Clause 38 - Sustainable development
Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill
10:00 am
Mr Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Cotswold, Conservative)
The hon. Gentleman will know, as he obviously has an interest in the matter—I shall go through the history of the subject in a moment—that it is an evolving subject. People's views on it have changed. Therefore, the definition that I propose in amendment No. 256 is, for now, the best definition that we can come up with. Were we debating the issue 30 years ago, nobody would think about sustainability in relation to planning. They would get on with their daily lives and consider each development as it came along. However, as the hon. Gentleman will see in the history of definitions of sustainable development, people by and large feel that every development affects other people and the world's resources. The Government have included sustainable development in clause 38. If they believe—and it is right that they should—that planning matters should include sustainable development, there should be a definition in the Bill.
Before I come on to the history of the definition, I put it to the hon. Gentleman that, if the Bill includes no definition, I am certain that before long an application will be made in the High Court involving someone who has carried out a development or drawn up a plan somewhere along the line. As my hon. Friend the Member for Spelthorne said, learned barristers will be paid a huge amount of money to argue over the definition of sustainable development.
The Bill should contain a definition that can be changed by statutory instrument under a proposal by
the Secretary of State. That is the obvious way to deal with the matter. I do not think that the hon. Member for Monmouth (Mr. Edwards) and I are talking at cross-purposes—at least I hope that we are not. If he does not think that the Bill should include a definition, no doubt he will say so. Perhaps he would like to intervene now. If he really thinks that the Bill should not contain a definition, I shall happily give way. The hon. Gentleman does not wish to intervene, so he must feel that the Bill should include a definition.
The Library has produced a helpful brief on the subject. It is its standard note SNSC 742, which was updated on 28 August 2002. The brief provides a short history of sustainable development. The section on defining sustainable development states:
''The concept of sustainable development was essentially introduced to the world at large at the Rio Earth Summit. As a concept it seems to be fairly simple until there is a need to define it, such as to introduce the principle to legislative programmes.
Whilst most people believe they have a rough idea of what the term means, legislation requires working definitions rather than vague ideas. There have however been many attempts to define the concept.''
One of the earlier definitions was the Brundtland statement, which said that any development should leave the world in as good a condition as it was found.
The Government picked up the sustainability challenge in its consultation paper ''Sustainable development: opportunities for change''. I have based the wording of amendment No. 256 on that paper, which builds on the Brundtland definition. It says:
''Sustainable development is a very simple idea. It is about ensuring a better quality of life for everyone''.
It includes four objectives that I have mentioned in my definition, the first of which is social progress that recognises everyone's needs. The document says:
''It is not enough to focus on economic and environmental policies if whole groups in society, or parts of the country, are excluded.''
The next objective, which is mentioned in amendment No. 256, is effective protection of the environment. The document says:
''This means acting to limit global environmental threats, such as climate change; to protect human health and safety from hazards such as poor air quality and toxic chemicals''.
The third objective is the prudent use of natural resources. It says:
''This does not mean denying ourselves the use of non-renewable resources like oil and gas, but we do need to make sure that we use them efficiently''.
The fourth objective is the maintenance of high and stable levels of economic growth and employment,
''so that everyone in Britain can share in high living standards''.
The Library brief tells us that the World Business Council for Sustainable Development provides a glossary, in which it defines sustainability. It says that there are more than 100 definitions of sustainability and sustainable development, but they are not the same thing. It states:
''The implementation of sustainable development is essentially the reduction of the ecological footprint of the human race. Each person, by their very existence, impacts on the environment.''
That must be right. That is why we must ensure that all our developments are carried out in a sustainable way. Mineral extraction is one form of development that uses up resources more quickly than anything else, but the Minister scoffed when I said that nothing in the Bill ensures that we adopt policies towards mineral development that minimise the use of aggregates.
The Government produced a long list of targets in an attempt to ensure that every Department adopted policies consistent with sustainable development. The Government attach great importance to those targets. After all, they created Green Ministers. The Minister for the Environment tried to explain how the Government would take on Agenda 21, which builds on the Rio summit in relation to sustainability. In answer to a parliamentary question, he said:
''There is no mandatory requirement on any organisation to take on Agenda 21. However, a wide range of organisations, including central and local government, business and the voluntary sector, are committed to take forward the Agenda 21 agreement on sustainable development.''—[Official Report, 29 July 1997; Vol. 299, c. 193W.]
The Minister's former Department, the Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions, introduced a best-value indicator to report on the progress made by local authorities on community strategies. A survey of English and Welsh authorities by the Local Government Association in autumn 2001 found that 27 per cent. of the 67 per cent. of authorities that responded had developed a strategy. The Bill is a further twist to encourage authorities to act in a sustainable way.
As I said, the Government created the role of Green Minister, and although that has been enhanced and strengthened, it does not go as far as it should. The Government's greening initiative will now continue as sustainable development. They have introduced three broad priority areas: integrating sustainable development into decision making; improving performance of the Government estate—I have already said that the Government have set targets for that—and promoting understanding of sustainable development across government.
Sustainable development has featured in spending reviews, and was an overall theme in the spending round for 2002, so the Treasury has become involved in it. In their report ''Quality of Life Counts'', the Government gave details of which indicators they planned to utilise to measure sustainable development. They established 15 indicators, which I shall not list. The Environmental Audit Select Committee reported on the Government's sustainability indicators and found that only 10 out of 15 had been widely implemented. The Committee said:
''One could just as easily present the 2001 assessments as showing that only two of the seven environmental indicators . . . are showing clear progress.
The Government must ensure that appropriate data is collected. Given that the 15 headline indicators were established in 1999, we are surprised and disappointed that there is still insufficient data in some areas to provide a complete picture.''
DEFRA published an updated report in 2002 ''Quality of Life''—barometer leaflets. The Minister
for the Environment gave a definition in answer to a parliamentary question, which I summarised. On 25 January 2002, the Government launched their new sustainable development website, and the public will be able to see clearly from that whether those 15 indicators have been reached.
With that rather long history of the need for sustainable development and the Government's progress on it, I commend amendment No. 256 to the Committee. The amendment has built on the four original themes from the Government's document. After some research, I find it to be the best definition. It is supported by the organisations that I mentioned at the beginning of my speech, and by the Council for the Protection of Rural England and the Disability Rights Commission, among others.
Given the spirit that the Minister showed on the last clause, I hope that we will get not merely half a loaf, but a whole one, and that he will accept the amendment.
Several hon. Members rose—