Natural Resources
Environment Food and Rural Affairs
Simon Wright (Norwich South, Liberal Democrat)
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent progress she has made on developing a scoping study for a natural capital asset check.
Richard Benyon (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Natural Environment and Fisheries), Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Newbury, Conservative)
DEFRA held a competition for a research contract to produce a scoping study for the natural capital asset check. This check will allow a rapid assessment of the potential impact on the stock of specific environmental assets of proposed new policies and projects. The contract has now been awarded to Eftec and work started in February. The final report will be available early in the autumn. The National Ecosystem Assessment follow-on work, due to begin in June 2012, will also focus in part on the development of a natural capital asset check.