§ Mr. QuinnTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when the Government Response to the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution's 21 report (Setting Environmental Standards) will be published. [132371]
§ Mr. MeacherThe Government's Response to the Commission's Report on Setting Environmental Standards has been published today. I wish to express my thanks to the previous Chairman of the Commission, Sir John Houghton, the current Chairman, Sir Tom Blundell, and their colleagues for their continued commitment to issues which are of equal importance to the public as to the Government.
The Government are responding positively to many of the points made by the Commission in its report on Setting Environmental Standards;
On the significance of environmental standards the Government agree with the Commission that the nature of environmental standards has significantly changed over the last 30 years. There are more numerical standards, more standards set internationally and more formal techniques to aid decision-making. There is also increased recognition that environmental standards need to be seen more broadly, hence the emphasis the Government are putting on sustainable development.On procedures for setting standards the Government agree with the Commission that policy analysis needs to identify various components, such as scientific assessment, risk and economic appraisal. There is a need for transparency in the decision-making process and public values need to be articulated and considered.On scientific understanding the Government agree with the Commission that limitations and uncertainties in scientific understanding must be openly acknowledged, and that social and ethical considerations must be accounted for.On technological options the Government agree with the importance the Commission accords life cycle assessment as a tool for managing environmental impacts, and wishes to point out that they are actively addressing particular concerns on chemicals following the Chemicals Strategy.On risk and uncertainty the Government recognise the importance of transparent risk assessment and would like to point out that much work is in hand by the HSE and the Environment Agency, among others.On economic appraisal the Government agree with the Commission that economic appraisal is a part of all policy-making, although this can pose particular challenges as many environmental goods cannot be valued in money terms. As part of the "Modernising Government" work on good policy-making, the Cabinet Office has developed a "Toolkit for Policy-makers". The aim of this Toolkit is to ensure that policy makers take into account the impact of policy proposals on environment, business, charities and the voluntary sector, health, race, gender, the disabled, etc.On implementing environmental policies the Government agree that different instruments should be used in combination to achieve the best result; economic instruments and voluntary agreements are complementary to direct regulation and not alternatives.On articulating values the Government recognise that traditional methods of consultation are not always adequate, and are making a real effort to give attention to new, more open, participation methods.The full Response will be available on the Department website (www.detr.gov.uk) and I am placing copies in the Library.