO: Home Office

HMT: Her Majesty’s Treasury

LCD: Lord Chancellor’s Department

ODPM: Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

Table 3.2: 2002 timetable of Headline Indicator releases

Headline indicator Month Department orother provider

H1 Economic growth (GDP) March and September ONS

H2 Investment (total) March and September ONS

H3 Employment September DWP/ONS

H4 Poverty and social exclusion September DWP/ONS

H5 Education July DfES

H6 Health August (next due in 2004) ONS/DH

H7 Housing – conditions December ODPM

H8 Crime July HO

H9 Climate change March Defra/DTI/NETCEN

H10 Air quality – provisional January Defra– final May Defra

H11 Road traffic – provisional February DfT– final May DfT

H12 Water quality October Defra

H13 Wildlife (wild bird populations) No data released in 2002. Defra/BTO/RSPBNext due in December 2003

H14 Land use May ODPM

H15 Waste – household waste August Defra– all waste arisings Due in 2004


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CHAPTER FOUR

International Co-operationand Development

4.1 We live in an increasingly interdependent world. Sustainable development in the UK cannotbe considered in isolation from sustainable development elsewhere. Our lifestyles and policieshave an impact on the rest of the world.We have a moral duty to help the poorest peoplein the world as we move towards a new global society. Allowing international inequalities andenvironmental degradation to grow could jeopardise social stability and sustainabledevelopment for us all.

Women’s literacy and numeracy class in the village of Khabasdih,West Bengal (Howard Davies, DFID, 1997)


We must contribute to global sustainable development, in particular for those in extremepoverty.

International Co-operation and Development

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4.2 The Strategy for sustainable development for the UK states that to achieve sustainabledevelopment internationally we need to:

● work with others to eliminate global poverty and raise living standards in developingcountries;

● work with others to tackle global pressures on the environment and resources;

● promote a fair and open trade system which respects the environment; and

● strengthen the place of sustainable development in international organisations.

4.3 While much of the focus for international sustainable development in 2002 was placed onthe World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, its outcomesshould be seen not as the watershed agreement that Rio was, but as part of a continuum ofrecent conferences. Recently, an international process has been unfolding marked by threekey summits: the Doha (4th) World Trade Organisation meeting (which took place inNovember 2001), Financing for Development in Monterrey and WSSD.The G8 also achievedsome important milestones at its Summit in Canada, and the First Meeting of Parties to theAarhus Convention brought into operation the world’s first international convention aimed atthe implementation of Rio Principle 10.The UK played a leading role in all of these.

4.4 The following looks at some of the ways the UK has been working to achieve the abovegoals in 2002 through these processes. If delivered, the agreements reached at the MillenniumSummit, particularly the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Financing for Developmentin Monterrey, the Doha Ministerial Trade Talks and the World Summit on SustainableDevelopment all mark significant steps for global sustainable development.

Tackling global poverty

4.5 The UK’s international development programme is framed by the Millennium DevelopmentGoals and associated targets against which progress can be measured.These were adoptedby the United Nations at the Millennium Summit in 2000 building on the former InternationalDevelopment Targets.

4.6 During 2002 the UK committed to increase its aid budget.This will result in a rise from 0.26per cent of gross national income (GNI) in 1997 to 0.32 per cent in 2001, and an increase to0.41 per cent of GNI by 2005/6. Further progress was made in improving the effectiveness ofaid by moving away from project support to more strategic co-operation framed withinpoverty reduction strategies drawn up by developing countries themselves.

4.7 The UK was instrumental in the successful replenishment of the Global Environmental Facility(GEF), the main financial mechanism for global environmental issues such as climate change,biodiversity and bio-safety, international waters, phasing out of ozone depleting substancesand programmes to deal with persistent organic pollutants, desertification and landdegradation.The replenishment of the GEF for the period 2002 to 2006 was completed inAugust and resulted in agreement to provide $2.9 billion in total (including investmentincome of $130 million and carry over of $570 million).The UK agreed to provide anadditional voluntary £15 million as a signal of our commitment to dealing with globalenvironmental issues, the effects of which are felt disproportionately by developing countries.The UK is now the fourth largest donor to the GEF.


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4.8 The UK Government provided support to developing countries in the formulation of theirown national strategies for sustainable development. Policy and implementation guidance wasprovided in cooperation with several other development agencies and institutions through,firstly the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and then theUnited Nations. Supportive publications were made available as part of the WSSDpreparations.

Promoting a fair and open trade system

4.9 Trade can play a major role in the promotion of economic development and the alleviationof poverty. At the Doha (4th) World Trade Organisation (WTO) meeting trade ministerspromised to put developing countries at the heart of WTO negotiations.This was a significantadvance in the quest for a more development-focused system of international trade rules.The Doha meeting heralded a ‘development round’ of negotiations within the WTO on tradeand related issues.

4.10 Negotiations are underway in the Special Session of the WTO Committee on Trade andEnvironment.The deadline for completion of negotiations is 31 December 2004.The EU hassubmitted papers that propose a ‘presumption of conformity’ with WTO rules for specific tradeobligations arising from Multilateral Environment Agreements (MEAs), and enhanced observerstatus for MEA Secretariats within the WTO negotiations.The EU has also proposed thattariff reductions for environmentally beneficial goods should be greater than the average tariffreductions to be agreed for non-agricultural products.This will have the benefit of increasingtrade in such goods and promoting technology transfer to developing countries.

4.11 Similarly, negotiations to give effect to the Doha commitments on agriculture are beingcarried forward in Special Sessions of the WTO Committee on Agriculture.These sessionshave covered the three central pillars of export competition, market access and domesticsupport as well as related issues of special and differential treatment for developing countriesand non-trade concerns. A paper will be produced with a view to reaching agreement onmodalities for a new Agriculture Agreement in the first quarter of 2003.

Financing for Development

4.12 The UN Conference on Financing for Development was held in Monterrey in March. Itrecognised the need to mobilise all sources of finance – savings, foreign direct investment,export earnings, debt relief and aid towards the eradication of poverty and sustainabledevelopment.The Conference was successful in building a stronger international consensusabout the measures needed to generate resources to meet the Millennium DevelopmentGoals. Monterrey also achieved very significant results on aid volumes.The EU will increasetheir average overseas development assistance/Gross National Income ratio from its currentlevel of 0.33 per cent to 0.39 per cent in 2006 (including the UK budget rising to 0.4 percent by that date).This will mean an extra $7 billion of aid annually by 2006, a figure that willcontinue to rise with inflation and economic growth.

4.13 The UK amongst others supported the package of further commitments announced bythe EU:

● to take concrete steps to harmonise donor procedures by 2004;

● to increase aid for trade-related capacity building;

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● to press for a stronger developing country voice in international economic decisionmaking;

● to hold discussions on the scope for further aid untying;

● to promote a process for identifying global public goods;

● to consider the case for innovative sources of financing; and

● to give priority to ensuring debt sustainability.

4.14 The UK will be working to build on the commitments in the Monterrey Consensus. On aidvolume, we will be working within the EU to clarify individual Member States’ responsibilitiesto ensure that the target EU average is met, and pressing other donors to encourage themto follow the EU and US in significantly increasing their overseas development assistancelevels.The UK will continue to press the aid effectiveness agenda in the EU (particularly onuntying aid), the OECD Development Assistance Committee and the G8.

G8 Summit

4.15 The 2002 G8 Summit took place in Kananaskis, Canada, in June.The main output was the G8Africa Action Plan, the G8’s response to the New Partnership for Africa’s Development(NEPAD).The Plan includes commitments on: promoting peace and security in Africa;spending half the additional aid promised at Monterrey on Africa; providing up to $1 billionextra funding for debt relief; support for countries with credible plans to achieve universalprimary education; further work on differential pricing for pharmaceuticals and providing theresources to eliminate polio by 2005.

4.16 In his statement to the Commons after the Summit, the Prime Minister undertook that theUK would contribute its share of the additional resources required to implement the Plan;and said, “we expect UK bilateral spending on Africa to rise from around £650 million a year nowto £1 billion by 2006”.

World Summit on Sustainable Development

4.17 The World Summit on Sustainable Development, held in Johannesburg from the 26th Augustto 4th September 2002, marked the tenth anniversary of the ground-breaking Rio EarthSummit.The UN General Assembly mandated the Summit to assess progress on interrelatedeconomic, environmental and social issues, identify gaps and new challenges (such asglobalisation) since Rio, and agree action-orientated measures to deliver real improvements inquality of life for people around the world.

“We know the problems. A child in Africa dies every three seconds from famine,disease or conflict.We know that if climate change is not stopped, all parts of theworld will suffer. Some will even be destroyed, and we know the solution –sustainable development. So the issue for this summit is the political will…..Rio ofcourse did not deliver everything, neither will Johannesburg, no summit can, butthis summit can and will make our world change for the better…”

Prime Minister,Tony Blair, September 2002


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Global preparations

4.18 Such a complex and wide-ranging agenda required plenty of preparation to ensure that theSummit was successful. During the 18 months prior to the Summit, global preparatorymeetings for the Summit were held in New York and at Ministerial level in Bali, Indonesia, toset the agenda for the Summit and begin negotiating the final outcomes, which Heads ofGovernment endorsed at Johannesburg itself.

4.19 Early consensus was reached that negotiations should focus on commitment to global actionrather than words, to deliver the Rio Summit’s Agenda 21 and the Millennium DevelopmentGoals, building on – but not renegotiating – recent agreements made at Doha andMonterrey. For further information visit www.johannesburgsummit.org

UK preparations

4.20 The UK Government’s strategy and priority objectives were developed, co-ordinated andagreed through a Cabinet Committee, with Ministers from a wide range of departmentsunder the chairmanship of the Deputy Prime Minister.

4.21 Stakeholder involvement in preparations was important to the Government. A stakeholdercommunications group was set up and Defra supported Stakeholder Forum and theDevelopment and Environment Group to raise awareness and encourage participationamongst civil society and both environment and international development-focused Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).Throughout the following section there are arange of case-studies exemplifying the different ways in which stakeholders, of all ages, wereengaged in WSSD.

Our World

The ‘Our World’ project, a joint initiative between the World Wide Fund for Nature(WWF) and government (Defra, DfES and the devolved administrations), offeredyoung people around the UK the opportunity to add their voices to the debates onenvironment and poverty in the lead up to the World Summit. Four Earth Championswere selected following the schools challenge, after their original thinking onsustainable development issues won them acclaim.Tim Green from England, StephanieWiseman from Scotland, Peter Burton from Northern Ireland and Rhys Davies fromWales attended the Summit as part of the non-official UK delegation to represent theviews of young people. In the lead-up to the Summit the Champions, aged betweenseven and nine, met the Prime Minister and Defra’s Secretary of State MargaretBeckett to discuss issues arising from the ‘Our World’ School debates.They also playedan active role in the Summit, interviewing members of the delegation, reporting backto the UK via the WWF website and meeting with young people from South Africa.

“The voices of young people will be heard loud and clear in Johannesburg and I want them toknow now they ARE important.They are the future.We want to make the world a better placefor them and for generations to come. It’s up to us all to make it work and to make it happen.”

Secretary of State for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, Margaret Beckett, June 2002.

For further information visit www.wwflearning.co.uk/ourworld/

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4.22 The Government website had a dedicated WSSD section providing information on theSummit. Between May and September the site received well over 3 million ‘hits’.Theinformation will still be accessible as an archive after the Summit. For further information visitwww.sustainable-development.gov.uk

4.23 ‘Reaching the Summit – Johannesburg, the UK and Sustainable Development’ was published bythe Government to inform the domestic audience about WSSD, highlighting the global/locallinks through case studies which demonstrate UK activity since Rio in both the UK andoverseas.

4.24 The carbon emissions caused by the delegation’s travel to and attendance at the Summitwere offset by participating in the ‘Johannesburg Climate Legacy Project’.This project will fundsustainable development projects in South Africa to deliver both positive benefits to localpeople as well as offsetting greenhouse gas emission reductions. For further information visitwww.climatelegacy.org

In Johannesburg

4.25 The Summit was attended by over 180 countries.The Prime Minister was the first worldleader to commit to attending, and was joined by over 100 other national leaders. MargaretBeckett led negotiations for the UK.The Deputy Prime Minister, Clare Short, Michael Meacherand the leaders of the devolved administrations also attended. Strong contingents werepresent from parliament, local government, business and NGOs, and all these stakeholdergroups were represented on the UK delegation.

Birmingham City Council

The UK United Nations Environment Committee asked Birmingham, Johannesburg’spartner city, to join in their young people’s initiative – ‘Your Wake up Call’ – for youngpeople to meet the politicians at the World Summit and present their views on howto make the planet a more sustainable place to live.

A four day conference was held in Birmingham in April 2002, where projects weredeveloped for presentation to the world leaders in Johannesburg. 100 young 14-18year olds from UK environmental charities and schools, and 25 fromJohannesburg/Soweto came together for workshops, and wrote newspaper articlesand reports on how to make the planet a better place to live.

In Johannesburg the young people met their South African colleagues to develop theseenvironmental ideas, at St John’s College in Houghton.They saw at first hand thesocial, economic and environmental conditions of the city.This was a learningexperience for the British and South African teenagers alike.

As well as developing the key role of young people in the Summit, Birmingham washost to a number of national events which took place leading up to the Summit.

For further information visit www.birmingham.gov.uk


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Specific outcomes

4. 26 Given the wide-ranging nature of the issues under discussion and the different viewpoints,negotiations were tough.The UK delegation worked round the clock to achieve a successfuloutcome.There were some disappointments but taken in aggregate the outcomes representa significant step forwards.The Summit produced:

● a statement by world leaders underlining their commitment to global sustainabledevelopment;

UNED-UK Committee

UNED-UK Committee, funded by Defra, took the lead in facilitating UK multi-stakeholder civil society input into the World Summit on Sustainable Development.

The national multi-stakeholder dialogue process has been running since July 2000,reaching more than 500 organisations and 1,000 individuals. Dialogues have focusedaround six thematic areas, as identified by the stakeholders themselves: Biodiversityand Natural Resources Conservation, Education for Sustainable Development, Energyand Climate Change, Population and Sustainability, Sustainable Cities and Communities,Sustainable Production and Consumption. Uniquely the dialogues provided a neutralspace in which a broad representation of the Agenda 21 Major Groups could meet,and develop common positions and perspectives. Consensus was sought on nationaland international policy statements and on where action should be taken to progresssustainable development at the national and international level.

UNED-UK facilitated UK civil society input into the Preparatory meetings, and theSummit itself, through representation at the meetings, networking, and the activelobbying of governments on the outcomes of the dialogues.The multi-stakeholderprocess provided members of UK civil society with a voice at the international levelthat they would otherwise have not had, it also proved an effective mechanism fordriving priority issues for the UK further up the Summit agenda. Further to this,UNED-UK was able to report back on, and translate the international process to UKstakeholders, enabling them to understand the dynamics of the Summit process andtherefore more effectively contribute to it.

On coming back from the Summit, UNED-UK has provided stakeholders with analysisof the outcomes of the Summit in general and as they relate to each thematic area.Further to this a full report on the Summit process will be provided.The dialoguegroups continue to meet, with a focus on implementation and bringing Johannesburghome.To facilitate this, discussions around priority areas for the UK, and the definitionof process and mechanisms are currently taking place, which will hopefully assist theGovernment in delivering on their commitments through collaborative working andconsultation with UK civil society. For further information visit www.unedforum.org

“UNED-UK Committee’s Multi-stakeholder Dialogue process has been an outstandingachievement. It has genuinely involved ordinary citizens in the process of planning for ourglobal future, something normally left to the high level politicians.The process should be amodel for the involvement of people in decision making on important global issues at alllevels of regional, national and international Government.”

Dr Norma Bubier, Durrell Institute and Pro Narua, 2002

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● a Plan of Implementation, which was the main focus of negotiations, setting out thepriority actions needed to achieve global sustainable development; and

● a wide range of partnerships (known as ‘Type 2 partnerships’) for action involvinggovernments, businesses, NGOs and other stakeholders and focused on the Plan ofImplementation.

4.27 These outcomes provide much to build on. Commitment and resources at national, EU andUN level will be required to ensure effective follow-up. Defra is leading interdepartmentalwork to define plans for UK actions at home and abroad to deliver the commitments madeat Johannesburg.The full scope of the agreements reached is too broad to report in detailhere but for the UK the key advances which will galvanise action and set standards are setout below.

4.28 The Summit forged close links between development and environment policy, in the serviceof sustainable development. Agreements on poverty eradication highlight the importanceof good environmental and natural resource management to sustainable livelihoods and theMillennium Development Goals (MDGs). A paper entitled ‘Linking Poverty Reduction andEnvironmental Management: Policy Challenges and Opportunities’ was prepared by DFID incooperation with the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)and the European Commission.This focused on ways to reduce poverty and sustain growthby improving environmental management. It drew out the links between poverty and theenvironment and sought to demonstrate that sound and equitable management of theenvironment is integral to achieving the MDGs.

4.29 As well as reaffirming the importance of delivering the existing MDGs and reinforcing theimportance of the Monterrey Consensus on Financing for Development, the Summit agreednew commitments on access to water, sanitation and energy:

● Sanitation – a new target to halve by 2015 the proportion of people living without basicsanitation, adding to the MDGs.This should save millions of lives in developing countries,and support existing goals on safe drinking water and health.

● Water – commitment to a programme of actions to help meet the new sanitation targetand the associated MDG on safe water. Countries should also develop integrated waterresource management and water efficiency plans by 2005.

● Energy – agreement to take joint actions to provide reliable and affordable energy forthe poor, to underpin achievement of the MDGs.

4.30 Negotiations on trade were particularly difficult as countries had differing expectations onwhat WSSD could achieve.Without prejudging the outcomes of the next trade Round andthe balance of commitments in the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) the final agreementrecognises the significance of international trade for the wider sustainable development agendaand reinforces the mutual supportiveness of the multilateral trading system and MultilateralEnvironmental Agreements.The outcome reflects the forceful emphasis placed on deliveringthe DDA, particularly commitments on market access and subsidy reform.

4.31 For industrialised countries, a priority will be to elaborate on the agreement to develop aglobal framework for action programmes to make patterns of consumption andproduction more sustainable, and to bring development within the carrying capacity ofecosystems.Work should focus on de-coupling economic growth from environmentaldegradation. Industrialised countries are tasked with leading the way.


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4.32 The current trend in natural resources degradation should be reversed as soon aspossible by implementing strategies to protect ecosystems and achieving integratedmanagement of land, water and living resources.

4.33 The pace of globalisation since Rio was recognised as a new challenge, offering bothopportunities and risks for sustainable development. In this context, corporate socialresponsibility should be actively encouraged and promoted, including through the fulldevelopment and effective implementation of intergovernmental agreements and measures,international initiatives, private-public partnerships and appropriate national regulations.

4.34 Countries agreed to significantly reduce the current rate of loss of biodiversity by 2010.Action will include strengthening efforts to control invasive alien species, one of the maincauses of biodiversity loss, promoting the development and implementation of the ecosystemapproach, which is a strategy for the integrated management of land, water and livingresources, and the integration of biodiversity objectives into all policy areas. As part of the UKcontribution to global efforts to reduce biodiversity loss, the Prime Minister announced anincrease of £7 million over the next three years in the budget for the Darwin Initiative.Thisprogramme puts UK expertise together with local partners to improve the conservation andsustainable use of biodiversity in countries rich in biodiversity but poor in resources.

4.35 Marine protection and fisheries figured heavily at the Summit: we have a new target torestore depleted fishstocks urgently and where possible by 2015, with enhanced actionagainst illegal fishing. Governments agreed to establish networks of Marine Protected Areasby 2012 and produce a new Global Marine Assessment by 2004.

4.36 Despite strong resistance, the Summit agreed to urgently and substantially increase theglobal share of renewable energy sources, recognising the role of national and regionaltargets, and regularly evaluate available data to review progress. At the same time we shouldbe developing advanced, cleaner, and more efficient energy technologies and taking action,where appropriate, to phase out energy subsidies that inhibit sustainable development. AtJohannesburg, the UK Government, along with around 60 other countries, joined the EU in acommitment to set clear and ambitious time bound national targets for renewable energyand to work together to establish regional and where possible global targets.Thiscommitment is enshrined in the declaration ‘The way forward on renewable energy’.

4.37 A new target tasks nations to use and produce chemicals in ways that lead to theminimisation of significant adverse effects of human health and the environment by 2020 andhelp developing countries deal with chemicals management and hazardous wastes.

4.38 Existing commitments on human rights and good national governance were reconfirmed as acornerstone of sustainable development, with expansion at the Summit of the Riocommitments on public participation and access to justice.

4.39 The Summit also agreed to strengthen the way the United Nations deals with sustainabledevelopment issues. UN agencies and other bodies should work together on sustainabledevelopment.The outcomes of Monterrey and Johannesburg should be followed up in a co-ordinated manner. Sustainable development should be mainstreamed into UN and otherinternational institutions.

4.40 The UK and the EU would have preferred harder formulation of a number of the targetsagreed, particularly on biodiversity, but this was not possible, despite strong pressure by theUK and EU. A target on halting and reversing the trend in loss of natural or environmental

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resources, reconfirming in a global forum other targets such as the OECD target would havegiven a strong message. Similarly, the UK and EU were pushing for concrete targets onincreasing renewable energy use – either at national or global level.

4.41 As well as the formal ‘Johannesburg Commitment’, the Summit gave momentum to sustainabledevelopment issues more generally and precipitated unprecedented media attention.

Partnerships

4.42 One of the most important outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Developmentwas the large number of partnerships that were developed between governments and civilsociety, including business and NGOs.

4.43 In the UK it has long been understood that governments alone cannot deliver sustainabledevelopment; that mobilising the resources, skills and energies of others is vital. However,formal recognition of this within the United Nations, an intergovernmental body, is a majorstep forward.

“Perhaps the most innovative feature of the Summit was the emphasis onpartnerships between governments, civil society and business. Some criticisedbusiness involvement, but partnerships are essential if we are to achieve thetargets we’ve set ourselves – for example, to help improve access to clean waterand energy. Governments can’t deliver these services on their own, thoughdevelopment co-operation can help establish the necessary regulatory frameworkfor business to deliver what is required.”

Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs,Margaret Beckett, September 2002

Featuring the Future – Raising media interest in theWorld Summit for Sustainable Development

This project, a partnership between FUTERRA and the Government, sought to betterco-ordinate publicity, media outreach, and other communication around the WSSD.FUTERRA and the Government identified many organisations developingcommunications initiatives and media briefings for the period of the Summit andbeyond.The Featuring the Future project found media channels for these initiatives.

Directory of Stories for WSSD – A fully searchable database of UK organisationsundertaking communications activities for WSSD was created. Hosted onwww.sustainable-development.gov.uk the Directory had over 200 organisationalprofiles by the time WSSD commenced. Journalists and other interested parties usedthe database to find stories, ideas and interviewees for Summit articles.

Featuring the Future Event – held in the new Greater London Authority building,this event had a unique casual format for ‘matchmaking’ media and stakeholders. Defraand other stakeholders met with national and regional media (print, broadcast and on-line) to raise the profile of the World Summit for Sustainable Development.

For further information visit www.futerracom.org


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4.44 These partnerships are not a substitute for strong leadership and commitment bygovernments. However, they are an important vehicle for implementation involving allrelevant actors.

4.45 Over 300 partnerships were launched at the Summit, representing considerable additionalfinancial, technical and human resources towards achieving sustainable development.Thisincludes the five sectoral initiatives launched by the Prime Minister in March 2001, in financialservices, water and sanitation, forestry, energy, and tourism, and the European Unionpartnerships on water and energy, among others.

4.46 We and all of our partners in these initiatives are committed to ensuring that they deliverreal measurable progress on the ground, significantly improving the quality of life of peoplearound the world.

CETISA partnership

The overall objective of the CETISA partnership (which is being led by the RoyalInstitute of International Affairs, RIIA) is to bring together universities, researchorganisations and governments from Africa and other countries, along with inter-governmental organisations, businesses and civil society groups to design and establisha network of sectorally-focused, regional Centres of Excellence for TechnologicalInnovation for Sustainability in Africa (CETISA).

Following the launch of the CETISA partnership at WSSD, RIIA plans to take theprocess of developing the proposals for the Centres of Excellence forward through aseries of three high-level international workshops which will be held in the first three-quarters of 2003.The workshops will bring African stakeholders from governments,academia, the private sector and civil society together with experts and donors fromthe rest of the world for the purpose of developing detailed proposals for establishingcentres of excellence for technological innovation to meet Africa’s freshwater andenergy needs.

Sustainable Tourism Initiative

Tourism can bring real economic gains. But there are opportunities to increase thebenefit to local communities and limit adverse impacts on the environment.TheSustainable Tourism Initiative (STI) aims to create a step-change in the implementationof sustainable tourism practices by the UK outbound tourism industry and to buildfoundations for continual improvement and engagement. Over forty organisations areengaged in the initiative: tour operators, including 90 per cent of the outboundpackage tourist industry, NGOs and government.The STI has also established apartnership with the Tour Operators Initiative supported by the United NationsEnvironment Programme (UNEP).This embraces 25 tour operators in European andother countries.A comprehensive action plan for the STI has been developed andendorsed by stakeholders.This action plan focuses on work with destinations toensure that tourism expenditure leads to sustainable livelihoods, while systematicwork with supply chain partners limits resource consumption, protects the naturalenvironment and promotes the transfer of leading edge technology. Structuredcommunication programmes will promote sustainable behaviour by tourists.

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The First Meeting of Parties to the Aarhus Convention

4.47 The first Meeting of Parties to the Aarhus Convention – the United Nations (UN/ECE)convention on access to information, public participation in decision-making and access tojustice in environmental matters – was held in October 2002. UK Environment MinisterMichael Meacher was a keynote speaker at the event.

4.48 The UK has played an important role in successfully taking the Aarhus Convention forward toits First Meeting of Parties, including development of the Convention’s financial arrangementsand reporting requirements. Production of a Europe-wide handbook on Access to Justice wasalso supported by the UK.The First Meeting of Parties to the Convention adopted innovativeRules of Procedure reflecting the special status of civil society under the Convention and aCompliance Mechanism which breaks entirely new ground, providing a fully independentcompliance committee that may be approached by members of the public.

“We are all committed to the Aarhus Convention. We all want to make Aarhuswork. We know experts do not always have all answers. The public often havelocal knowledge and experience which can contribute to better decisions. Theyalso often have a more long term interest in the outcome of decisions which canaffect their neighbourhood and lives of their children and their children’schildren.”

Minister for Environment, Michael Meacher, October 2002

The Partnership for Principle 10

The UK has signed up to PP10 which aims to implement Rio Principle 10 andendorses the provisions of the Aarhus Convention.This commitment strengthensexisting UK commitments:

● to make new Environmental Information Regulations (EIRs) as soon as possible.We have just completed consultations on new draft Regulations;

● to ratify the Aarhus Convention.This means ensuring that all parts of the UK meetthe requirements of the three pillars of the Convention; and

● continuing to play a role in negotiations within the Aarhus Convention (includingwork on genetically modified organisms and Pollution Release and TransferRegisters), and on work within the EU.

As part of this partnership work, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office will haveresponsibility for helping to roll out the PP10 agenda around the world outside theUNECE region.


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4.49 The First Meeting of Parties signed up to a new work programme.This includes:

● work on developing guidelines for public participation in other international fora;

● a task force on Access to Justice in Environmental Matters;

● a task force on Electronic Tools;

● a working group on genetically modified organisms (GMOs);

● continuing work on Pollution Release and Transfer Registers (PRTRs) to bring in aprotocol at Kiev in spring 2003;

● a working group to explore options on funding; and

● a clearing house mechanism to support the work on embedding access toenvironmental information, public participation and access to justice in the legislation andadministration practices of countries within the UNECE region and to help raiseawareness of rights and responsibilities under the Convention.

For further information visit www.unece.org/env/pp/

Achieving a better quality of life


114 - achieving a better quality of life

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