Whitehall sustainability centre launched

A sustainability centre of excellence is to be established in Whitehall following the publication of a critical report into departmental performance.

The Cabinet Office is to set up a Centre of Expertise for Sustainable Procurement (CESP) and appoint a chief sustainability officer, with both moves announced on Tuesday as the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) published its sixth annual report.

Other measures announced include a green IT programme to be launched in the summer, departmental emissions trading, and low emission vehicles for ministers and civil servants.

By the government's own admission, the watchdog's research into 2006/07 performance showed only a "small improvement" in departments' progress on a range of targets set for 2010.

Early last year, cabinet secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell made the sustainability issue one of his pet projects and earlier this month, he announced the phasing out of bottled water.

But while Whitehall looks as though they will meet and even exceed the 2010 targets for recycling and renewable energy, the SDC’s report highlighted areas of serious concern.

Two-thirds of departments were not on track to meet the goal of reducing CO2 emissions by 12.5 per cent, the report found, while emissions from road travel had increased by 1.5 per cent. The 2010 target calls for a 15 per cent reduction.

There was also only a 0.1 per cent reduction in the use of water when the 2010 target is a 25 per cent reduction.

Defence estate

And while overall carbon emissions had fallen by four per cent since 1999/2000, the report said that was largely due to the privatisation of defence research agency QinetiQ.

Without that, emissions fell by only 0.7 per cent, and without the huge estate and improvements of the Ministry of Defence, the other departments showed a 22 per cent increase.

Rebecca Willis, vice-chairwoman of the commission, said the government was failing to lead by example and criticised progress for being "far too slow".

While the UK was "making history" with its Climate Change Bill, she said the government had "to take radical action to put its own house in order".

Having looked at procurement practices, the commission found some good work – most of Whitehall uses timber from sustainable sources, for example – but also many bad habits.

Just 46 of 351 new or refurbished buildings underwent environmental assessments, with only 28 of the facilities being passed.

Elsewhere, only 3.1 per cent of catering contracts were covered by a sustainability clause and only half of departments were using the mandatory sustainable procurement scheme.

Promoting excellence

It is hoped that the government's new excellence centre, designed to provide central coordination and guidance, will tackle these pan-Whitehall failings.

Sir Gus, who described the centre as the culmination of 12 months "significant progress", called for the civil service's full commitment to sustainable working.

"We must find new and innovative ways of raising the bar for sustainable working, planning and procurement," he said.

The centre is to be established within the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), a move that has been welcomed by chief executive Nigel Smith.

Sustainability targets would only be met if the government built on best practice and had robust information, he said.

"OGC has a strong track record in achieving quantifiable results across government, based on robust data, clear standard-setting, and close and collaborative working with departments to achieve delivery," he added. "We believe we are now well-placed to lead real change."

A sustainable league table

Elsewhere in the commission's report, the star rating scheme showed the Department of Health leading the pack, while the former Department for Constitutional Affairs languished at the bottom after failing to submit adequate data following its rapid expansion last year.

Almost all departments have improved their star rating since the last report, although the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and HM Revenue and Customs were showing no movement.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office was the only department whose star rating was worsening, largely down to a poor score on the climate change and energy targets, the report said.

The report also commented on departments' failure to make use of the more efficient combined heat and power, the need for "smart-working" to reduce the need for travel and the lack of a government-wide travel policy with air targets to encourage the use of greener modes of transport.

In figures released separately by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs last week, it was revealed that officials had spent more than £2.5m on air travel between April 2006 and December 2007, including more than £500,000 on domestic flights.

The full report, including details about the performance of individual departments, can be found at the Sustainable Development Commission’s website.