Whitehall is failing to set a positive example for sustainable transport, with 90 per cent of Government flights taken on domestic routes to destinations easily accessible by train,

According to an analysis commissioned by WWF, only two departments have reduced domestic flights - the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) by 66 per cent and the Department for Education by 32 per cent.

But others continue to favour flights, plying popular domestic routes with rail alternatives, such as London to Edinburgh or Glasgow. The Home Office flew more than 1,000 times between London and Manchester in 2008/9.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) spent £715,115 on 1,378 flights last year, 676 of which were domestic.

Videoconferencing

WWF says it wants to see Government departments sign up to cutting one in five flights within five years, replacing these flights with lower carbon alternatives such as rail or videoconferencing.

At a recent conference, a speaker from Defra said that since promoting videoconferencing to their staff they had seen uptake increase by 500 per cent in the past year.

Departments reported that ministers and officials booked a total of 452,562 flights in the year 2008-9. The Ministry of Defence (321,394 flights), HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) (71,566 flights) and Department for Work and Pensions (27,325 flights) accounted for 93 per cent of all these flights taken.

However,  only 11 departments were able to give a breakdown of their flights to WWF, which said departments needed to improve their flight data as well as introducing clear travel policy standards to reduce unnecessary flying.

Useful links
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