I Introduction
1. The U.K. Government is grateful to the Royal Commission for their report, on issues which are of clear concern to the public as well as to policy-makers.
2. To achieve sustainable development, we need to find ways to achieve economic, social and environmental objectives at the same time. Processes for setting environmental standards must recognise that challenge.
3. This means that such processes have to take account of social, economic and environmental factors, priorities and risks, scientific evidence and public values. They need to consider how standards are delivered as well as what the standards should be. And they must recognise the importance of good communication - not simply to provide information on the standards that exist, but to enable all those with an interest to influence the ways in which standards are set.
4. This is a wide-ranging and evolving area of policy. There is much in the Royal Commission's report to help development of thinking and promotion of good practice. As the Royal Commission point out, their analysis and conclusions are of interest both within and outside the UK. Their relevance extends beyond national governments, and applies to policies other than environmental protection.
5. Many of the Commission's conclusions are reflected in the UK Government's own efforts to improve policy making across the board. Through its Modernising Government initiative, it is putting a new emphasis on evidence-based policy making, and on thinking broadly about the desired outcomes of policy and how best to achieve these. It is particularly concerned to improve the analysis and communication of risk.
6. The Government has already put such ideas into practice, taking account of the Royal Commission's report, in difficult areas such as genetically modified organisms (GMOs) - discussed in more detail in the body of this response. Links between environmental policy and other aspects of sustainable development, such as health, are increasingly recognised. New approaches are being developed by the Environment Agency and the Health and Safety Executive.
7. This response summarises action being taken and proposed, and relates it to the Commission's conclusions. Its structure is based on the groups of conclusions in Chapter 9 of the report, rather than being a point-by-point response. This allows action to be described coherently, but maintains the link with the conclusions.
8. The subject matter of the Royal Commission's report inevitably means that it ranges widely, into many complex issues. This response does not attempt to set out everything that is happening that might be relevant to those issues. Instead, the Government has sought to respond to the key themes identified by the Royal Commission, and to summarise and cross-refer to relevant work, rather than repeat it. Where the report makes specific recommendations for action by Government, these are addressed.
Published 21 November 2000
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