Local Decision Making and Sustainable Development

This new report published by the Sustainable Development Commission suggests that the new performance framework governing local authorities and their partners on local strategic partnerships (LSPs) reinforces the responsibility to deliver sustainable development to the point where it cannot be ignored.

It also highlights the potential and actual benefits gained by those local authorities and LSPs which are already adopting a sustainable development approach, including money savings, improved local economies, more effective partnership working, and more joined-up service delivery.

The report is the result of a year-long project involving a range of national, regional and local bodies looking at the steps needed for sustainable development to be embedded in local decision- making, focusing in particular on LSPs, Sustainable Community Strategies and LAAs. It sits alongside a collection of 11 good practice case studies to provide a practical resource for local authorities looking to make decisions which will benefit their communities in the long term.