Sustainable development action plan

The UK sustainable development (SD) strategy (March 2005) requires all departments to produce a sustainable development action plan. This is the first action plan for the Department for Transport (DfT) and its executive agencies. It supersedes the Department's sustainable development policy statement.

The action plan includes key examples of departmental commitments to sustainable development, ranging from departmental strategic policy to estates management and recycling.

Our Vision for Sustainable Development

DfT's vision for transport for the next 30 years is set out in the Future of Transport white paper (July 2004). Our overall aim is to ensure transport that works for everyone. In pursuing this aim, we will seek to "balance the increasing demand for travel against our goal of protecting the environment effectively and improving the quality of life for everyone - whether they are travelling or not." In this way, we will contribute to the goal, or 'purpose', for sustainable development outlined in the UK SD strategy.

We will adhere to the shared principles, set out in the strategy, that will be used to achieve the Government's goal:

• living within environmental limits;
• ensuring a strong, healthy and just society;
• achieving a sustainable economy;
• promoting good governance; and
• using sound science responsibly.

The first three of these principles are particularly important to the work of DfT.

The business case/benefits

The Future of Transport white paper makes it clear that:

"Good transport is central to a prosperous economy, facilitating better access and greater mobility.

"It makes a significant contribution in its own right to achieving a strong, sustainable economy and to our quality of life."

But it does not come without its costs. For example, the negative impacts of transport on the environment affect all of us. These include emissions of greenhouse gases, air pollutants, noise, and damage to both the natural and built environments.

That is why we are taking a balanced approach to meeting our environmental, economic and social objectives. Where it makes economic sense, we will provide additional transport capacity. But it has to be realistic environmentally. That is why we must also ensure our existing transport networks work efficiently and in a environmentally friendly way.

Our commitments

The Department seeks to be outward-looking, and fully involved in developing the wider Government agenda, building on the understanding, initiatives and relationships developed in recent years by our predecessor departments.

DfT will therefore take the following steps in carrying out its policy and delivery functions:

• we will ensure that our policies contribute to the delivery of the strategy outlined in the Future of Transport white paper;
• in developing major policies, we will assess their potential impact across a range of economic, environmental and social factors using: (i) appropriate policy appraisal methodologies such as regulatory impact and value for money assessments (ensuring the two are linked); and (ii) the new approach to appraisal (NATA), an integrated project appraisal methodology; and
• we will take full account of the need for transparency, information and participation. This includes the requirements for assessing proposals as set out in the Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive (Directive 2001/12/EC - assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment).

We will work in partnership with others to:

• tackle congestion;
• improve accessibility;
• reduce road traffic casualties;
• respect the environment;
• support the economy.

In this way, our transport policies will contribute to the Government's wider priorities set out in the UK SD strategy:

• sustainable consumption and production;
• climate change and energy;
• natural resource protection and environmental enhancement; and
• sustainable communities.

Annex A sets out details of the Department's key policy commitments, and aligns these with the Government's wider SD priorities.

In carrying out operations on its estate the Department will comply with all relevant statutory requirements. It will also seek to reduce the environmental impact arising from the management of its estate by applying, wherever possible, the commitments and targets set under the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate (2002), and the commitments and targets set by the revised Framework or equivalent vehicle.

Annex B sets out some key examples of the operational commitments of the DfT and its agencies, and also aligns these with the Government's wider SD priorities.

Monitoring, evaluation, accountability

In the UK sustainable development strategy, the Government has identified a set of measurable and supporting strategy indicators. These give an overview of what is happening and allow progress to be monitored.

DfT will monitor its performance against these indicators by publishing them annually in Transport Trends. The results will be used to inform departmental policy. Transport Trends also includes a wide range of other statistics on many aspects of transport, some of which provide a further indication of the sustainability of DfT policies.

The indicators in the UK SD strategy also relate to DfT's current public service agreements. The Department's progress against the PSA targets will be published in its annual report, and on HM Treasury's website.

We will ensure that staff remain aware of the need to reflect sustainable development principles in decision-making. We will consider the effect of departmental activities on sustainable development by integrating SD into policy development and appraisal at an early stage.

Policy evaluation has an important role to play in understanding the impact of DfT's policies in relation to sustainable development.  Where appropriate, policy evaluations explore a range of impacts, including environmental and social impacts.

We will include SD in any staff induction training courses.

We will continue to build strong relationships with stakeholders. Across the Department, staff are thinking much more about stakeholders than ever before, and in some areas there has been close working with delivery partners for some time. Our objective now is to ensure consistency across the Department and within directorates.

The Department will report progress on this action plan in its 2007 annual report. The Department's agencies will produce individual sustainable development action plans later this year and publish these on their websites.

Web links

Securing the future: delivering UK sustainable development strategy

http://www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/publications/uk-strategy/uk-strategy-2005.htm

Transport Trends

http://www.dft.gov.uk/transportforyou/safety/roads/

(you can find the section on sustainable development indicators in the annex of this document.)

Future of Transport White Paper

http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/strategy/whitepapers/fot/