INTRODUCTION

  1. I am pleased to accept the invitation of the Environmental Audit Committee to set out how I see my role as the Welsh Office's Green Minister. This Memorandum addresses my particular responsibilities and objectives and describes the arrangements within the Department to take forward considerations of environmental protection and sustainable development.

  2. The Welsh Office is a relatively small department of about 2,100 staff with a wide range of economic, social and environmental responsibilities. Most of the services for which the Secretary of State for Wales is responsible are funded via the Welsh Block, and he allocates resources to individual programmes within Wales. Some £7 billion of public expenditure falls within the responsibility of the Welsh Office, with most of this used to support local authorities, the health service and 25 executive NDPBs. The Government of Wales Bill proposes the transfer of almost all the Secretary of State's responsibilities to the National Assembly for Wales.

GENERAL

  3. I have a long-standing personal commitment to environmental protection and the promotion of sustainable development. This is shared by my Ministerial colleagues within the Welsh Office, and is notably demonstrated by the decision to place a duty on the National Assembly for Wales to exercise its functions with due regard to the principle that sustainable development should be promoted. The Assembly will be the UK's first directly elected body to have such a duty.

  4. This will require the National Assembly to prepare a scheme setting out how its duty will be taken forward, and it will be required to consult on the preparation of the scheme. It will also have to report each year on the implementation of the duty.

  5. My Department is taking the lead in Wales on the consultation process which will help revise the UK strategy for sustainable development. In the period leading up to the establishment of the National Assembly we are planning a National Conference on Sustainable Development. This is intended to take account of a wide cross section of views, to promote the concept of sustainable development across Wales, and help to inform the issues which will need to be addressed by the National Assembly in taking forward its sustainable development duty.

  6. I am actively promoting Local Agenda 21, encouraging local authorities in Wales to meet the Prime Minister's wish that all authorities have strategies in place by the year 2000. I recently launched, with the Welsh Local Government Association, a guidance document "Sustainable Communities in Wales for the 21st century" to help local authorities, working with public and private sector bodies and their communities, to produce Local Agenda 21 strategies, applying sustainable development principles in-house and throughout their areas. To take this forward I plan to participate, with the Secretary of State and leaders and chief executives of local authorities, in a Local Agenda 21 seminar in April.

  7. I share responsibility for local authority services with my Ministerial colleagues. We are looking to modernize local government and put councils in a stronger position to lead their communities. We are proposing to place a duty on them to promote the economic, social and environmental well being of their areas. This would serve to emphasise the important part they must play in promoting green policies and will complement our encouragement of Local Agenda 21 strategies. We are consulting on this and other proposals and will publish firm proposals this summer in a separate Local Government White Paper for Wales.

  8. I will now turn to the issues addressed in the request from the Committee.

A. ROLE OF THE GREEN MINISTER WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT.

  9. I fully endorse the role for Green Ministers that I agreed with Ministerial colleagues in December. My direct responsibility as the Environment Minister in Wales complements this role, and my broader responsibilities enable me to consider directly the environmental impact of policies and programmes across a broad sector of the Department's responsibilities.

  10. Since I became Green Minister I have attended both meetings of Green Ministers and have held bilateral discussions with Michael Meacher. I have reported at these meetings on the Welsh Office's performance in terms, for example, of greening operations.

  11. The main supports available to me as Green Minister are:

—  An Environment Division which has the lead responsibility for sustainable development and for some aspects of the Greening Government Initiative. The Division of 34 staff has a wide range of other responsibilities including environment protection, waste, flood and coastal defence, water, countryside and nature conservation. Most of this Division's activities touch directly or indirectly on my role as Green Minister.

—  The Department's Establishment Group which has responsibilities for greening operations, including green housekeeping and green transport plans, and contributes to the progress reports I produce on green housekeeping for Green Ministers.

—  A Finance Group, including an Economic Advice Division, which provides central guidance on evaluation and appraisal procedures, including where necessary environmental appraisal; the Group also houses the Department's Procurement Unit.

  12. At the widest level, advice and support is available to me from across the Department to enable me to consider the environmental impacts of policies and programmes. Examples of this are provided elsewhere in this Memorandum.

B. ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGY

  13. I attach a strong priority to protecting and improving the environment of Wales—the quality of its land, air and water. Many of the Welsh Office's programmes impact, directly or indirectly, on the environment. These are discussed later. The main responsibility for countryside and nature conservation rests with the Countryside Council for Wales, a Welsh Office NDPB. At the operational level the lead responsibility for limiting discharges to air, water or land rests with the Environment Agency which in Wales reports to the Welsh Office. Other bodies, notably local authorities, have a significant role.

  14. The main overall reporting vehicle to Parliament on the performance and aims of the Welsh Office is the Department's Annual Report. The 1997 Report recorded a key aim of protecting and improving the environment of Wales and of ensuring that proper account is taken of environmental factors in the Department's policies and programmes. The Report reaffirmed the Welsh Office's commitment to increasing energy efficiency and recycling in buildings. It identified the Department's Green Minister and briefly described his role. The 1998 Departmental Report will be published in April.

  15. The Department's report has been complemented by a series of annual reports (most recently in 1996) on "The Environment in Wales" which provided a fuller account of the Department's environmental progress and describe the state of the Welsh environment and related initiatives by the Welsh Office and others. The reports included forward commitments, with progress reports in subsequent years. These paralleled the Common Inheritance series of UK annual reports published by the then Department of the Environment on behalf of the Government. The Welsh Office reports reflected the recognition in the UK's Sustainable Development Strategy of the need to review the state of the environment and the expected pressures upon it. They addressed many relevant national and international commitments, for example Wales' performance in terms of the Bathing Water and Habitats Directives. The value of our Environment in Wales Fifth Report was acknowledged by the Green Alliance in its recently published review of the Annual Reports of all Government departments. The publication of the report was announced by a written PQ and copies were placed in the Library of the House.

  16. As already noted, the Welsh Office has been closely involved with DETR in the preparation of the consultation paper "Opportunities for Change" on this Government's revised UK sustainable development strategy. Once this is in place it will fall to the National Assembly for Wales to set out and report on its own strategies and plans to promote sustainable development in Wales in line with its duty.

  17. Many of the issues raised by the Committee on this subject relate to green housekeeping and are addressed in Section F below.

C. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

  18. The 1998 Departmental Report will identify as a primary objective the priority and commitment which the Welsh Office attaches to sustainable development. That commitment is reflected in the revision of the Department's aims and objectives being undertaken as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review. Revised objectives will underline the importance of the quality of life for the people of Wales through, for example, the continued protection and improvement of the environment, and the signalling of the Department's intention to pursue policies for development that are sustainable.

  19. The "Environment in Wales" reports have identified ways in which the previous Government's sustainable development strategy has been carried forward in Wales and have been the main reporting vehicle.

  20. The Welsh Office is currently engaged in a wide range of activities which promote sustainable development in Wales and a number of these are detailed elsewhere in the Memorandum. I have already noted the significant decision to place a sustainable development duty on the National Assembly.

D. THE DEPARTMENT'S IMPACTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT

  21. Given the range of the Welsh Office's responsibilities it is inevitable that many of our policies can have significant environmental and/or sustainable development implications. Examples include:

—  The designation and protection of areas of environmental sensitivity such as Special Areas of Conservation and National Parks. Since last May the Department has consulted on seven possible Special Areas of Conservation under the Habitats Directive and hopes to submit at least five of these to the European Commission for consideration in the near future. Among the UK sites submitted to the European Commission in 1997 as candidate Special Areas of Conservation was the sensitive Pembrokeshire Islands site, which includes Milford Haven. In total, 37 candidate Special Areas of Conservation in Wales have now been submitted to the Commission. In addition, the Welsh Office classified the Berwyn as a Special Protection Area under the Wild Birds Directive in January 1998, bringing the total number of such sites in Wales to 13.

—  Environmental protection with a wide range of responsibilities for discharges to air, water and land. While the Department has the main policy responsibility the operational lead for individual cases normally rests with others, notably the Environment Agency and local authorities.

—  "Planning Guidance (Wales): Planning Policy" promotes the strategic framework for local authority development plans. The principle of sustainable development runs through this Welsh Office guidance. This is being revised, with the consultation draft placing greater emphasis on biodiversity and sustainable development.

—  The Welsh Office Agriculture Department's aim of "encouraging the protection of the environment" is receiving increasing emphasis. In particular, a new whole-farm agri-environment scheme covering all of Wales is being developed, building on the experiences of Environmentally Sensitive Areas and Tir Cymen as well as part-farm schemes such as the Habitat and Moorland schemes.

—  Co-ordination of a programme of biodiversity action in Wales both at the national and local level, and including protection for hedgerows.

—  Support for the Environmental Education Council for Wales in its development of a strategy for environmental education.

—  Funding the environmental voluntary sector for a range of projects which contribute to sustainable development.

—  Protection and enhancement of the environment through the Strategic Development Scheme.

—  A Green Paper on Public Health is being produced which will reflect sustainable development principles, emphasising the profound influence that the environment exerts over the health and well-being of the population.

—  A Social Exclusion Network and Action Team have been established within the Welsh Office to examine current policies and to co-ordinate action across the Department to tackle social exclusion in Wales. The reduction of social exclusion will promote the sustainable development of communities in a fundamental way.

—  The Welsh Office monitors green housekeeping activities across the NHS in Wales, and "Greencode", a computerised environmental system, is being tested.

—  "An Economic Strategy for Wales", a consultation document issued in October 1997, recognises that the reconciliation of economic, social and environmental needs will pay a key part in regenerating communities in both urban and rural Wales.

—  The Department's Business and Environment Campaign raises awareness within companies of environmental issues. The Dee Waste Minimisation project was a successful example which led to reductions of 130,000 tonnes of waste going to landfill, 600,000 cubic meters of water usage and 25,250 tonnes of CO₂ emissions due to reduced electricity consumption. In financial terms the participating companies realised savings of £4.55 million.

—  The Welsh Office, with the Welsh Development Agency, is working to develop the environmental goods and services sector in Wales.

—  The Department's procedures for assessing flood and coastal defence take full account of environmental and sustainability considerations.

—  The on-going review of the Welsh Office's trunk road programme forms part of the wider review of transport and the need to develop an integrated transport strategy—a crucial step on the path of sustainable development.

—  When roads are planned environmental statements are prepared and published in accordance with EC Directives and form part of the appraisal. In addition all new construction and improvement schemes involving over £1 million or located in sensitive areas are treated in this way, although this exceeds the EC requirements.

—  When roads are planned and built there has been increasing emphasis on environmental mitigation (e.g., the Mold Bypass ancient woodland translocation; and the Second Severn Crossing Approach Roads habitat creation) and enhancement (e.g., the A55 Conwy Crossing RSPB reserve) with increasing emphasis on the use of recycled materials (e.g., slate waste on the A55 in North Wales). In 1990 the Department published a guide to good practice in environmental planning and design "Roads in Upland Areas". This stimulated the development of UK environmental design advice embodied in 1992 in Volume 10 of the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges ("The Good Roads Guide"). In 1994 the Department published a companion guide "Roads in Lowland Areas".

—  When roads are maintained the Department seeks to conserve sensitive areas, minimise adverse effects and, where possible, enhance biodiversity (e.g., the establishment and management of wild-flower areas alongside the A55 North Wales coast road).

  22. Environmental impact assessments carried out by developers are forwarded to the Welsh Office by local authorities and copies are available for inspection in the Department's Library. Environmental assessments of trunk road schemes are similarly available and also placed on deposit for public information as part of statutory procedures.

  23. Increasingly practice within the Department is to engage in public consultation before policies or projects with significant environmental implications are taken forward; for example new or major road improvement schemes, Planning Guidance, and the implementation of most EU environmental directives have a consultation process built in.

E. POLICY APPRAISAL

  24. The Department's central guidance document for officials is "the Welsh Office Handbook" copies of which are held in each section. This contains advice on appraisal and evaluation of policy, including the commitment to integrate environmental considerations into policies and programmes. In particular, officials are referred to "Policy Appraisal and the Environment" and to the subsequent "Environmental Appraisal in Government Departments". Heads of Divisions within the Welsh Office (to whom copies of the guidance documents have been distributed) are responsible for ensuring that environmental issues are considered as part of the policy-making process, and that members of staff are aware of the methods available for assessing the environmental impacts of policy options.

  25. The Welsh Office took part in the KPMG study on Policy Appraisal and the Environment. The consultants studied the Department's 1994 roads review and, while noting a lack of formal methodology, "found no evidence that the environment received insufficient weight". The significance given to environmental considerations was apparent in the outcome of that review.

  26. Whilst "Policy Appraisal and the Environment" may be helpful to specialist staff such as economists, it has become apparent it is less suitable for use by non-technical staff. Revised guidance—on which Ministers are currently being consulted—will be widely circulated within the Department and to its NDPBs, with staff reminded of our commitment to put concern for the environment at the heart of policy making. The Department has contributed to the inter-Departmental considerations leading to the new environmental appraisal guidance.

F. GREENING THE DEPARTMENT'S OPERATIONS

  27. The Department's Green Housekeeping Strategy is available to the public on request. Within the Management Services Division (part of the Department's Establishment Group), responsibility for green housekeeping is integrated with general premises management responsibilities.

  28. The green housekeeping strategy does, in part, show explicitly the extent to which the Department is bound by or committed to actions due to international commitments, EC or national law. But many of the related statutory regulations and obligations are embodied within the detailed arrangements for the management of premises and resources.

  29. The Department's main operational objectives to achieve a higher quality of environmental performance in the use of its resources are set out in Annex 1 to this Memorandum. Other related objectives and targets feature in explicit annual action plans which give practical effect to the policies.

  30. Waste reduction is an established and important aspect of Welsh Office strategy to enhance environmental performance. There are a range of targets in place aimed at reducing the amount of waste the Department sends to landfill. The Welsh Office aims to recycle 140,000kg of waste paper in 1997-98 compared to 104,800kg in 1996-97 and 37,000kg in 1993-94, the year the recycling initiative was launched. It is also continuing to recycle around 7,500 cans and 600 printer toner cartridges each year. A scheme for the collection of plastic cups is directing around 25,000 of these items away from landfill each month. Overall for its headquarters buildings, Welsh Office is aiming for 5 per cent reduction in waste sent to landfill during 1997-98.

  31. Views and contributions are sought from key staff around the Department responsible for the various subject areas covered by the green housekeeping strategy and targets.

  32. I welcome the establishment of a new interdepartmental steering group to help Departments set up environmental management systems. One of the aspects that the group is to consider is the costs and benefits of such systems, and I would hope that ways of reducing the resources required to seek accreditation will form part of the group's work. In the interim, Welsh Office strategy remains towards a programme of practical measures designed to improve the environmental performance of its estate; a process which is continuing to produce results. The Welsh Office has also undertaken to consult DETR on the designs for the new Assembly's accommodation to ensure the highest levels of environmental performance.

  33. The Department reviews and reports on its performance in relation to its strategy annually. Aspects of environmental action and achievement are published; e.g., energy efficiency performance, as part of the dissemination of information for the Government estate, is promulgated annually by DETR via a PQ and press release. Other information is made available on request.

  34. The Department has made a number of arrangements for the education and training of staff on environmental and sustainable development issues. Staff play a fundamental part in helping the Department to make a positive impact on the environment. The Department regularly encourages staff to use recycling facilities, save energy and water, report waste and put forward ideas for improving our performance in these and related areas. Induction packs for new members of staff contain information on the Department's green housekeeping activity and the part staff can play. This message is maintained through the Department's policy to sustain a publicity campaign to raise staff awareness of environmentally sound working practices and encourage staff involvement in environmental action. The campaign takes the form of "green" exhibitions, newsletter articles, staff notices, posters, videos, and staff competitions.

  35. The Department's main achievements in greening its operations are listed at Annex 2.

  36. In setting specifications for goods and services a Green Guide for Suppliers is provided for contractors. Where the decision between competing bidders is close on value for money, the Department's purchasing offices are required to give preference to products with ECO labels or suppliers with BS 7750 accreditation (the environmental management standard) or equivalent.

  37. Welsh Office energy use was 3 per cent lower in 1996 than it was in 1990-91, the base year of the Government's campaign. Within this figure CO₂ emissions reduced by 17 per cent with a 38 per cent reduction in the use of fossil fuel. The Welsh Office has increased its efficiency despite an already energy-efficient base and additional demand through the increase in information technology.

G. DEPARTMENTAL AGENCIES, NDPBS AND OTHER SPONSORED BODIES

  38. Cadw: Welsh Historic Monuments is an executive agency of the Welsh Office. It is located within the main Welsh Office headquarters building and so encompassed within the Department's green housekeeping policies. The Planning Inspectorate executive agency is part of both the Welsh Office and the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions. The Wales-based staff are also located within the Department's main headquarters.

  39. Central to Cadw's approach is recognition that the conservation of the built heritage must reflect the longer-term view. The consequences of development, as well as its benefits, must be balanced within a sustainable framework. Cadw achieves this through a continuous process of conservation of monuments in care and through informing decisions impacting on heritage assets.

  40. As described at paragraph 21 above, environmental considerations and sustainable development underpin "Planning Guidance (Wales): Planning Policy" which is the main guidance document against which planning appeals in Wales handled by the Planning Inspectorate are considered.

  41. The NDPBs sponsored by the Welsh Office have a wide range of responsibilities, with individual bodies primarily responsible for economic, social and environmental policies. In appraising policies and programmes all NDPBs are required to follow the best-practice principles set out in the Treasury Green Book "Appraisal and Evaluation in Central Government". The 1997 edition gives increased emphasis to the appraisal and evaluation of environmental issues, and the Welsh Office has, as part of its sponsorship function, brought to the attention of its NDPBs the more detailed guidance on "Policy Appraisal and the Environment" and "Environmental Appraisal in Government Departments".

  42. In addition the model Code of Practice for Board Members of executive NDPBs in Wales includes among the important responsibilities of board members a requirement to ensure "that the board operates sound environmental policies and practices in accordance with the approach set out in the 1990 White Paper "This Common Inheritance" (CM 1200) and other relevant guidance . . . "

  43. All executive NDPBs are required to produce corporate plans, which inform Welsh Office decisions on grant in aid, and all publish annual reports. These documents address environmental or sustainability issues where these are material.

  44. On green housekeeping the Welsh Office has issued guidance on the environmental aspects of premises management (e.g., "DIY Environmental Checklist for Premises Managers").

  45. Examples of green housekeeping activities by NDPBs include:

—  Countryside Council for Wales has invested in video conferencing saving 26,000 travel miles in the second half of 1997.

—  Development Board for Rural Wales recycling all waste paper, toner cartridges and use low energy light fittings.

—  The National Museums and Galleries of Wales recycle 75 per cent of waste paper (12 tonnes per annum); 100 per cent of toner cartridges are re-cycled (600 per annum); organic waste at the Museum of Welsh Life at St Fagans is re-cycled and used for composting; there is an on-going light-bulb replacement programme using low energy lighting; all suppliers are required to submit an environmental policy before they can become official suppliers; displays are lit and conserved using passive energy systems resulting in energy savings.

—  The National Library of Wales have arranged for Friends of the Earth to collect their waste paper. Low energy light bulbs are used. All toner cartridges are recycled.

  46. Examples of programme activities reflecting environmental or sustainable considerations include:

—  the Welsh Development Agency's major role in land reclamation in Wales. Its 1996 publication "Landscapes—Working for Wales" sets out its commitment to improving the environment and translating the goal of sustainable development into actions. Within the Agency an "Economy and Environment" team is being set up to audit and review the environmental impact of its activities and develop a corporate environmental policy;

—  the Wales Tourist Board's promotion of sustainable tourism and its production of a guide for tourism operators on greening their businesses. It has also assisted in the carrying out of environmental appraisals to help tourist businesses "green" their operations;

—  the Countryside Council for Wales' responsibility for protecting and improving the natural heritage of Wales;

—  actions by Tai Cymru to: set standards of energy efficiency for new properties reducing CO₂ emissions from some 10,000 dwellings; increased emphasis on the redevelopment of brown field sites; the establishment of a working party on community sustainability which will consider the impact of new development on the wider environment and existing infrastructure.

  47. It is not just by their own operations that Welsh NDPBs can contribute to sustainable development. Collaborative working—with each other and other bodies—is encouraged and practised. Examples of such collaboration include the Local Agenda 21 Seminar planned for April; the Green Sea Initiative which is working toward the ambitious goal of 50 Blue Flag beaches on the Welsh coastline; and the Greening the Valleys project in the South Wales valleys.

  48. Looking forward, the Department's NDPBs will, from next year, report to the National Assembly for Wales. Powers of direction will be available to the Assembly over many of these bodies. The Assembly will consider their corporate plans and strategic priorities, and be responsible for appointing members and providing resources. In discharging these functions the Assembly will be under a duty to have due regard to the principle that sustainable development should be promoted.

March 1998