Delivering Sustainable Public Services

It is no longer possible to avoid man made climate change. The effects are being felt from the Maldives to
Cumbria. If we are to stabilise CO2 emissions and prevent average temperatures rising above 2°C, the point
at which we might hit climate change tipping points, then we need to transform ourselves into a low carbon
economy.
An important part of this transformation will be lead by the public sector and the third parties it
commissions to deliver public services. The public sector throughout the UK including local and national
government spent over £575 billion1 in 2008/9 of which £102 billion was spent on healthcare and £88
billion on welfare. Of this total expenditure approximately £12 billion2 is spent on third sector organisations.
This expenditure represents a wide range of activity that necessarily implies a huge carbon footprint. The
way this expenditure is spent in future will have a major role in stimulating the low carbon economy and
helping society to adapt to climate change.
This factsheet examines the policy drivers promoting change and highlights how a number of third sector
organisations around the country are delivering sustainable public services that provide excellent examples
of how this change can be realised.

Strategic Policy Drivers

There is a clear direction of travel being laid out in UK Policy that reflects our response to global treaties and EU regulation.
While the change in administration may have altered the emphasis from national targets driving compliance to one where
government creates the conditions for the market to provide solutions, the UK still has to meet the targets of EU carbon
reduction regulations. An example of the market driven policy would be the feed in tariff for renewable energy generation,
which will make it more economically viable for investment in small and community level renewable energy generation.
In addition to these general pieces of policy and legislation there are specific pieces of environmental legislation not listed,
such as the EU Landfill Directive, which are improving performance in a specific areas of public service delivery and
performance such as waste management.
Communication on Limiting Global Climate Change
In the ‘Communication on Limiting Global Climate Change’ the EU
committed to reducing total carbon dioxide emissions to 20% below
1990 levels by 2020. This may be increased to a 30% reduction on 1990
levels if an international agreement on carbon reduction can be reached.
Climate Change Act
The UK has passed legislation which introduces the world’s first long-term,
legally binding framework to tackle the dangers of climate change. The
Climate Change Bill was introduced into parliament in November 2007
and became law a year later. The Climate Change Act creates a new
approach to managing and responding to climate change in the UK by:

A joint initiative to strengthen support services for the third sector

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 • Setting ambitious, legally binding targets: a 26% reduction on 1990 levels of CO2 by 2020 and an 80% reduction by
2050
• Taking powers to help meet those targets
• Strengthening the institutional framework
• Enhancing the UK’s ability to adapt to the impact of climate change
• Establishing clear and regular accountability to the UK Parliament and to the devolved legislatures.
The CRC (Carbon Reduction Commitment) Energy Efficiency Scheme
Starting in April 2010, the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme is the UK’s first mandatory carbon trading scheme. The initial
phase of the Carbon Reduction Commitment will be compulsory for organisations that consumed over 6,000 MWh of
half-hourly metered electricity during the period from January 2008 to December 2008. At today's prices, this is roughly
equivalent to total half-hourly electricity bills of approximately £500,000 per year.
The UK Low Carbon Transition Plan (DECC)
This plots how the UK will meet a 34% cut in emissions on 1990 levels by 2020, transforming the country into a cleaner,
greener and more prosperous place to live. This is at the heart of the economic plans for 'building Britain’s future' and
ensuring the UK is ready to take advantage of the opportunities ahead.The Transition Plan is the most systematic response
to climate change of any major developed economy.
Local Authority Performance Indicators
Although the Comprehensive Area Assessment process has been cancelled by the new coalition administration, the
National Indicator Set did include a number of targets for local authorities related to climate change.The National Indicator
Set was the main way in which central government performance managed local government. It covered services delivered
by local authorities alone and in partnership with other organisations like health services and the police. Given the coalition
claims to be the greenest government ever they will have to find an alternative way to encourage sustainable practice and
preparing for climate change amongst local authorities.The indicators that directly related to climate change were:
NI 185 - CO2 reduction from Local Authority operations
A reduction in the emissions produced as a result of all the activities undertaken by the local authority, including those
delivered by contracted third parties.
NI 186 - Per capita CO2 emissions in the LA area
A reduction in the total emissions produced within a borough per head of population.
NI 188 - Adapting to climate change
How the borough is preparing itself for the changing needs of society in a post climate change world that requires a low
carbon economy.
In addition there are a number of environmental indicators related tot hey types of services that the sector might deliver
including NI 192 on household waste recycled and composted and NI 187 on tackling fuel poverty.
Shaping Our Future
The joint ministerial task force on climate change, the environment and sustainable
development, was a joint initiative established in 2009 involving four government
departments: Defra, DECC, OTS and CLG. Involving a huge range of stakeholders from
across the sector they produced a report which looks at a wide range of topics including
how the sector can contribute to the building of resilient communities and how the sector
will deliver more sustainable public services.

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 Sustainability Case Studies

The following case studies show different examples of how the different community groups, charities and
social enterprises are delivering public services that often achieve social and health outcomes whilst
undertaking work that in some way improves the local environment and helps in the fight against climate
change.

BedZED
BedZED is a housing development that was developed in partnership by the Bio-Regional Development Group and the
Peabody Trust Housing Association with Bill Dunster Architects. It was completed and occupied in 2002. The community
comprises 50% housing for sale, 25% key worker shared ownership and 25% social housing for rent.The development also
contained a number of work units. The houses and the estate were designed to maximise energy efficiency and benefit
from communal and holistic systems working across the estate.
The original aims of the project included reducing energy and water consumption by 33% for equivalent dwellings in the
local area. In 2007 monitoring of the 100 households on the estate showed that residents used 45% less electricity, 81%
less gas and less than 50% of the water consumed by comparative local households.
The project partners continue to strive to improve performance on the estate and also to ensure that other new housing
developments are built with these principles in mind.

Blue Sky Development and Regeneration

Blue Sky is almost certainly the only company in England where you need a criminal record to get a job. It holds contracts
to deliver landscaping services for a number of local authorities, housing associations and private companies. It has
expended into recycling by providing operatives to work on kerbside recycling schemes for a number of local authorities
and their waste contractors.
Established as a not-for-profit company in 2005 by regeneration charity Groundwork Thames Valley, it has taken on over
250 employees on six month contracts. These contracts are all given to people who have recently been released from
prison, 14% of whom are also homeless. Nearly half of their employees move into sustained employment after working
with Blue Sky. This significantly reduces the re-offending rate below the national average for people just released form
prison, which is currently 75%.
While working with offenders is their primary purpose, Blue Sky has done this in a way which delivers environmental
benefit, through the activities the offenders work on. In the 2009-10 financial year; they improved and maintained over 500
acres of land and recycled 3,532 tonnes of waste.

BTCV
The British Trust for Conservation Volunteers has its origins in the Conservation Corps which were founded in 1959.The
first project involved working with volunteers to clear invasive species and protect rare flora and fauna in Surrey. Since
these early days the charity has expanded massively across the country, and become and diversified so that a major part of
its focus is on people as well as the environment. BTCV is now one of the major contractors to the Department of Work
and Pensions having provided support to over 7500 people.
A typical example of this is the work they are doing in Barnsley, Rotherham and Sheffield.Through a national contract from
DWP they are working with disability advisors at the local Job Centres. Through this service they are providing bespoke
support to over 200 people per year. Partnerships are arranged at the local level to ensure clients receive beneficial and
relevant training alongside real work placements. BTCV also offer a recruitment service to the private sector, ensuring they
are working hard to create job opportunities and change people’s lives.
In terms of sustainability, BTCV have undertaken a root and branch analysis of all their activities around the country. Every
single activity carried out by the organisation across all its premises have been quantified in terms of CO2 emissions. BTCV

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 staff have been proactively engaged in taking steps to reduce this. An early low target of a 3% reduction in emissions was
set in 2007.Through making the task achievable and realistic, BTCV have used the momentum to realise an actual reduction
of over 16% already.

Equinox Care
Equinox Care was founded in the 1980’s to provide residential and community based services, supporting vulnerable men
and women with alcohol, drug and mental health problems across London and the South East of England. They support
over 6000 people a year through a range of treatment centres and residential care homes.
In 2008 the senior management and board of Equinox identified that commissioners were becoming increasingly
interested in sustainability.The board quickly realised that sustainability was about people and their place in community and
that it squarely related to their values as a charity.
In terms of evaluating what it meant to them, service users were involved very quickly. A wide range of projects have now
started at different facilities including growing seasonal fruit and vegetables at a drug treatment centre and recycling
schemes at a street drinkers centre. Staff across the organisation have been encouraged and supported to cycle to work.
At the strategic level, the organisation has developed a strategy of how to react and respond to extreme weather
conditions and ensure services are as resilient as possible. In future sustainability will be one of the key factors on which
business performance is measured.

Fairfield Materials Management

Founded in 2002, Fairfield Materials Management is an award winning social enterprise, based at the Fruit and Vegetable
wholesale markets in Manchester. The project was developed following an extensive waste audit project delivered by
Fairfield in partnership with Manchester City Council. The audit identified the fact that 12 skips full of fruit, vegetable and
cardboard waste were being sent to landfill from the market on a daily basis.Thanks to Fairfield this has now been reduced
to just a couple of 240L wheeled bins.The site now process over 3000 tonnes of organic waste per annum as well as bailing
cardboard boxes for recycling.
It was one of the first in the country to utilise the Vertical Composting Unit.This innovative composting solution allowed for
the huge quantities of fruit and vegetable waste to be processed in a disused area of the site quickly, cleanly and efficiently.
For the composting to be effective the fruit and vegetable waste are first mixed with shredded green waste brought to the
site by the landscape management departments of the local authority as well as private landscaping businesses. Many of
these clients are also a market for the product.
The manufacturing of a high quality product is key to Fairfield’s success. They are the first third sector organisation in the
country to have been awarded the BSI quality mark for (BSI PAS 100) for composted products. They have since gained
approval from Soil Association for use in organic farming. This production of a quality material has been combined with a
proactive marketing policy that has seen them start with early growth trials that have lead to them producing a wide range
of compost related products that are suitable for different uses and markets. This has enabled them to build up a regular
and loyal customer base.

FareShare
FareShare is a national charity that has been operating since 2004. Originally founded by Crisis, the homelessness charity, it
now operates from 12 depots around the UK. It started as a natural extension of the work Crisis were doing distributing
good quality food that was passed or close to its retail date, but not passed its sell by date, collected from places like Marks
and Spencer’s and Prêt A Manger to homeless people through shelters and soup kitchens. FareShare now aims to help
vulnerable groups, whether they are homeless, elderly, children, or other groups suffering from food poverty within our
communities.
FareShare have expanded through a franchising model, working with local partners primarily drawn from the homelessness
or community waste management sectors to run local branches. The local branches distribute the food they collect
through 530 local community groups that are members of their community food network. They currently estimate that
every day, an average of 29,000 people benefit from the services they provide. This equates the food they distribute
contributing to over 7.4 million meals in the 2008-9 financial year. In environmental terms they estimate that in the same

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 period they helped the business they collect the food from reduce their CO2 emissions by 13,950 tonnes.The charity has
also developed a training arm, providing training in warehousing and also food preparation related skills.
Recognising the need to provide a more comprehensive service to national businesses in the food sector, they have
developed a trading arm FareShare First, which aims to provide a more holistic waste management solution based round
the principle of using the edible food before any other means of disposal.This ambition is combined with the desire to build
a five fold expansion of the charity and open 18 more local depots.

Furniture Matters
Furniture Matters, a social enterprise based in Morecombe in Lancashire, seeks to reduce waste and in so doing, tackle local
poverty and deprivation through training and volunteering opportunities and through providing household items to
people in need. Established in 1999 as a charity and company limited by guarantee, they now have a turnover of more than
£1m.They are now in a position where over 50% of their income is derived form contract income and product sales.
From a waste management perspective, Furniture Matters’ main activity is the collection of domestic bulky waste. About
70% of items are collected under the Bulky Matters Partnership they have with Lancashire City Council for reuse or
disposal.The remaining 30% are collected outside the partnership, for reuse, and are donated by the public. In addition, they
have developed a commercial bulky waste collection and reuse scheme, set up with Defra funding as a demonstration
project. Before the project started, all bulky waste in the area went to landfill.
From a social perspective Furniture Matters provide volunteer placements and training to the socially disadvantaged and
long term unemployed. Refurbished goods are sold, at low cost, to people on low incomes through the “Make a House a
Home” showroom. This helps them furnish their homes whilst avoiding problems related to debt and bad finance. It also
enables people who are struggling to get on their feet.
In the financial year 2007-08, the main outcomes of Furniture Matters’ work were:
•The refurbishment and re-use of 150 tonnes of furniture and white goods
•The collection and processing of 1600 tonnes of bulky waste
•The avoidance of the supply chain impacts of purchase of 150 tonnes per year of new furniture, white goods, decorating
materials, bikes and computers
•The provision of goods to people on low incomes with savings estimated at £138k compared to the cost of supplying
new goods
•90 volunteering placements giving work-based training to socially disadvantaged people, increasing their self-esteem
and skills
•67 people achieved training qualifications, with 11 moving to paid employment
The success of this partnership working with Lancaster City Council has enabled Furniture Matters to consider expansion.
They have since won new competitive contracts with other borough councils in Lancashire to deliver Bulky Waste
collection, re-use and recycling services.

The Green Estate

The Green Estate began life in 1998, with a large investment from EU finding as a partnership project between the Manor
and Castle Development Trust and Sheffield Wildlife Trust.The manor area of Sheffield was entering into a process of housing
stock renewal, resulting in large demolition programmes. The two organisations developed a project which would manage
the land in an environmentally sensitive way in the intervening period prior to redevelopment. This initial project was soon
expanded to other parts of Sheffield. Employment and skills training also formed an integral part of the business model.
As the initial period of EU funding drew to a close the Green Estate developed a radical and proactive business focused
social enterprise model. Commercial services now provided by the company include installing green roofs, landscape and
grounds maintenance services, and running one of the largest and most successful third sector composting operations in the
country, which delivers contracted services for Veolia, Sheffield City Council’s prime waste contractor across a network of
dispersed composting facilities.
Alongside this commercial activity, Green Estate have remained true to their origins in the Manor and Castle area of the city
redeveloping Manor Lodge farm as a community facility and green space. This includes educational activities with local
schools as well as artists’ studios and events.

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 Conclusions
This factsheet showcases just a few examples of the many civil society organisations that are delivering mainstream public
services in an environmentally sustainable way. All of this work is replicable if the government, public sector commissioners
and third sector providers work together to do so.

Further Support
Strategic Policy Drivers
European Union Action on Climate Change:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/future_action.htm
The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme:
http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/what_we_do/lc_uk/crc/crc.aspx
Local Authority Sustainability Related National Indicators:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/about/with/localgov/indicators/
Shaping Our Future:
http://sd.defra.gov.uk/2010/03/shaping-our-future/
Case Studies
BedZED:
http://www.bioregional.com/what-we-do/our-work/bedzed
Blue Sky:
http://www.blueskydevelopment.co.uk
BTCV:
http://www2.btcv.org.uk
Equinox Care:
http://www.equinoxcare.org.uk
Fairfield Materials Management:
http://www.fairfieldcompost.co.uk
FareShare:
http://www.fareshare.org.uk
Furniture Matters:
http://www.furniturematters.org.uk
The Green Estate:
http://www.thegreenestate.org.uk

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