§ John BarrettTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with the Treasury on the cost to the economy of environmental problems. [166670]
§ Mr. MorleyOfficials and Ministers from Defra and the Treasury frequently discuss the cost to the economy of environmental problems and how best this can be mitigated. To inform these discussions and policy development more generally Defra undertakes analysis of the economic costs and benefits of policies to protect the environment, including a continuous programme of impact assessments and an annual national survey of environmental expenditure by businesses.
Recent examples of such discussions include the development of proposals for returning the revenue from the new landfill tax escalator to business and 674W consideration of the scope for cost savings through more sustainable patterns of consumption and production.