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Recommendation 1. |
The seeking out and prosecuting of those who operate unlicensed vehicles, and the impounding of vehicles where necessary, would be likely to reduce offences in all categories of offence. We recommend that existing resources should be diverted towards the seeking out and prosecuting of unlicensed operators. |
3.3 This recommendation was supported by businesses and trades unions. In its response, the Government said that it gives a high priority to enforcement, although the allocation of police resources is a matter for individual Chief Constables.
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Recommendation 2. |
The targeting of illegal operators would be more effective if backed up by the power to impound, and if necessary dispose of, illegal vehicles. Traffic Commissioners should be given the power to seize, impound and dispose of unlicensed heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) and public service vehicles (PSVs). |
3.4 The Government has indicated that it is considering introducing a power to impound unlicensed vehicles. The Round Table urges speedy action on this recommendation, which received widespread support.
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Recommendation 3. |
A police presence is currently required in Great Britain for the stopping of vehicles on public roads. Police availability for this type of work appears to be decreasing. The Round Table proposes that traffic and vehicle examiners who have had appropriate training should have the power to stop HGVs and PSVs on public roads. |
3.5 Some concern was expressed about this recommendation, for example from the Association of British Chambers of Commerce; and the police are opposed. The Government's response said that steps were being taken to overcome the practical problems of ensuring that police support is available, but made clear that the Government was not convinced that it would be right to extend the general powers to stop vehicles to persons other than the police. The Round Table recognises that practical problems would need to be overcome, but continues to believe that the change it recommends should be made. In a meeting with Malcolm Moss MP, Green Minister at the Northern Ireland Office, Round Table members were told that a similar power had existed in Northern Ireland for many years without problems arising. The Round Table is continuing to pursue this issue.
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Recommendation 4. |
We also recommend that more purpose-designed and signed vehicle check sites should be established. |
3.6 Some respondents pointed out that the location of such sites would soon become known, and unscrupulous operators would divert their lorries to avoid them. The Government's response drew attention to the cost of static sites but said that it would consider this option together with other priority claims on the funding available for enforcement.
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Recommendation 5. |
The levels of fine which are imposed are far lower than the maximum fines available for each type of offence. We propose that additional guidance should be given to the Courts encouraging them to take account of the sustainable development implications of offences in their sentencing. |
3.7 This recommendation also received widespread support. In its response, the Government undertook to consider issuing guidance to magistrates. The Round Table regrets that this issue is apparently being given such a low priority: the current recommended levels of fine are absurdly low (for example, £450 for failure to have an operator's licence); increasing them would be a simple contribution to sustainable development.
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Recommendation 6. |
A system of clocking up of convictions should be introduced, with the information stored on a central computer database available both to the Courts and to the Traffic Commissioners. Fines could then be imposed that took account of previous convictions, and the licences of operators who have received more than a specific number brought to the Commissioners for review. |
3.8 This recommendation was also widely supported. The Round Table understands from the Traffic Commissioners that there are apparently no central records of road traffic convictions. The Government's response indicates that it is exploring the links between the Courts, the Department of Transport's Traffic Area Offices and the Vehicle Inspectorate.
Economic instruments
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Recommendation 7. |
Subject to the need to take account of the UK's competitiveness with other European countries, the Government should set differentials in the rate of tax between fuels which reflect their environmental advantages and disadvantages. |
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Recommendation 8. |
The Government should consider graduating vehicle excise duty on heavy vehicles according to the emission limits their engines are designed to meet, with a reduced rate of duty for vehicles meeting new limits which are not yet in force, and an increased rate for vehicles not designed to meet emission limits currently mandatory for new vehicles. Graduated taxation should at the same time take account of the propensity of vehicles to cause noise, and wear and tear to roads and other infrastructure. |
3.9 The Round Table welcomes the proposals in the 1996 Budget for reduced duty on ultra-low sulphur diesel and lower vehicle excise duty on heavy vehicles which meet stringent emissions standards.
Good practice
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Recommendation 9. |
The Round Table recommends training for smaller companies, through cooperation between the relevant Government Departments, the Road Haulage Association and the Freight Transport Association, on best practice in route scheduling. |
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Recommendation 10. |
There is potential for further reducing the amount of empty running by loadsharing. We recommend that the major freight users be encouraged to get together to set up a widely available computerised loadsharing system. |
3.10 These recommendations were generally supported. The Government has undertaken to explore with interested organisations how best they can be taken forward. The Round Table awaits the outcome of those discussions.
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Recommendation 11. |
We also recommend that companies should be encouraged, in appropriate locations and with suitable vehicles, to operate outside peak hours. |
3.11 Some respondents pointed out the problems that could be associated with out-of-hours deliveries. The Round Table agrees with the Government's observation that individual local authorities are best placed to balance the local environmental impact of lorries with the economic needs of the area.
General
3.12 The Round Table's main conclusion from its study of the effects of liberalisation on the domestic energy market was that market forces can assist a move towards sustainable development provided they operate within a regulatory regime which addresses environmental and social, as well as economic, concerns. The Government's response to the Round Table - both in writing and during a meeting with the Minister, Richard Page MP - has been that much of the responsibility for achieving economic, environmental and social objectives rests with the energy regulators. In their responses, the regulators - the Office of Electricity Regulation (Offer) and the Office of Gas Supply (Ofgas) - identified their primary role as the promotion of competition and protection of consumers' interests. Both expect liberalisation to benefit energy efficiency as more firms enter the market and offer a range of services; neither anticipates at this stage needing to take specific action to promote energy efficiency. Neither comments in detail on the Government's description of their role as set out in the response to the Round Table's annual report. In subsequent discussions with the Director General, Office of the Regulator for Electricity and Gas, Northern Ireland, the Round Table was confirmed in its view that the environmental duties of the energy regulators should be strengthened and that they should be given specific environmental targets to achieve.
3.13 The House of Commons Trade and Industry Select Committee has been holding inquiries into energy regulation and liberalisation of the electricity market. The Round Table submitted written evidence to the Select Committee, and on 27 November 1996 Professor Sir Richard Southwood, Mr Chase and Miss Young gave oral evidence on behalf of the Round Table: they emphasised the need for the Government and the regulators to provide an appropriate framework within which economic, environmental and social objectives can be met.
Impact of liberalisation - economic objectives
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Recommendation 1. |
The regulators and the competition authorities must ensure that the restructuring of the energy industries introduces genuine competition. |
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3.14 The Government's response draws attention to the fact that competition is one of the energy regulators' primary duties.
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Recommendation 2. |
The remaining core monopolies (the pipes and wires) will need to be regulated. Prices should be set to simulate competitive pressure and to avoid distortions to other areas of the market. |
3.15 The Government's response looks to the regulators to devise appropriate controls. It does not discuss the difficulties that are faced in doing so.
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Recommendation 3. |
In the interests of ensuring effective competition, the regulators should assess the way in which information on tariffs is likely to be provided and consider whether further measures may be necessary or desirable to assist customers and consumer organisations to understand and to compare data between suppliers. |
3.16 Respondents were divided in their views. The Government believes that normal commercial pressures will encourage companies to present their prices clearly, and points to the fact that the regulators also have duties to protect consumers. Others were concerned about the complexity of choices and the need for consumers to be helped to make comparisons between tariffs.
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Recommendation 4. |
The Government and the regulators should provide a framework which encourages companies to develop energy services. |
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Recommendation 5. |
The Government and industry should consider promoting the development of energy services if these do not emerge quickly of their own accord. |
3.17 The Government's response to the Round Table draws attention to the fact that the current framework allows the development of energy services; it suggests that an integrated approach to energy services is likely to be an important feature in the future. Other expert bodies - including the Energy Saving Trust, which has been given responsibility for delivering significant elements of the Government's energy efficiency programme - believe that competition will initially be on price, and that it may be many years before energy efficiency services appear. In view of this, the Round Table continues to believe that energy services will need to be actively encouraged, and not merely permitted.
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Recommendation 6. |
The regulators should be flexible in the way in which specific licences are drawn up to allow innovative supply arrangements to be adopted. |
3.18 The Government's response indicates that the regulators have the necessary flexibility. Offer has said that it will use this to assist small scale electricity suppliers.
Impact of liberalisation - environmental objectives
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Recommendation 7. |
As long as price formulae continue, and particularly in terms of the remaining core monopolies, the regulators must ensure that the price formulae contain no incentives which will tend to increase the volume of energy supplied. |
3.19 The Government believes that this is a matter for the regulators to consider when price controls are reviewed. For their part, the regulators have indicated to the Round Table that they are reducing the incentives for volume - for example, Ofgas in setting British Gas TransCo's new controls on transportation and storage.
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Recommendation 8. |
The Government should initiate further work on the scope to use economic instruments to contribute to environmental objectives. |
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Recommendation 9. |
The Government should promote energy efficiency with increased vigour up to and after 1998, using both economic and non-economic measures. |
3.20 There was support among respondents for measures to internalise external costs, to support energy efficiency. The Government said that it would examine the most appropriate ways of achieving its objectives, and restated its commitment to the use of economic instruments where appropriate - although neither of the examples it quoted (the landfill tax and road fuel duties) has any relevance to domestic gas and electricity.
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Recommendation 10. |
Financial incentives to promote energy efficiency will continue to be needed to overcome customer inertia and to help poorer customers with inadequate capital to undertake energy saving investment. Specific actions should include:
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3.21 There are divergent views. The Government's response draws attention to some specific areas where financial incentives are being used, but says that such incentives are generally not appropriate because energy efficiency improvements are cost-effective for the consumer. However, the Energy Saving Trust and others point out that customers do not understand that the pay-back period can be very short for properly implemented measures, and that those who are most in need are often not able to afford the initial investment anyway. The Round Table remains concerned that these barriers are being underestimated by the Government.
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Recommendation 11. |
Other measures to promote energy efficiency should include:
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3.22 The Government's response points to a number of existing initiatives, such as changes to the Building Regulations. Other respondents argue that more needs to be done. Reductions in the cost of gas and electricity as a result of increased competition between suppliers will help to achieve important economic objectives of sustainable development. But they will, at the same time, tend to encourage increased energy consumption, and thus cause environmental objectives to be missed, unless strong counterbalancing action is taken to ensure that improvements in energy efficiency are brought about by other means.
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Recommendation 12. |
The Government should establish a specific energy conservation levy to fund energy efficiency schemes. This could be an expansion of the existing E factor in gas price control and the special allowance in electricity supply price control, or some other form of finance. |
3.23 There is currently a programme under which the electricity regulator approves energy savings measures by public electricity suppliers. On 20 January 1997 he announced his intention to continue these "Energy Efficiency Standards of Performance" until 2000. The gas regulator has powers to make equivalent schemes but has not done so. The Government's response says that it is encouraging the Energy Saving Trust (EST) to work with the market and to lever in private funds. In its comments to the Round Table, however, the EST argues for a levy to be applied to the monopoly part of the electricity and gas businesses, continuing into the start of the competitive market, and looks to the Government to apply strong pressure to ensure that this happens.
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Recommendation 13. |
The effects of the energy sector on landscape and biodiversity depend critically on local circumstances; the existing regulatory controls, including the land use planning system, must be maintained and improved to work more effectively in the interests of sustainable development. |
3.24 The Round Table's subsequent report on Energy and Planning (see section 2 of this annual report) considers this subject in more detail.
Impact of liberalisation - social objectives
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Recommendation 14. |
The impact of competition on particular groups of customers should be monitored and remedial action taken if necessary. |
3.25 In its response to the Round Table, the Government draws attention to the duties that are placed on suppliers, and the regulators' responsibilities to take account of vulnerable groups.
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Recommendation 15. |
Measures to promote energy efficiency and to encourage innovative forms of service provision should be available to lower income households. |
3.26 The Government funds the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme and supports two charities - NEA and Energy Action Scotland (EAS) - which promote energy efficiency initiatives to combat fuel poverty. The Government also says that "there is nothing to stop supply companies from offering different forms of service provision when the market is fully liberalised". In their responses to the Round Table, NEA and EAS make clear that they believe additional Government measures are needed. The Round Table shares that view.
The role of the Government and the regulators
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Recommendation 16. |
If sustainable development is to be achieved in the energy sector, clear objectives for the economic, environmental and social consequences of liberalisation must be established and closely monitored by Government and the regulators so that corrective action can be taken if the limits are exceeded. |
3.27 The Round Table received support from a number of respondents for its view that a more coherent framework is needed, including clearer environmental duties for Offer and Ofgas. It is therefore particularly disappointed by what it regards as an exceptionally weak Government response to this recommendation. The response does not attempt to define the economic, environmental and social objectives of liberalisation, and makes no commitment to monitoring or taking corrective action if objectives are not being met. Such requirements are the bedrock of all policy-making, and are particularly important if sustainable development is to be secured. The Government's response indicates that the regulators' annual reports to Parliament will be an opportunity to keep interested parties in touch with progress. The Round Table would welcome detailed proposals from the Government as to how this will be achieved: such proposals should enable the specific objectives related to liberalisation to be identified and monitored.
3.28 Most of the Round Table's work has been concerned with particular sectors of the economy (such as energy and transport), or environmental media (such as its study of water, the conclusions of which are set out in this report). Its report on environmental management and audit reflected the importance of looking also at mechanisms for putting sustainable development into practice. In recent years, there has been some progress in understanding sustainable development and in implementing systems to bring it about. But many organisations are at a very early stage; in others, the environmental implications of decisions are still seen as a matter for a few specialists. Only in a minority of cases has sustainable development become central to the ethos of the organisation, and the basis for its decision-taking.
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Recommendation 1. |
All Government Departments should ensure that environmental considerations are fully taken into account when policies and programmes are determined, and should have procedures for ensuring that compliance with those requirements can be assessed and published. |
3.29 Following the Round Table's recommendation, the Government commissioned an independent evaluation of the extent to which environmental impacts are taken into account in policy decisions. At a meeting of Green Ministers in October 1996, Ministers agreed that environmental appraisal of policies would be carried out when appropriate and that procedures would be put in place to check that this happened. Green Ministers are due to consider these issues further shortly.
3.30 The Government regularly restates its belief in the importance of environment appraisal. Three years ago, for example, the Sustainable Development Strategy said
"The Government has long been committed to the integration of environmental concerns into decision-making at all levels...Not all government policies and programmes will have significant environmental effects; but all need to be examined on a consistent and systematic basis." (paragraph 29.2)
The Round Table considers that these commitments have as yet not become a reality. It looks to the Government to take action as a matter of urgency to remedy the position and to ensure that Government Departments show a lead to other sectors rather than, as is happening at the moment, often lagging behind.
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Recommendation 2. |
Local authorities should similarly ensure that environmental assessment forms part of the policies and programmes they adopt. |
3.31 Representatives of the Local Agenda 21 Steering Committee met Round Table members to discuss progress in implementing sustainable development at the local authority level. Most councils now have arrangements for discussing sustainable development, and a good deal of advice and training is being made available. Despite this, sustainable development is by no means fully integrated into day-to-day decision-taking.
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Recommendation 3. |
Further efforts should be made to encourage accreditation to BS 7750 and EMAS. As part of this process, criticisms of the bureaucracy associated with these schemes must be addressed: it is important that organisations see benefit for themselves in accreditation. One advantage of wider use of these schemes may be that they can provide an assurance that suppliers meet certain minimum standards of environmental performance. |
3.32 In its response to the Round Table, the Government committed itself to vigorous promotion of environmental management systems and to produce further case study material. This will certainly be needed: others who responded to the Round Table's report drew attention to the perceived bureaucracy of environmental management systems, especially for smaller companies.
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Recommendation 4. |
The Government should publish practical advice on Life Cycle Assessment, to help organisations in designing products and processes that meet the requirements of sustainable development. |
3.33 The Government accepted this recommendation. Other respondents welcomed the prospect of new guidance on this important but difficult topic.
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Recommendation 5. |
All organisations - but especially large companies and public sector organisations - should use procurement as a way of encouraging those in the supply chain to improve environmental performance. |
3.34 There is increasing evidence of good practice in this area. The best private sector firms are ahead of Government Departments, which do not (for example) stipulate that suppliers should comply with voluntary environmental schemes. The Round Table is pleased to see that the Government Panel on Sustainable Development has taken up the issue of Government procurement in its latest annual report; it looks to the Government to respond positively to the Panel's recommendations.
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Recommendation 6. |
All organisations should consult widely when drawing up environmental plans, and, in particular, should involve their employees when work practices need to be changed to meet new environmental obligations. |
3.35 The Round Table believes that participation should play an important role in sustainable development. The Government's response to this recommendation drew attention to the framework which the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) provides for ensuring effective communication with employees, the local community and external bodies. It will however be important that consultation takes place in all organisations, not just those that are aiming for accreditation under EMAS. The TUC held an environment conference in November 1996, arranged by its Assistant General Secretary David Lea (a Round Table member) to follow up this recommendation, recognising that employees will need training if they are to play a full part in considering environmental issues.
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Recommendation 7. |
The Government, educational establishments and employers should take full account of the role of environmental education in securing better environmental management. In particular, the Round Table will be looking to the Government to reflect the importance of this when its study of environmental education is published shortly. |
3.36 The Government endorsed this recommendation. Despite that, the Round Table was disappointed by the Government's environmental education strategy, published in June 1996. The Round Table agrees with the conclusion of the Government Panel on Sustainable Development in its first annual report that environmental education far transcends the boundaries of formal education: it should take place in the workplace and the community, as well as in schools and higher and further education. Educators, at every level, need to be able to teach their subjects with sustainable development in mind. So far as environmental education in schools is concerned, the Government's moratorium on changes to the national curriculum means that early progress is likely to be limited, although there is scope for environmental issues to be highlighted in project work.
General
3.37 In its response to this Round Table report, the Government declared that it was committed to sustainable transport policies. Yet, over the next 20 years, road traffic is projected to rise by 40% or more. This will obviously be bad for the environment: carbon dioxide emissions from transport will increase steadily. Such growth in traffic will also be bad for the economy: business costs will increase and the UK's competitiveness could be harmed.
3.38 It is clear that the unsustainability of current transport trends is one of the most serious problems facing the UK and other industrialised countries. Given that current transport policies will not secure sustainable development, new approaches will be needed.
Policy development
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Recommendation 1. |
The Government should draw up a National Sustainable Transport Strategy, based on meeting economic, environmental and social needs efficiently and equitably. |
3.39 This recommendation was widely supported. In its response, the Government referred to its Green Paper "Transport - The Way Forward", published in April 1996, and the annual sustainable development White Papers. Neither provides the comprehensive framework which the Round Table believes is needed.
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Recommendation 2. |
Road transport policy should be based on setting national targets for reducing traffic levels over the short and medium term, and on increasing the opportunity for local authorities, acting in partnership with business and communities, to determine the means by which complementary local targets are set and met. These might include traffic restrictions and calming; parking restrictions and charges; the promotion of public transport, walking and cycling; and the development of integrated transport nodes around railway and bus stations. |
3.40 The Round Table is pleased that, in its draft National Air Quality Strategy, the Government has set targets which take account of the impact of traffic. The Round Table's work in Northampton has confirmed the importance of local traffic targets (see section 2 of this report). There remains a need for national traffic targets - as recommended by the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution and supported by those who responded to the Round Table's report - as part of the national strategy. Policies can then be set, and progress monitored, in the light of these targets. The Government's response to the Round Table says that the question of further national targets "is still an open one". The Round Table will continue to press the Government to reconsider its policy on this issue.
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Recommendation 3. |
The Government's transport departments should develop traffic forecasting models and infrastructure appraisal techniques that more accurately assess the interlinked economic, environmental and social costs and benefits of proposed schemes. Strategic Environmental Assessment should be a part of this process. |
3.41 Most of those who responded supported the principle of this recommendation. The Round Table welcomes the initiatives announced in the Green Paper, including the decision to widen the remit of the Standing Advisory Committee on Trunk Road Assessment and to commission a feasibility study into a multi-modal National Transport Model. In pursuing these initiatives, the Round Table urges the Government to take into account the wider impacts of transport decisions as well as the effects on traffic patterns.
Institutional reform and planning
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Recommendation 4. |
The Government's transport departments should be organised to ensure that sufficient institutional authority and expertise exists to develop policies, and invest in transport infrastructure, from a holistic perspective, so that needs can be met efficiently and equitably. This should be done by ensuring that public transport, mass transit, cycling and walking, as well as rail, canal and coastal shipping for freight, are supported within and promoted by those departments. |
3.42 The Government's response draws attention to arrangements for coordinating transport policy and dealing with cross-cutting issues. However, the underlying approach is still a sectoral one, with Government transport Departments separating responsibility for railways, roads and public transport. As the Round Table discovered during its work on intermodal transfers, the links between the modes provide some of the most difficult challenges.
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Recommendation 5. |
Transport policy and planning should be coordinated at local, regional, national and European scales. Transport and related land use planning policy and investment priorities should be integrated and aim to meet needs efficiently and equitably. Local authorities should have the necessary powers and resources to fulfil their role (for example: urban authorities may be granted the power to prohibit or restrict HGVs above a certain weight; or bus routes should be awarded to franchise operators who meet high environmental standards and social criteria, such as comfort, convenience and community needs). |
3.43 The Round Table's project in Northampton has examined these issues in some detail (see section 2 of this report). The evidence from the Northampton area is that coordination between transport and land use planning remains unsatisfactory in several respects. The powers available to local authorities, and the financial regime within which they operate, do not provide the flexibility needed to deliver sustainable transport policies.
Tax arrangements
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Recommendation 6. |
The Government should continue to develop transport tax policies based on the principles of ecological tax reform (ie. moving the burden of taxation away from social 'goods' like labour, income and capital and on to environmental 'bads' like pollution and resource waste). Transport taxes should incorporate strong environmental and social criteria. They should focus on fuel and road use, pollution and resource use, while still retaining a tax on vehicle ownership. The present commitment to reflect wider environmental and social costs in fossil-fuel taxes should continue. But the fixed rate vehicle excise duty should be replaced by variable rates, so that vehicle duties should be lowest for: fuel-efficient vehicles, vehicles using fuels with the lowest environmental and health impacts, low/zero emission vehicles, and for vehicle (and transport infrastructure) materials that are recycled or reused. Duties on company cars should be reviewed, with the aim of eliminating over time concessions or tax relief that encourage non-sustainable travel behaviour or patterns. |
3.44 As has already been noted (see paragraph 3.9), the 1996 Budget included proposals for further use of economic instruments in this area, which the Round Table welcomes. It will be important that transport policies overall take full account of the social dimension of sustainable development: several of those who responded to this recommendation drew attention to the impact of increases in fuel taxation on those living in rural areas. The Round Table is disappointed that the Government sees no need for significant change to the existing structure of company car taxation: the threshold mileage levels are a perverse incentive to increased car use; the system also encourages the use of larger cars, as compared for example with those in other European countries. The Round Table joins the Government Panel on Sustainable Development in continuing to urge the Chancellor of the Exchequer to tackle the perverse incentives implicit in the company car taxation system and other subsidies to private road users.
Public expenditure
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Recommendation 7. |
Public expenditure should continue to move away from road-building and towards road maintenance and other transport modes. These should be targeted at schemes which are likely to persuade drivers to switch in significant numbers and which meet the needs of those without cars. Levels should be based on the predicted environmental and social benefits that result. The Best Practical Environmental and Social Option should become the basis for determining investments in transport infrastructure developments. |
3.45 The 1996 Budget saw a further reduction in the programme of new roadbuilding. At a national level, it is clear that no attempt is now being made to meet the forecast growth in road transport. In the Round Table's view, the vacuum caused by the end of 'predict and provide' approaches to meeting transport needs has yet to be filled by a coherent strategy, including alternative policies.
Regulation
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Recommendation 8. |
National and local transport authorities should ensure that nationally and internationally important conservation sites are fully protected from damaging activities. As a minimum, National Parks, Special Areas of Conservation and Sites of Special Scientific Interest should be considered 'no-go' areas, where infrastructure developments (or other damaging development) are not allowed unless for reasons of public safety, health or other imperative reasons of over-riding public interest. |
3.46 This recommendation produced highly polarised responses. A range of organisations, including some local authorities and business and consumer bodies, supported the Round Table's proposal. Others doubted whether further safeguards were needed. The Round Table continues to believe that sustainable development requires the simultaneous achievement of economic, environmental and social objectives and that this must include protection for those conservation sites which have been accepted as particularly valuable. The Round Table will continue to press the Government on this issue.
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Recommendation 9. |
Statutory targets for maintaining environmental quality standards by reducing traffic pollution should be set according to precautionary public health needs and critical ecological limits. Targets for reducing acid precipitation and carbon dioxide emissions should take into account the needs of citizens in other countries for a fair share of terrestrial and atmospheric carrying capacity. |
3.47 The transport Green Paper and the draft National Air Quality Strategy set out proposed air quality standards. There will need to be continuing debate about the level at which targets should be set, but the Round Table welcomes the recognition of the importance of critical ecological limits. The Round Table will continue to press for its recommendation to be adopted.
Creating opportunities for industry
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Recommendation 10. |
The Government should work with industry to develop and implement a 'cradle-to-grave' strategy for ensuring the highest practical recycling and reuse rates for materials used in vehicle manufacture, and the development of energy efficiency and pollution control technologies to the highest practical standards. Similarly, the construction industry should be expected to use secondary materials in road building and maintenance as much as possible. Targets should be set in these areas. |
3.48 This recommendation was widely welcomed. The Government's response dealt only briefly with materials used for road building and maintenance. On that it will be important that the environmental benefits of using recycled materials are taken into account; this is a particular example of the importance of public procurement decisions (see paragraph 3.34).
Public education
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Recommendation 11. |
The Government should undertake a national public awareness and schools education programme, similar to that promoting energy efficiency benefits and the threats posed by global warming, in order to promote the benefits of adopting a sustainable transport strategy and the means to achieve it, while explaining the likely economic, environmental and social consequences of not doing so. |
3.49 The Round Table welcomes the Government's acceptance that more should be done to educate the public, and looks forward to the proposals which the Government has promised to bring forward.
