Environmental Auditing (Hansard, 17 March 1997)

§ Mr. Martyn Jones
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to her answer of 20 November 1996,Official Report, column 553, if she will make a statement on the impact of the schools 425W environmental assessment method on the work of schools in respect of their evaluation of their environmental impact. [20308]

§ Mr. Robin Squire
The schools environmental assessment method—SEAM—was published in October. SEAM is being used by local authorities in environmental education and energy conservation outreach to schools. The 480 eco-schools participating in the green flag award scheme run by the Tidy Britain Group and sponsored by the Department of the Environment have been sent copies of SEAM so that they can take their environmental assessment further. Having carried out an initial SEAM assessment schools are encouraged to continue environmental monitoring. The Building Research Establishment is at present sending all schools a free copy of its software "The School Toolkit" which enables easy environmental monitoring by pupils or staff. These initiatives together with the work of groups like Learning Through Landscapes and Groundwork provide a framework for schools to evaluate, monitor and improve their environmental impacts.

§ Mr. Jones
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to her answer of 20 November 1996,Official Report, column 553, what percentage of schools met the revised energy targets for new school buildings included in the schools environmental assessment method; and if she will make a statement. [20309]

§ Mr. Squire
The information requested is not collected centrally for all schools.
However, of a recent sample of schools in five LEA areas 78 per cent. were below the highest band of energy consumption recommended for existing schools, and 58 per cent. were below the highest band recommended for new schools.
It is hoped that schools whose energy consumption is above the maximum recommended bands will be encouraged by SEAM to adopt no-cost good housekeeping measures or low-cost energy saving measures to reduce their energy consumption.