§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how his Department has used the UK indicators for sustainable development in(a) the production of the Department's annual report, (b) monitoring progress towards meeting the objectives set out in the UK sustainable development strategy and (c) assessing the environmental implications of policy options; and what plans they have to extend their use in future within the Department. [12271]
§ Mrs. Angela KnightThe UK sustainable development indicators published in March 1996 are preliminary, intended to stimulate discussion about how we measure whether our development is sustainable. The indicators were developed to address and monitor the key sustainable development issues highlighted in the UK sustainable development strategy published in 1994. 331W As such, they have been used to inform decisions about environmental priorities for action and work programmes in the year ahead, which will be reported in the annual White Paper on sustainable development.
The indicators are one of many sources of information about the way in which economic activity interacts with the environment. As the indicators are revised and refined, they should become more useful as a source of environmental information to inform consideration of the environmental implications of policy options.