The House of Lords has appointed a new Committee that will consider the impact of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities (NERC) Act 2006.
The NERC Act was designed to help achieve a rich and diverse natural environment, and thriving rural communities through modernised and simplified arrangements for delivering government policy.
The Act established a new independent body - Natural England - responsible for conserving, enhancing, and managing England's natural environment for the benefit of current and future generations.
Natural England brought together the functions of English Nature and certain functions performed previously by the Countryside Agency and the Rural Development Service - uniting in a single organisation the responsibility for enhancing biodiversity and landscape with promoting access and recreation.
The Committee which will consider the impact of the NERC Act will be chaired by Lord Cameron of Dillington.
The Committee expects to publish a call for evidence before the summer recess and will report by 31 March 2018.
Commenting Lord Cameron of Dillington, Chairman of the Committee, said: “It’s been over 11 years since this Act was passed which set out ambitious objectives for protecting the environment; enhancing biodiversity; supporting communities across rural England; and saw the creation of Natural England.
“It is now time to review whether the Act has achieved its goals and to assess areas which may need to be updated in order to support the ecosystem and societies we live in today.”
