Sustainable Development Advisory Note
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT UNDER BEST VALUE - AN ADVISORY NOTE
ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT
The duty of Best Value in the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 requires that "the local authority shall discharge its duties under this section in a way which contributes to the achievement of sustainable development".
This document is issued by the Best Value Task Force in response to requests to provide an advisory note on the Best Value duty "to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development". It does not form part of the statutory guidance. It is intended to support local authority senior managers in their understanding of sustainable development in relation to the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 ("the Act"), where sustainable development is a theme that cuts across the main and inter-connected provisions relating to Best Value, Community Planning, and the Power to Advance Well Being.
References to sustainable development are contained throughout the statutory guidance on each, and they are exemplified in Chapter Seven - A Contribution To Sustainable Development - of the Best Value Task Force guidance "Characteristics of Best Value Arrangements", to which a local authority should adhere by virtue of s2 of the Act. Relevant extracts from this guidance are attached at Annex A.
This advisory note also sets the context for, and is consistent with, more detailed guidance and case studies produced by others on various aspects of sustainable development for different audiences. Key sources of support and guidance are listed in Annex B.
WHAT IS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT?
Sustainable development has proved complicated to interpret in the past, and a number of key sources have been used to develop the definition used in the Best Value guidance.
In the document "Meeting the Needs..." the Scottish Executive referred to the well-known Brundtland definition of sustainable development as "Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." The Executive helpfully added the qualification that "Sustainable development is about combining economic progress with social and environmental justice."
The definition of sustainable development used in Chapter Seven of the Best Value statutory guidance brings the two Executive statements together, and combines them with the concept of Well Being introduced by the Act, stating that local authorities should use the following working definition of sustainable development:
"development which secures a balance of social, economic, and environmental well-being in the impact of activities and decisions; and which seeks to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs"
A full discussion about the implications of this definition is attached at Annex C. It establishes sustainable development as a means of bringing into alignment policies for economic welfare, social inclusion and environmental stewardship. This is not a simple matter of weighing competing demands in the balance. It is not a matter of economic development versus environment, or of short-term gain versus long-term investment, but of development based on the proper management of resources and consideration of full life cycle impacts and costs.
It also makes it clear that sustainable development is also not about the environment alone. It is as relevant to tackling poverty, care for the vulnerable, and dealings with business as it is to environmental responsibilities.
THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT
The requirement to ensure that Best Value arrangements contribute to the achievement of sustainable development is consistent with two themes set out in the Scottish Executive's "A Partnership for a Better Scotland". These are that "we want a Scotland that delivers sustainable development"; and that "Best Value arrangements will ensure that every public body tests its services against the highest possible standards in other public bodies."
National government can do much to create the conditions for sustainable development. Its role is crucial for international agreements, legislation and regulations, macro-economic management, and providing access to resources. Individuals, households and local communities can make a difference through their attitudes and actions, but there are limits to what they can do on their own. By far the greatest influence locally - in the provision of services, control of land use and transport, economic development, social welfare and education - is local government and its community plan partners.
This role was recognised at the 1992 UN Earth Summit, 1 which gave rise to Local Agenda 21, the continuing role of which is acknowledged in the Community Planning Advice Notes. Much work on sustainable development is already underway by local authorities in Scotland. It is a theme in many community plan partnerships, and is required to be the basis of town and country planning. It is also a mandatory cross-cutting theme in European Structural Fund Partnerships in which many authorities are active partners.
The implication of reference to sustainable development in the statutory duty of Best Value is that authorities must consider the impact of their activities, from decision making and planning through to service delivery, on achieving sustainable development: as much as they are required to consider the financial and other consequences of decisions and actions and the standard of service they want to provide or secure. It suggests that any decision or act by the authority should have a positive effect on, and should never undermine, the achievement of sustainable development.
ADDRESSING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF BEST VALUE: PRACTICAL STEPS
The most important first step in demonstrating a commitment to sustainable development is to decide to do so. See Annex D. But there are a number of further practical steps that local authorities can take to help them address and account for their contribution to sustainable development's achievement.
The mainstreaming of sustainable development into decision making will not happen overnight. In the early stages it will be about making simple decisions and ensuring a shift in organisational culture and behaviour. In the longer term an authority which fully embraces the concept will manifest a commitment to sustainable development into its political management structure, its corporate planning and derived service plans, its consultation processes, its communications with staff and others, its codes of governance, its allocation of resources, and its review practices. It will also be important for authorities to be co-ordinated and joined up.
Examples of taking action
The authority which takes account of relevant environmental, social and economic impacts when specifying its requirements for goods, works and services, is likely to be making a contribution to sustainable development in the longer term.
When awarding contracts, local authorities have to comply with a number of requirements, notably EU procurement law (both the Treaty and Directives) and their own contract Standing Orders. Bringing Standing Orders into line with European case law and the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 is a necessary step in improving contractual and procurement practices under Best Value and in ensuring they can contribute to the achievement of sustainable development.
The Procurement Directives require that contracts are awarded either on the basis of "lowest price" or "the most economically advantageous offer". The authority which bases procurement decisions simply on lowest initial price rather than setting a tender specification which takes other issues into account, or making a judgement according to "most economically advantageous" tender is unlikely to be making a contribution to sustainable development in the longer term.
There are a number of key points which authorities should bear in mind:
- Sustainable development considerations should be built into the process right at the start, if possible in the contract specification.
- Where they relate to economic advantage to the authority, environmental criteria can be applied at the award stage provided that this is made clear to bidders and provided that the criteria are proportionate and consistent with Best Value.
- Where relevant to ability to perform the contract, potential bidders should be assessed (at the qualification stage of procurement procedures) on the basis of their ability to perform the contract.
- Procurement decisions should be based on whole-life costs.
The European Court of Justice has confirmed that it is possible to take account of relevant environmental benefits when awarding contracts (Case C - 513/99, "Helsinki Buses", 17 September 2002). In this case, the Court held that contracting authorities may take into consideration environmental criteria (such as levels of emissions or noise levels) "provided that they are linked to the subject-matter of the contract, do not confer an unrestricted freedom of choice on the authority, are expressly mentioned in the contract documents or the tender notice, and comply with all the fundamental principles of Community law, in particular the principle of non-discrimination". This ruling is consistent with the advice to purchasers on sustainable development in public procurement, published on the Scottish Executive's website
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/about/FCSD/PCSD-POL/00017839/susdevguide.aspx
Local authorities can also take action on waste minimisation (and the Scottish Executive is providing funding support for the purpose). The Scottish Environment Protection Agency have produced simple tips on waste minimisation which can be found on the SEPA website at
http://www.sepa.org.uk/wastemin/yourown/tips.htm
Using recycled products and specifying them in contracts can help develop markets for recycled materials and support local authorities' work to move towards more sustainable waste management. There are a number of areas where local authorities or contractors working on their behalf can make considerable use of recycled products, including:
- Green waste (to go on parks and other local authority land).
- Aggregates for roads work.
- Stationery (e.g. recycled paper and printer cartridges).
- Building materials for both new build and building maintenance.
- Plastics (e.g. specifying that bollards, traffic cones and wheelie bins should be made out of recycled materials).
Many Community Planning Partnerships have developed indicators that share much with a sustainable development approach. In addition, some Scottish local authorities have undertaken Sustainability Appraisals of various plans that have helped to define sets of useful indicators.
BVTF
June 2004