EHJ April 2004, pages 120-122
The CIEH is calling for sustainable development to be made a statutory duty. Kim Willis summaries her research findings, which led to the policy decision

The CIEH is calling on government to make sustainable development a statutory duty. It also wants to see central government set targets and incentivise local government. These are just some of the recommendations being fed into the sustainable development task force, which is now looking at ways to produce a "step change" in the delivery of sustainable development in the UK by 2005.

The concept of sustainable development has been kicking around for many years (see box 1, below) - in the case of local government, since the 1992 Rio Earth summit when local agenda 21 was launched. Twelve years on, most local authorities accept that sustainable development is key to modernisation. It is, after all, difficult to argue that economic development should not meet the needs of everyone, nor protect the environment nor use resources efficiently.

But there is growing concern that sustainable development is failing to influence local government decision makers. Research carried out by the CIEH has confirmed that the majority of local authorities are not delivering sustainable development across their services. Despite the efforts of individual officers, councils are also failing to share best practice.

The research findings, outlined here, along with recommendations (see box 2, below), will be given to the sustainable development task force. Chaired by environment minister Margaret Beckett, and made up of ministers and stakeholders, including CIEH chief executive Graham Jukes, the task force is currently reviewing the government's five-year sustainable development plan, described in its Better quality of life document, published in 1999.

SUMMARY OF CIEH RESEARCH

METHODOLOGY

The research consisted of telephone interviews with lead sustainable development officers in 19 local authorities in England and Wales during July and August 2003.

AIM OF THE SURVEY

To look at the capacity of local government to deliver sustainable development by asking the following questions:

Q) Do local authorities have the structural capacity to deliver sustainable development as part of their mainstream decision making process?

FINDINGS

The survey revealed significant gaps between the resources available and the requirements to deliver. Only 50 per cent of local authorities had budgeted for sustainable development, with allocated numbers of staff generally low - just one or two officers in most authorities. However, access to the decision making process was generally good, with most of the lead officers interviewed having some influence at senior management level.

Encouragingly, local authorities do appear to recognise the importance of the organisational structure for integrated policy delivery, a fact recognised by the 53 per cent of authorities interviewed that were in the process of restructuring to improve delivery of cross-cutting policy issues. Nearly 60 per cent of local authorities have made their corporate policy unit responsible for sustainable development. But 11 per cent of respondents felt that, despite this central placement, their council paid only lip service to sustainable development.

Q) Is the policy framework capable of delivering sustainable development as a cross-cutting issue?

FINDINGS

Despite the considerable efforts made to develop cross-cutting policies, their effectiveness in real terms was variable. Although over half the local authorities explicitly referred to sustainable development in their corporate mission statements, it often went no further. Only 32 per cent of respondents believed that sustainable development is successfully applied across policies, while 58 per cent believe it is in theory but not in practice.

Most respondents commented on the difficulty of integrating the environmental, economic and social policy dimensions of sustainable development. In some authorities, the introduction of community strategies had reinvigorated the LA21 process, but in others it had been marginalised or lost. Guidance is needed on how to link these three elements within the community strategy.

Support from elected members is often seen as key to a local authority adopting a successful policy. But only 32 per cent of respondents have elected members championing sustainable development. It was felt that a high level of political will was needed to elevate sustainable development into the strategic decision making process - something which is widely lacking.

Key drivers to success in this area included producing effective guidance on integrating the social, environmental and economic aspects of sustainable development. To ensure that this happens, it was felt that central government must adopt a genuinely joined-up approach by including sustainable development in all national policies and strategies. Without this approach, success will be piecemeal and variable.

Q) What arrangements have been made for monitoring and periodic review of key policies that deliver sustainable development?

FINDINGS

To modernise local government, processes need to be in place to ensure that there is continuous improvement. Best value was introduced to monitor the progress of issues like sustainable development which cut across individual service departments. Respondents were asked to describe their policy review processes and whether best value had helped with the delivery of sustainable development?

While almost half the authorities interviewed had introduced some method of appraising sustainability, over a quarter had no way of systematically reviewing how effective this process was. Checklists were widely used, but they were often seen as just "tick-box tokenism". Only half the local authorities interviewed found that best value had helped to integrate sustainable development across service sectors. Even where successful, it was felt the effort made by the individual officers had been disproportionate and that clearer guidance was needed.

It is important to note that time and time again, respondents felt that the efforts of individual people to champion sustainable development has been key to success. The position of this individual was seen as crucial - the more senior, the more influence they have at both managerial and political levels.

Almost all the officers interviewed felt that sustainable development should be given a higher priority within the best value service reviews. A council is unlikely to fail a service review for not taking sustainable development into account. This is seen as a missed opportunity for mainstreaming sustainable development.

The key driver here is to make sure it receives a higher priority through specific sustainable development criteria within existing performance management frameworks.

Q) What is needed to make local government more effective in delivering sustainable development?

FINDINGS

Encouragingly, the survey found many examples of good practice and initiatives - many of which merit being adopted by other local authorities. Respondents also had wish lists which, if adopted, would raise the status of sustainable development. These included making sustainable development a statutory duty, improving funding for sustainable development initiatives, improving the integration of sustainable development within central government, and raising the stakes for targeted training.

The message from respondents was that local authorities need to be given clearer guidelines on how to deliver sustainable development and to be provided with more funds.

CONCLUSION

The CIEH findings show that, despite most local authorities recognising the need to place sustainable development centrally, the majority of them are failing to successfully deliver it as a cross-cutting issue. While over half the authorities questioned made explicit reference to sustainable development in their corporate mission statements, nearly 60 per cent felt the "integration gap" between theory and practice was significant. This is an issue that local authorities will clearly need to address if they are to deliver successfully and cohesively.

It was encouraging to find that many local authorities have already recognised this gap and are adapting their policy frameworks and management styles in line with the "modernising local government agenda". In time, the CIEH hopes that this will directly improve the delivery of sustainable development.

The considerable effort made by individual staff to deliver sustainable development initiatives is to be commended. But good practice should be shared between authorities so that the wheel is not being reinvented. Many authorities clearly have a journey ahead of them, but it is encouraging that so many have taken the first steps to making sustainable development a reality.