United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Lord Collins of Highbury Excerpts

Thursday 1st February 2018 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Stedman-Scott]

My noble friend Lady Anelay makes a very good point. In her previous role she will have seen this type of very important work at first hand. We should be proud as a country and a Government of the things that we have achieved, and definitely of what we have achieved through education. That is critical. Between April 2015 and 2017, we supported 7.1 million children to gain a decent education. While that is good, that and better will do.

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

My Lords, what makes the sustainable development goals an incredibly powerful tool for change is the fact that they are universal. We are not simply saying to other countries, “Do this, do that”; we are judging the actions of other countries by the actions in our own country. The key to change is not only parliamentary scrutiny and engagement but the fact that all government departments—this is not a matter confined to DfID—should take their roles and responsibilities seriously. I hope that the noble Baroness will pass the following question on to the Prime Minister: will the Government please ensure that there is Cabinet responsibility for implementing the SDGs?

[Baroness Stedman-Scott]

I thank the noble Lord very much for his question. The SDGs are critical, and there is no better way to demonstrate commitment than by leading from the front on this. Our Government were absolutely at the front of designing and developing the goals, and we were the first to sign up to them, so your Lordships should be in no doubt that we are right behind this. The fact that they are universal, so that we can all be measured against the same things, makes people focus on what they are trying to do and deliver on their promises. The way in which this is structured means that, internationally, DfID will lead on this, the Cabinet Office will have a co-ordinating role, and everybody in each department will know exactly what is expected of them. We long for them to deliver.