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   For the second consecutive year, the market for environmental consulting services shrunk in the United Kingdom in 2010, decreasing by 8.4% to ₤1.23 billion (about $1.96 million U.S.), according to a recent report by market research firm Environment Analyst (Shrewsbury, U.K.). Environment Analyst attributed the decline in the U.K. environmental consulting market to government austerity and reductions in expenditures by local authorities. The firm said that the top 32 consultancies in the U.K. market trimmed their work forces by an aggregate of just under 1,000 positions in 2010. The report forecasts that growth in the U.K. environmental consulting market will only reach 0.5% for 2011, although the fundamental long-term drivers for the market—specifically, the need to invest in capital infrastructure projects to stimulate a stagnant economy while delivering on strict legislative targets in the transition to a low-carbon, low-waste and energy-secure economy—remain in place.    “The depth of the recession surprised many environmental consultancy managers,” said report co-author Stuart Foxon. “Unlike 2009, in 2010 it became apparent that a reliance on public sector projects would hit the sector hard, beyond the general downturn caused by the wider economic conditions. Consultants are often one of the first to benefit under economic prosperity, but also likely to be one of the first to suffer under economic austerity.”