§ Mr. Roger WilliamsTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what remit relating to sustainable development is required by her Department's(a) executive agencies, (b) advisory non-departmental bodies, (c) executive non-departmental bodies, (d) tribunals, (e) public corporations and (f) other bodies. [116678]
§ Mr. MorleyCentral Departments and their Executive Agencies are covered by the 'Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate' and the targets it contains. Departments are responsible for encouraging and developing the integration of SD into the policy and operations of their associate bodies, ie executive agencies, advisory non-departmental bodies, executive non-departmental bodies, tribunals, public corporations and other bodies.
In the Greening Government 1st Annual Report (1999) a commitment was made to have the Cabinet Office NDPB guidance revised to include the requirement for departments to encompass SD into the remit of any new NDPBs they set up. This was done and reported in the Greening Government 2nd Annual Report (2000). A number of associate bodies set up 362W before this requirement was put in place already made explicit reference to the pursuit of sustainable development in their aims/objectives or remits, an example of which is the Environment Agency.
The Defra publication 'Our Strategy 2003–06' contains a commitment to improve the consistency with which all organisations linked to Defra focus on sustainable development objectives. This will be taken forward as part of the review of Defra's Sustainable Development Strategy, 'Foundations for Our Future', due to be undertaken this summer.