Book Description
This report assesses the Government's progress in embedding sustainable development in the Home Office. It follows on from a similar inquiry last year on Sustainability in BIS. The Home Office appears to be on track to meet the Government's sustainable operations targets for departments, in part by reducing the size of its estate, but also by effective use of payment-by-result contracts. It has achieved the reductions set for water, paper and waste. It is making good progress on reducing carbon emissions, despite emissions from travel increasing significantly. The Home Office uses a 'CAESER' tool to highlight sustainability to suppliers and encourage them to improve their performance. The Government should widely adopt this tool for all major suppliers. The Home Office needs to ensure that all contracts include specific sustainability criteria and that performance on these is actively monitored and managed. It should address energy efficiency in its contracts for asylum accommodation. Crime prevention is an important part of sustainable policing, as it reduces future social and environmental costs. Whilst the Home Office is taking steps to understand the carbon impact of crime, the Government's policies to remove housing design standards risk less sustainable outcomes. It should ensure that the full environmental and social costs of such decisions are analyzed in policy appraisal. The Government has led international efforts to tackle wildlife crime. It needs to commit long-term funding for these efforts, and further improve the quality of data on recorded and reported offences.
