Axe falls on Sustainable Development Commission & Royal Commission

UK environment secretary Caroline Spelman has announced that Defra will withdraw its funding for the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) at the end of this financial year. She said the House of Commons environmental audit committee "will provide powerful democratic scrutiny of government’s work in this area”.

Spelman added that she and LibDem climate change secretary Chris Huhne were "determined to play the lead role across the whole of government" and "mainstream sustainability, strengthen the government’s performance in this area and put processes in place to join up activity across government much more effectively". As a result, she was "not willing simply to delegate this responsibility to an external body".

SDC chairman Will Day said he was “deeply disappointed" by the government's decision. Responding to Spelman's comment that she was "playing my part in reducing public spending", he said the SDC 's work "has delivered efficiency savings totalling many times what the organisation has cost the government."

Friends of the Earth executive director Andy Atkins said the SDC had played a crucial role in helping government departments work together and that the coalition "must be held to account on its promise to be the greenest government ever - and explain how it will continue to green Britain, saving money and creating jobs at the same time, without the Sustainable Development Commission's expert guidance and overview."

The government is also abolishing the highly-respected Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (RCEP), which has produced a series of seminal reports over the last 40 years on issues ranging from the urban environment and environmental planning to nuclear power and chemicals in products. The RCEP says it expects to complete its current study on the environmental impact of demographic change before the announcement takes effect.

Spelman said she is "continuing to look closely at Defra’s other arm’s length bodies and will make further announcements at the appropriate time".

• written ministerial statement
• SDC news release
• FoE news release