Dwp Sustainable Development, Energy And Environment

Sustainable Development, Energy and Environment

1st Annual Report – 2001

Foreword by Stephen Hickey ? Corporate Services Director This last year has seen the former Department of Social Security (DSS) achieve particular success in the areas of strategic management, renewable energy and transport. Having now joined with colleagues from the former Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) and Employment Services (ES) to create the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), discussions are taking place to integrate our activity and develop joint proposals. As Senior Accountable Officer for Sustainable Development in the Department for Work and Pensions, I am very pleased to be able to present this our first annual report. It will summarise the past year’s major activities of the former DSS and ES, and set out the aims of the new DWP for the coming year. We have a lot of work to do to build on our successes and ensure that the policies

Sustainable Development Team ? A new corporate team has been created to manage sustainable development, energy and environment issues within DWP. This folllows a recommendation by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), adopted by the Green Ministers’ Committee, that each Department should have a central unit with responsibility for these issues.

and work of our refocused Department is truly sustainable and that we maximise our contribution to the improvement of the environment around us.

The DWP Sustainable Development (SD) Team, which sits within Departmental Estates under the Director Peter Besley, works with Land Securities Trillium – estates partner to the former DSS – to green the Department’s buildings under the ‘PRIME’ PFI contract. This contract incentivises and rewards environmental and energy efficiency. The SD team is working with colleagues from the former ES to build on successes and share best practice.

DWP actively delivers support to the most vulnerable sector of society and is working to: reduce child and pensioner poverty; help all those able to work to find jobs; and ensure that people with disabilities can play their full part. This aligns an overarching vision of promoting economic growth and tackling social exclusion, clearly in line with the objectives of Sustainable Development. It is early days yet and we, like most Government Departments, are only now coming to terms with the breadth of the sustainable development agenda, bringing together social, economic and environmental elements to deliver integrated policies which will benefit both people and the environment they live in. Our potential to deliver real sustainability is therefore considerable, and our aim is to promote this concept throughout the work of the new Department.

The Senior Accountable Officer, Stephen Hickey, is regularly informed of progress and is the Department’s representative to the Cabinet Office’s SD forum. The Department’s Green Minister is Baroness Hollis of Heigham.

Richard Fountain SD, Energy and Environment Strategy Land Securities Trillium Issues

Stephen Hickey Corporate Services Director

Jane Cony

TBA

Roz Reeves

Bianca Schofield

SD & Environment Policy Green Minister Support

Env Management Systems Improvement Programme

Waste & Recycling EMS Issues

Energy Management Awareness Issues

David Johnson Please note all figures relate to the former DSS, and not to the newly created DWP. Figures for the new Department are being gathered and will be reported in the 2002 SD Annual Report.

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Carole Cassidy Business Support and Sustainable Development

Green Transport Plans SD Database

Robbie Bamforth EMS 2000

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DWP Sustainable Development Policy and Improvement Programme In 1999, the former DSS adopted an Environmental Policy Statement which was jointly signed by the Department’s Permanent Secretary, Green Minister and the Chief Executives of its estates partners. Accompanying this was an Improvement Programme, containing detailed targets to promote continuing improvement of its operations’ environmental impact. This Environmental Policy Statement is now being replaced by a DWP Sustainable Development Policy Statement which clarifies the commitment of DWP to meet its own, and the Government’s, SD objectives. Accompanying this new policy statement is a revised Improvement Programme, which sets specific targets to ensure we meet these objectives. The SD Team monitors progress towards their achievement and good progress has been made this year in meeting both Government and DWP targets.

DWP has developed a network of ‘SD Champions’ from across its business who will own and progress the targets within the Improvement Programme and help to ‘spread the word’. A Steering Group has been established to influence the direction of our SD work, promote high-level and staff commitment to our plans, and enable a common approach to be taken to SD and environmental issues as they apply to DWP.

Sustainable Policies The commitment of DWP to the principles of sustainable development is reflected in its Public Service Agreement (PSA) targets. Our targets, some of which are jointly owned by HM Treasury, strongly support the relevant SD headline indicators, which are used to focus attention and give a broad overview of progress. This enables DWP to make a substantial contribution towards the social and economic objectives of the UK Strategy for Sustainable Development:

Stephen Hickey, DWP’s Senior Accountable Officer for SD, has sponsored a process for Departmental policies and change initiatives to be screened for SD and environmental impacts during their formulation. This will maximise our contribution to Government’s objectives – to place sustainability ‘at the heart of decision making’ and to meet the requirements of the Parliamentary Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) and Green Ministers. The SD Team The key areas these initiatives fall under are: provides advice to managers in meeting these requirements, and will be working closely with > Environmental the Department’s new agencies, Jobcentre Plus and The Pensions Service, to ensure we fulfil Management Systems our obligations. Any impacts are minimised wherever possible, and records are kept.

Headline Indicators

Departmental SD Strategy The key to good environmental performance, from policy to delivery, is integration. A comprehensive DWP SD strategy document is being developed, which will integrate all aspects of SD policies and plans so all energy and environmental programmes will be under one controlled system. This will enable us to promote and record the continuing improvement of the Department’s environmental performance and the sustainability of its work. DWP’s SD Team is working closely with the SD Commission to ensure that our proposals meet with the overall concept of SD and to promote a commonality of approach across Government.

> HI 3 – Proportion of people of working age who are in work. > HI 4 – Success in tackling poverty and social exclusion, such as children in low-income households, adults without qualifications in work-less households and elderly in fuel poverty.

DWP has a number of initiatives under way which will reduce our impact on the environment. One example is the Electronic Service Delivery project, which will make it possible to claim benefits on line, which will reduce travel and contribute towards energy and water reductions in DWP buildings.

> Combined Heat and Power

> Renewable Energy > Energy and climate change > Water > Waste and recycling

DWP PSA targets > Ensuring the best start for all children and ending child poverty within 20 years.

> Biodiversity > Procurement

> Promoting work as the best form of welfare for people of working age, whilst protecting the position of those in greatest need.

> Travel

> Combating poverty and promoting security and independence in retirement for today’s and tomorrow’s pensioners.

> Training and guidance

> Modernise welfare delivery so as to improve the accessibility and accuracy of services.

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The Department’s first Environmental Management System (EMS), at Peel Park Blackpool, was accredited to ISO 14001 in September 2000. The lessons learned from this project, together with the experience of our trained environmental auditors and the SD Team, are now being utilised to develop an EMS throughout the operations of the Benefits Agency in London and the South-East, which includes 70 buildings and 7,000 staff.

Two former Employment Service’s office buildings in Sheffield, one HQ site and one Jobcentre, are also being considered for an EMS. A full rollout programme across the corporate operations of the DWP will be considered subject to these regional pilots. In addition to these DWP iniatives, our major estates partner, Land Securities Trillium, are working towards a national EMS covering estates issues, such as energy, water and waste, across the former DSS. The aim is to achieve accreditation to ISO 14001 by the end of December 2001. DWP has a large number of staff housed in buildings in the Newcastle area, which are managed by Inland Revenue, and we are supporting Inland Revenue’s plans for an EMS to cover these buildings. Together, these initiatives will enable us to achieve maximum EMS coverage across the Department. DWP recognises the potential of Combined Heat and Power (CHP) units in terms of the energy efficiency offered and the significant savings in carbon emissions. Our estates partners are therefore currently undertaking a detailed survey with a view to the installation of a CHP at one of our largest HQ buildings.

Combined Heat and Power

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Renewable Energy

Environmental Management Systems

The Government target for 10 per cent of electricity to be supplied from renewable sources by 2010 was exceeded by the former DSS in 2000. Furthermore, with effect from October 2001, 37.7 per cent of the total electricity consumption of the former DSS,which equates to around 26.9 per cent of the new DWP, will be provided from renewable sources, with 81 sites being totally powered by renewables, dramatically reducing CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. These 81 sites are as follows: * Ashton-Under-Lyme - Crown Buildings * Barking - Phoenix House * Barnsley - John Rideal House * Basildon - Great Oaks * Birkenhead - Great Western House * Birkenhead - St. Marks House * Birmingham - Five Ways House * Birmingham - High Street Erdington * Bishop Auckland - Vinovium House * Blackburn - Orchard House * Blackpool - Mexford House * Blackpool - Peel Park * Blackpool - Warbreck House * Bolton - Elizabeth House * Bootle - St. Martins House * Bridgend - Crown Buildings * Bristol - Eagle House * Bristol - Flowers Hill * Bromley - Westmorland House * Burton-Upon-Trent - Crown Building * Cambridge - Henry Giles House * Cardiff - Gabalfa Govt Buildings * Cheltenham - Rivershill House * Chester - Chantry House * Coventry - Cofa Court * Croydon - Concorde House * Doncaster - Crossgate House

* Dudley - Pedmore House * Eston - Hadrian House * Exeter - Clarendon House * Grimsby - Crown House * Hastings - Ashdown House * Hinchley Wood - Kingston by Pass * Hyde - Beech House * Ipswich - St. Felix House * Kingston - Brook Street * Lancaster - Mitre House * Leeds - Lawnswood Govt Buildings * Leeds - Quarry House * Leicester - Wellington Street * Liverpool - High Park House * Llanelli - Crown Buildings * London Balham - Irene House * London Bloomsbury - Tavis House * London Bloomsbury - Whittington House * London Camden - Euston Road * London Cricklewood - Broadway * London Plaistow - Francis House * London Southwark - Wedge House * London Stratford - Jubilee House * Lytham - Heyhouses Lane * Manchester - Baskerville House * Manchester - Heywood Stores * Manchester - Wilmslow Road

* Middlesbrough - James Cook House * Nelson - Scholefield Mill * Newcastle - Arden House * Newton Abbot - Ilford Park * Nottingham - Upper Parliament Street * Oldham - Phoenix House * Oxford - Cuffas Lea House * Peterborough - Clifton House * Plymouth - Clearbrook House * Plymouth Crownhill Court * Preston - Barry House * Reading - Princes House * Rochdale - Newgate House * South Shields - Wouldhave House * Southend - Victoria House * Stockport - Heron House * Stevenage - Danestrate Brickdale House * Sunderland - Wearview House * Sutton - Sunderland House * Swindon - Spring Gardens * Warrington - Hilden House * Watford - Exchange House * Weymouth - Westwey House * Widnes - Kingsway House * Wigan - Brocol House * Wigan - Griffin House * Worthing - Crown Buildings

The Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) and Michael Meacher, the Environment Minister, commended the former DSS for its approach, particularly the deliberate step of paying slightly more than the price of conventional electricity, plus the Climate Change Levy, to secure our green power. Paying 0.15 per cent extra on our total electricity budget of £9M gave us this major success. Our current supply contracts contain flexibility clauses allowing us to move to green sources whenever they are secured – even with different suppliers – and a long-term strategy is under consideration which seeks to secure green supplies for years to come by supporting the creation of new renewable capacity.

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Water

Energy and Climate Change In recent years, former DSS total energy consumption has steadily reduced despite an increase in IT usage and in building opening hours. To ensure that we maintain this trend, a comprehensive benchmarking exercise has been undertaken on all former DSS buildings. The top 100 energy consuming sites – totalling about 60 per cent of overall consumption – have also been surveyed for potential efficiency improvements. Recommendations on ‘spend to

DWP Energy Consumption 500.00

save’ capital investment and other improvement measures have been made with estimated consumption savings averaging 16 per cent. No departmental funding is required as our estates partners will fund the schemes themselves, recovering their investment from the savings which actually accrue. A number of investment opportunities have been identified by these surveys, several of them ‘building specific’, but many of the recommendations will be rolled out across the entire estate, increasing savings further. Three

sites have been selected as implementation pilots, and work has commenced on those sites. In addition to this major initiative, energy efficiency is integral to the life-cycle replacement works carried out by Land Securities Trillium, ensuring that we maximise the efficiency of our systems wherever possible. Many of our buildings are currently overheated to compensate for cold-spots, creating health and comfort problems for staff and wasting energy. To combat this, a ‘Healthy Heating’ strategy has been agreed, which seeks to address the problems by proposing a combination of measures including work, by Land Securities Trillium, to identify and rectify cold-spots. Together with our proposed investment measures, the strategy is expected to bring a real improvement to occupant comfort and energy efficiency. To complement these technical improvements we need to encourage everyone to ‘do their bit’ in reducing the energy consumption and CO2 output of our buildings. To increase their awareness of the potential for this, and to encourage feedback from staff, we provide graphical building-specific energy reports, which compare consumption to ‘good practice’ benchmarks and allow comparison with other similar buildings on the DWP estate.

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The amount of water consumed each year in the Department’s buildings needs to be reduced. To assist in achieving this ‘spend to save’ initiatives, to reduce water usage, are included within the energy surveys mentioned above. One of our major investment proposals is the introduction of waterless urinals – by requiring no water to flush these will reduce our water consumption considerably. A successful trial has been undertaken, and we are now developing a major rollout programme.

All but a handful of former DSS buildings now have water meters, enabling trends to be analysed and consumption targets to be set. This has enabled DWP to take part in the ‘Watermark’ project, run by the Office of Government Commerce, which aims to develop a series of ‘best practice’ water benchmarks to enable Departments to assess and maximise the efficient use of water. Data on all 700+ former DSS buildings has been provided to OGC.

Waste and Recycling

The former ES has benchmarked its water consumption internally to identify potential for savings and maximise efficiency.

Total output of waste from the former DSS is in excess of 24,000 tonnes, of which we currently recycle approximately 37 per cent. The majority of the Department’s waste is paper, and all of our ‘restricted and confidential’ paper waste is already recycled. Plans are being developed to maximise the recycling of our waste paper by the end of 2001, helping us to meet the Government’s recycling targets. Desks and filing cabinets are recycled under our estates contract. Fixtures are re-painted and re-used, and desktops pulped and recycled wherever possible. Replacement desktops come from recycled sources.

Biodiversity A wildlife friendly cutting and mowing regime was introduced at the Peel Park site as part of the EMS. The SD Team will be working with our estates partners to identify further sites with scope for a biodiversity action plan.

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Training and Guidance

Procurement All our suppliers are provided with a copy of our Policy Statement and Improvement Programme and when tendering for goods and services, they are asked to submit details of their environmental policy statement and for any specific proposals related to the contract. All new contracts are assessed for their environmental impacts and, where anything significant is identified, a specific action plan is devised to monitor and manage those impacts. Land Securities Trillium incorporates environmental factors into all its procurement processes on behalf of DWP, and has confirmed that only wood from certified sustainable sources is used on the former DSS estate and that no peat is used for horticulture. All new and major refurbishment projects are subject to a Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) assessment. This tests the environmental efficiency of a building and our aim is to achieve a rating of ‘very good’. DWP has taken the lead in a joint initiative with the Office of Government Commerce

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to let a new stationery contract, which all Government Departments are being encouraged to use. This contract increases the availability of recycled goods and aims to maximise their usage wherever possible. Energy and environmental efficiencies are being incorporated into our major IT replacement programme including energy efficiency of equipment, minimisation and environmentally friendly disposal of packaging waste, reduced and duplex printing, recycling of redundant kit and remote technical management.

Travel There are 288 Green Transport Plans in place, covering 397 sites and approximately 80 per cent of former DSS staff and also 104 former ES sites. A long-term strategy for the adoption of GTP requirements across the Department is under consideration, with focussed attention on specific sites with the greatest potential for improvements. DWP pays a single rate of motor mileage allowance irrespective of engine size, encouraging the use of smaller, more economical, cars for official journeys, and an increased pedal-cycle allowance of 12p per mile. In addition, where staff use cars provided by the Department, mileage allowance is paid at the diesel rate regardless of the fuel used, acting as an incentive to dual-fuel vehicle drivers to use the much cheaper and more environmentally efficient Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG). The former DSS fleet now has 297 LPG vehicles (11 per cent of its fleet) and it is intended to increase the percentage of environmentally efficient vehicles in coming years. The former DSS was one of the first to join the Motorvate scheme, and we are signed up to the scheme’s targets to reduce the amount of CO2 emissions created by our fleet, monitoring our mileage to promote efficiency and ensure our compliance with the scheme. The former ES has replaced half of its fleet with vehicles of EU IV standard, making a further substantial cut to CO2 emissions.

As you can see, a number of technical and procedural improvements are being made, all of which aim to reduce the Department’s impact on the environment. To ensure that our staff make the most of the facilities which are, and will be, available to them, it is essential that effective communications are developed. The involvement of our staff is equally essential if we are to meet our objectives and to assist in this, an SD site has been launched on the Department’s Intranet. This aims to provide interesting and informative information for our staff to stimulate their interest and to encourage this involvement. Included on the site are:

> details of our SD policies and targets. > explanatory and guidance documents and progress reports. > detailed building-specific energy and water consumption reports. On 1st February 2001, our previous Green Minister chaired an SD Conference for our senior managers. The day was designed to promote familiarity with sustainable development, highlighting the important contribution that DWP makes, and included a number of keynote speakers. Michael Meacher, the Environment Minister, stressed the importance of SD in ensuring a quality of life for our children. Anna

Coote, from the Sustainable Development Commission, provided a wider concept of SD and its issues and John Horam, Chairman of the Parliamentary Environmental Audit Committee, explained the background to EAC’s requirement that all Departments screen their policies and proposals for environmental impacts and record the outcome. The event was very well received and provided managers with an insight into the importance of SD, and its implications on, and relevance to, our work.

Conclusion The Department of Social Security made good progress last year, but we have many challenges ahead of us as the Department for Work and Pensions. Integrating our policies and programmes with those of our new colleagues from the former DfEE and Employment Service will present an opportunity to learn from each other and to progress towards true sustainability in our work.

To ensure that our staff are kept aware of progress a quarterly newsletter, ‘Greenlines’, is issued to all staff by the SD Team. This newsletter provides a two to three-page general update, with additional attachments on specific issues for those who have an interest in the subject matter. Feedback has been very positive and the aim is to use the newsletter to encourage our staff to become more environmentally aware and to enlist their help in reducing our impact on the environment. Following on from these initiatives, a detailed awareness campaign is under way, comprising specific advice on how everyone can ‘do their bit’.

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Contacts

For further information, please contact: Carole Cassidy 4th Floor Tavis House 1-6 Tavistock Square London WC1H 9NB Tel : 0207 2006253 Fax : 0207 2006254 [email protected]

Richard Fountain H Wing Government Buildings Otley Road, Lawnswood Leeds LS16 5PU Tel : 0113 2309711 Fax : 0113 2309712 [email protected]