AQW 8350/08

Mrs Naomi Long
Alliance Party
East Belfast

Tabled Date: 19/06/2008
Answered On Date: 01/07/2008
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister (i) how many Departments have a Sustainable Development champion; (ii) how many times these champions have met; (iii) what agenda items have been covered in these meetings; and (iv) how many hours and what proportion of their working week is spent on Sustainable Development activity.

Answer:

All departments have appointed a sustainable development Champion.

Champions have met formally through Sustainable Development Stakeholder Group meetings, of which there were four in 2007. No meetings have been convened during 2008. Informally, Champions have participated in a number of informal and ad hoc meetings/events, including the Senior Civil Service Masterclass in Sustainable Development earlier this year and have also chaired or participated in departmental meetings and discussions relating to sustainable development. It is not possible to quantify these precisely.

Agenda items for Sustainable Development Stakeholder Group meetings included: Meeting 1 – General update on progress; Statutory Duty guidance; Sustainable Development Indicators. Meeting 2 – Statutory Duty update; Communications Strategy; Sustainable Development Indicators; Sustainable Development Forum. Meeting 3 – General update on progress; Communications Strategy; Implementation Plan 2; Sustainable Procurement Action Plan; NIHE Sustainable Development Management System presentation. Meeting 4 – Draft Programme for Government, Budget and ISNI; Overview of departmental progress against Implementation Plan 1; Implementation Plan 2 stakeholder questionnaire outcomes; Communications and Training update.

(iv)It is not possible to provide a definitive answer in terms of ‘hours spent on sustainable development activity'. Sustainability as a theme is integral to the policies and functions of Departments and, as such, the extent to which Champions engage in work which directly or indirectly leads to, or contributes to, sustainable development will vary considerably over a given period of time.