With pressure on best value, efficiencies and completing the day job, sustainable development principles can be seen as something extra which has to be done. We would argue however that sustainable development is all about good corporate governance and sustainable development considerations should be built into everything a local authority does.
One of the main issues is about translating sustainable development into actual practice. For a long time sustainable development has been related to the environmental local agenda 21, but sustainable development is about the development of our society and our economy whilst recognising environmental limits and being conscious that decisions today not only have an impact now but in the future as well.
The Assembly has a duty to promote sustainable development in everything that it does, but the Association feels that in certain policy areas sustainable development isn’t being reflected as thoroughly as it could. We are also concerned that local government is perceived to be failing to deliver on sustainable development when there is little evidence to substantiate or refute these claims.
The Sustainable Development Framework for Welsh Local Government
To assist local authorities in translating sustainable development into practical examples the Association is about to embark on an ambitious three year project aimed at key service areas within local authorities.We intend to produce examples of how services areas such as waste, housing etc. can best inbed sustainable development principles into their service and attempt to tackle some of the misconceptions that it costs more and is more difficult to do.
Partnerships
The Association has a partnership with the sustainable development charity Forum For the Future. Forum will be working with the Association on the development of the framework as well as supporting our improvement and health teams on particular aspects of their work.
Sustainable development & procurement
The Association has also signed up to the Buying into Sustainable Development concept in that the public sector in Wales should utilise the £4bn it spends in Wales to deliver sustainable development outcomes. For example we need to recognise that the vehicles we purchase directly affect climate change not only here but also in countries around the world.
For more information contact: Tim Peppin