§ Mrs. BrintonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what steps have been taken to ensure that the principles contained on pages 22 and 23 of the White Paper, "A Better Quality of Life—a Strategy for Sustainable Development for the UK", are applied to policy-making throughout Government. [131967]
§ Ms Beverley HughesThe principles are reflected or being taken forward in a range of Government guidance documents and strategies. In particular, the 1999 "Modernising Government" White Paper committed the Government to
producing and delivering an integrated system of impact assessment and appraisal tools in support of sustainable development, covering impacts on business, the environment, health and the needs of particular groups in society.The first stage of this work has been completed—the production of a comprehensive IT database of existing impact assessments and appraisals, and sources of guidance (www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/regulation/1999/ checklist/intro.htm) to be made available on Departments' intranets. Building on this, consideration is currently being given to the development of a more streamlined 385W integrated appraisal system to deliver the goal of `inclusive' policy making set out in the "Modernising Government" White Paper and elaborated in the Cabinet Office report "Professional policy making for the twenty-first century".
Developments in applying the principles in the Strategy will be reported in the Government's first annual review of progress towards sustainable development later this year.