The Prison Service's third annual Sustainable Development Report, covering the period April 2004 to March 2005 was published this week. The report sets out the progress being made by the Service in meeting the Government's sustainable development agenda.
In his foreword to the report, Phil Wheatley, Director General of the Prison Service, states:
“During this last year, the Service has continued to address actively sustainable development issues as part of its day to day business. This has been against a background of mounting pressures, caused not least by the numbers of those being sent to prison but also by the requirement to work within strict budgetary constraints. It is to the credit of the Service's staff that, despite these pressures, the need for the Service to carry out its operations in an environmentally responsible and sustainable way has been recognised by many across the prison estate.”
As with its previous annual reports, this latest report details the progress being made by the Service in addressing its sustainable development commitments. Particular achievements covered in the report include:
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introducing a national Biodiversity Action Plan for the entire public sector prison estate;
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establishing waste management units at 38 per cent of all public sector prisons;
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achieving an average recycling rate of 46 per cent, against a target of 25 per cent;
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introducing key performance targets for energy and water consumption;
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introducing an environment manual to improve prisons' environmental performance; and
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in addressing the Service's social impacts, ensuring that some 37,700 offenders secured a job, training or education on release.
The report also sets out the Service's aims for 2005/2006 and the initiatives planned to continue its successes. These include setting up additional waste management units at individual prisons, developing further its Biodiversity Action Plan, issuing a central sustainable procurement policy and strategy, incorporating sustainable development issues in construction projects, and meeting the Government's targets for reducing energy consumption. A work plan is being drawn up to ensure these aims are met.
