20 July 2007
Now that politicians have promoted sustainability from token policy pledge to manifesto must-have, Public Finance's latest round table posed the question of how local authorities can save the planet – without it costing them the earth. Joseph McHugh sat in
These days, political parties of widely differing hues are all loudly proclaiming that green is their favourite colour.
David Cameron fought the May local elections under the slogan: 'Vote blue, go green'. Gordon Brown's even newer Labour has taken care to give an emerald tint to the policies he outlined in his non-Queen's speech last week, with new housing the centrepiece. The Liberal Democrats, meanwhile, have been encouraging us to protect the environment for years.
But sustainability, as it is properly known, is a clear example of an issue where the global meets the local, and the personal is political.
So what does this mean for local authorities, who are being asked to champion sustainability in their communities, and how do they persuade residents to take up the cudgels in the battle to save the planet?
Public Finance, in association with the 4Ps, convened the sixth in its series of high-profile round tables to consider these issues on July 13.
Councils are in the vanguard of making sustainability a reality on the ground. But they have to juggle competing demands – from the public, other tiers of government and other service providers – while responding to a bewildering array of initiatives and targets. And, of course, they have to find the funding to invest in the infrastructure and expertise it demands.
Just some of the items sitting in town hall in-trays include the 2010 targets to reduce the amount of household waste sent to landfill sites; improvements to energy efficiency; and the shift towards green procurement. Those in-trays are about to get even fuller. The draft Climate Change Bill will include a mandatory cap-and-trade scheme for carbon emissions that will capture many local authorities, forcing them to reduce their corporate carbon footprints.
PF's round table brought together distinguished local government policy-makers, practitioners and politicians to assess the likely success of the sustainability agenda – and the options for funding it.
The event was chaired by Tony Travers, director of the Greater London Group at the London School of Economics, and participants included Jonathon Porritt, founder director of Forum for the Future and a renowned green campaigner; Jill Johnstone, policy director at the National Consumer Council; and Chris Wilson, executive director of the 4Ps.
Opening the debate, Porritt set out what local authorities need to do to 'green their communities' and the barriers standing in their way. He argued that the high point of sustainability in local government had come in the late 1990s when authorities had local plans, known as Agenda 21, which they were busy implementing. But subsequently, Porritt said, momentum had stalled.
'Since then we've been regaled with a pretty calamitous process of incoherence from central government, lack of leadership in local government and massively mixed messages, which have led to a lack of progress,' he said. 'We understand the destination, we understand the direction of travel but the speed with which the journey is being undertaken is not in proportion to that knowledge.'
Porritt singled out central government for particular criticism for presiding over 'a disconnect' between different tiers of government, and for failing to ensure that sustainability underpinned the performance management regime. He praised the Audit Commission's current work on building it into the Comprehensive Area Assessment, which will be the mechanism for assessing councils from 2009, but lamented its previous failure to act. 'There was no incentive through the Comprehensive Performance Assessment to bring sustainable development into the only place where it really works, which is the chief executive's office.'
The former Green Party co-chair complained about the lack of voices articulating the public value case for sustainability, in marked contrast to the business sector, which was able to explain clearly how it contributed to the bottom line.
'You don't hear a lot of people in local government enthusing about the value that sustainable development can bring to the functions and responsibilities that they have as public servants. You don't hear about it being an aid to doing that job.'
Porritt also urged authorities to show greater 'financial creativity', citing Woking Borough Council – often lauded as the green authority par excellence – as an example of what can be achieved. 'There's a lot of scope at the local level for innovation when they move on it,' he said. 'It's a case of licence being given but a reluctance to fill that space, which is going to be really problematic for government if we don't see that willingness.'
He called on councils to give a lead on green procurement, using their mighty buying power to set an example and effect wider change among suppliers.
'People read messages very, very strongly into how public money is spent and we need to be a lot smarter about spending public money to achieve sustainable outcomes. That would send ripples through supply chains and to the private sector and they would say: “This is the new deal, this is what we need to do now.”
Porritt's last point was developed by Professor John Chesshire, chair of the LGA's independent Climate Change Commission. He pondered what local government's distinct role was in relation to sustainability, before concluding that it could use its considerable financial clout to help 'join up the dots' in their areas.
'The procurement budget for local government is £43bn a year, so over a decade you're talking about mega amounts of cash. Add in schools, it's up to £70bn, and with capital projects you have a footprint of £100bn a year,' Chesshire said. 'There are a lot of resources available – it's not a case of: “What extra powers, extra duties, extra money do we need?” – there will be some.'
But Chris Wilson, the 4Ps' executive director, illustrated the scale of the financial demands being made on authorities – particularly the drive to recycle more waste and send less to landfill sites. He told participants that costs were soaring by 10% annually. At the same time, it was clear this autumn's Comprehensive Spending Review would deliver a spending settlement for local government that was insufficient to fund the necessary investment in infrastructure.
'How is this cost increase going to be squared with what is likely to be a very tight settlement in the CSR,' Wilson asked. 'We need to articulate much more clearly what the pressures driving this increase are.'
This prompted a lively debate on possible strategies for funding the sustainability agenda. Paula Baker, deputy chair of the LGA's environment board, is also a councillor in Basingstoke. She was clear that, to harness local government's undoubted desire to promote cleaner, greener communities, central government had to find more money. 'No-one has painted a clear picture for us of how we can do everything we want to do, but still balance our books.'
But Audit Commission chair Michael O'Higgins called for a bolder, more imaginative approach. He returned to Porritt's example of Woking to point out what councils could do if they had ambition.
'There's nothing stopping other local authorities following Woking's example, which has made big savings for itself and residents. It's partly down to the degree of consciousness and having individuals driving it, but the freedoms have been there for some time. We need to see this agenda as a resource as well as a cost.'
However, John Burns, director of the Waste Implementation Programme at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, painted a downbeat picture of many authorities failing to see the potential gains, with partnership working being a particular blind spot.
'I've been amazed at how difficult it's been to get authorities to work in partnership, even when there are clear economic and environmental benefits to be had,' he said.
Burns pointed the finger of blame at local politicians keen to protect their fiefdoms. 'For lower-tier authorities, waste is their biggest agenda. Even though by working with the authority next door they could make efficiency savings, I think political demands are the key barrier.'
Paul Raynes, programme director at the LGA, argued for sweeping changes to the town hall finance regime. He advocated a new era of 'devolved fiscality', which could in turn be used to raise the upfront investment needed to pay for sustainability initiatives.
Raynes claimed the final conclusions from Sir Michael Lyons' inquiry into local government, which reported in December, had 'opened the door' to such a discussion. He illustrated the need for one by explaining how Essex had been thwarted in its attempt to reward local firms deemed environmentally friendly with a reduction in their business rates. Greater local taxation powers could raise vital capital investment, Raynes said, and act as powerful incentives for residents and businesses to change behaviour.
'With national systems, inevitably, all the clarity about what you're charged and the benefit you get is lost in the Exchequer,' he said, to general agreement. 'Local government is now standing ready to move forward on this frontier of devolved fiscality and what that can do for incentives.'
But Jill Johnstone, director of policy at the NCC, questioned the idea that incentives were the best way of changing behaviour, as 'incentives' often meant 'penalties'. 'Options that look like a penalty or just another tax will not encourage engagement.'
She said research had repeatedly shown strong demands for fairness among the public, fuelled by a fear that some people would freeload at the expense of their neighbours.
'There is a big feeling that individual action is futile: the sacrifice isn't worth it because other people aren't doing it. People on the doorstep really do feel powerless,' Johnstone said. 'The more you encourage people to do the right thing rather than punish them for doing the wrong thing, the more you are likely to get results.'
Green Alliance director Stephen Hale agreed, and warned there was a risk of incorrectly drawing 'the boundaries of responsibility between the government, business and individuals'.
Hale, who was former environment secretary Margaret Beckett's adviser, advocated a more diverse approach to inspiring people to embrace sustainability. 'There are lots of ways the behaviour change agenda can be taken forward,' he said. 'Recycling offers a very positive example because it's so visible. If you get to 50% of people doing it, then quite quickly the other 50% take it up.'
Community leadership would be crucial in this drive to engage and inspire, according to Dick Sorabji, deputy director of the New Local Government Network. And, just as people responded to rewards rather than sanctions, so too would councils.
'Given a clearer goal and much more freedom to innovate, it seems to me there's much more chance local authorities would take a really leading role,' Sorabji argued. 'Maybe less prodding and more incentives would deliver more results.'
It was a call that drew wide agreement around the table, and was a recurring theme throughout the debate. According to Porritt, local authorities' willingness to take on that role will determine whether communities around the country accept responsibility for making the global issue of sustainability a local priority, and adopt this major political issue as their personal concern.
'I don't think we will marshal the energy of the citizenry of the UK in the way we need to, unless we have local authorities out there acting as leaders at that level,' he said. 'I don't think any other part of our system of government can do that, and it's absolutely fundamental to success.'
Participants
Tony Travers (chair)
Director, Greater London Group, London School of Economics
Councillor Paula Baker
Deputy chair, Local Government Association environment board
John Burns
Director, Waste Implementation Programme, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Professor John Chesshire
Chair, Climate Change Commission, Local Government Association
Stephen Hale
Director, Green Alliance
Jill Johnstone
Director of policy, National Consumer Council
Louise Neilan
Audit Commission
Michael O'Higgins
Chair, Audit Commission
Jonathon Porritt
Founder director, Forum for the Future
Paul Raynes
Programme director, Local Government Association
Bob Simpson
Managing director, ICSL Accord
Dick Sorabji
Deputy director, New Local Government Network
Tim Thorogood
Chief executive, Local Government Information Unit
Chris Wilson
Executive director, 4Ps
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