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Within the UK, City Deals, essentially bespoke packages of funding and decision-making negotiated between national government and local authorities, are increasingly taking centre stage in promoting economic growth. Each City Deal is seen to reflect the needs of individual cities and their surrounding regions, and each has its own distinctive funding and development agenda. Although the City Deal model has been broadly welcomed by national and local political leaders, concerns have been more widely expressed about its operation and effectiveness. This paper outlines the development and characteristics of the City Deals programme and offers a reflective commentary on a number of issues surrounding the programme, namely, accountability and evaluation, the relationship between the local and national states, the role of planning, and sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The following key points are drawn from the body of this response: • CIWEM broadly supports the need for an overarching UK strategy for sustainable development. It should embrace a vision that includes equity, social justice, citizenship and biodiversity and should apply to all living things -- not just people. It must look long-term with a sense of vision and set long-term targets. • The leadership record of Government is sometimes compromised by its own conflicting actions, for example on aviation fuel and sustainable housing. Consistency and firm leadership by Government, and joined-up policy and thinking across Government departments (including the Treasury), its agencies and the regulators are essential. • The Government, including the Treasury, must recognise that not all economic growth is desirable. Growth should not just be measured against Gross Domestic Product (GDP): instead it should include whole-life assessments of economic costs and benefits of prosperity and quality of life, and should be linked to indicators of sustainable consumption and production. • The key to achieving the sustainable use of natural resources is behavioural change. A multi-faceted strategy is required to achieve this need, including education, regulation, economic incentives and green taxes. There are many different ways in which the Government can deliver inspirational messages to the public. • The environment and social justice must be a priority for the new strategy, and equity should be explicitly acknowledged as a principle of sustainable development. Unless social inequalities are addressed, environmental issues will not be a priority for the poor or socially excluded. • The contribution of business to sustainable development is vital. Government initiatives should promote the real benefits to all businesses, including SMEs, that can come from reviewing their environmental impacts. All 'large' companies should be legally required to provide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UK Sustainable Development Strategy requires that society strive to make prudent use of natural resources so as to protect the environment and maintain high and stable levels of economic growth and employment. The Waste Strategy for England and Wales emphasizes the need to reduce the amount of waste produced through the adoption of waste minimization methodology. Waste minimization clubs have been a key element in the UK programme to introduce more sustainable practice into industry and commerce. Northamptonshire, a county in the East Midlands of England, has benefited from 14 waste minimization/resource efficiency projects, within a county programme, that have run between 1998 and 2001. This is the largest number in any county in England. This has been possible because of the formation of a large and inclusive partnership that contains all the key local and regional players. Performance indicators have been developed to direct the county programme as it strives to introduce more sustainable waste management practice. The Northamptonshire model has led to a catalysed uptake of sustainable waste management practice and has resulted in greatly improved competitiveness in some 270 companies, thereby contributing to the maintenance of stable levels of economic activity. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines issues posed when designing a management program that attempts to incorporate sustainable development in Great Britain. Structure and process of a management program that meets the needs of contemporary managers; Complexity of designing a program that meets the functional needs of contemporary managers; Centrality of sustainability to the managers' work and the decisions they make.