Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will take steps to invite officials in the Department for Transport to sit on, and become members of, the Flood Resilience Task Force.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government’s new Floods Resilience Taskforce marks a new approach to preparing for flooding and developing policy. It brings together a range of partners in national, regional and local Government, including the Environment Agency, Devolved Administrations, selected Regional Mayors and Lead Local Flood Authorities. Membership of the Taskforce from national, regional and local partners is flexed to meet the specific agenda and priorities but the Taskforce will also work with a wider range of flood risk partners as needed.

The Floods Resilience Taskforce spoke to the Department for Transport (DfT) before the first meeting and received information on the Transport Sectors’ readiness for flooding. This builds on Defra’s existing close work with the Department for Transport. DfT will be invited to attend future Taskforce meetings when the agenda requires and the Taskforce will work with DfT as needed.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will take steps to invite officials in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to sit on, and become members of, the Flood Resilience Task Force.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government’s new Floods Resilience Taskforce marks a new approach to preparing for flooding and developing policy. It brings together a range of partners in national, regional and local government, including the Environment Agency, Devolved Administrations, selected Regional Mayors and Lead Local Flood Authorities. Membership of the Taskforce from national, regional and local partners is flexed to meet the specific agenda and priorities but the Taskforce will also work with a wider range of flood risk partners as needed.

The Floods Resilience Taskforce liaised with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero before the first meeting and received information on the Energy Sectors’ readiness for flooding. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero will be invited to attend future Taskforce meetings when the agenda requires and the Taskforce will work with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero as needed.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what additional resources will be provided to local authorities to carry out their enforcement obligations under the Environmental Protection (Single-use Vapes) (England) Regulations 2024.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

We will consider enforcement of single-use vapes alongside other types of illicit vapes. In the coming months we will be working closely with the Department for Health & Social Care and relevant enforcement bodies to understand how we can support those enforcing the ban.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Environment Agency holds regional data on the average time taken to respond to reports of environmental incidents and faults in relation to flood defences.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

For calendar year 2024 to date, 75% of incident reports received by the Environment Agency (EA) have been assessed within the target time of one hour. All incidents reported to the EA are classified by their risk to the public and environment. The EA cannot report the time taken to respond to individual incidents by locality but plans for future upgrades to systems should enable this.

The EA inspects flood risk assets on a frequency of between six and 60 months, depending on risk. If the EA is alerted to a concern with an asset, an inspection can be undertaken before the due date. If an asset is identified below required condition, it is fixed within 60 days or, if the damage is significant, a more detailed assessment is completed to determine appropriate actions. Where an asset is likely to remain below required condition for more than 60 days, mitigation measures are put in place to ensure the asset can operate until the full repair is complete. If an asset requires urgent repairs and there is an immediate risk, emergency repairs are undertaken.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps the Environment Agency is taking to support Internal Drainage Boards in maintaining flood defences in low-risk flooding areas.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Protecting communities around the country from flooding is one of the new Secretary of State’s five core priorities for Defra.

The Government fully supports the important work internal drainage boards (IDBs) do in managing water and flood risk, benefiting communities, businesses and the environment. To support this important work, and in recognition of the significant impact flooding has on farms and rural communities, the Government has announced [Written Ministerial Statement HCWS214] additional financial support for IDBs.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of the Environment Agency’s maintenance budget for flood defences has been spent on assets in (1) flood zone 1, (2) flood zone 2, (3) flood zone 3, and (4) flood zone 3b during the current financial year.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Whilst the Environment Agency (EA) has flood risk assets in many locations, many of these are in the river channels or are the line of defence between water and dry land. For this reason, flood zones do not provide the best measure of what flood risk areas the EA’s assets protect.

The EA instead looks at assets based on their 'consequence system' which rates the impact of assets on people, property and land.

Below are the planned maintenance costs for April 2024 to March 2025 split over these flood risk consequences:

These totals are based on work planned for 2024-25 and are subject to change. These Totals also include wider asset management costs that are integral to delivering and supporting works in these consequences areas.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Environment Agency will publish the findings of its investigation into the faults of the Horncastle Flood Alleviation Scheme.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

I can confirm that the Environment Agency has published its reports of their investigation into the fault at the Horncastle flood storage reservoir. The reports were published on the Horncastle Town Council website in February and a public meeting held in April for the community to raise questions. The reports conclude that the flooding was caused by heavy rainfall downstream of the reservoir and to the east of Horncastle in excess of the flood storage reservoir scheme design. It was not caused by the delayed closure of the reservoir sluice gate.

The reports can be found Flooding – Horncastle Town Council. The report from February and the notes of the April meeting are attached to this answer.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what financial resources they intend to provide to those local authorities who wish to pursue local government re-organisation ahead of the upcoming English Devolution White Paper.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The English Devolution White Paper sets out more detail on the government’s reorganisation plans, including on working with councils to move to simpler structures that make sense for their local areas, with efficiency savings from council reorganisation helping to meet the needs of local people.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the data released by the Office for Local Government in April concerning the performance statistics of councils across England.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Department is committed to resetting the relationship between local and central government. As part of this, in September the Government announced it would review the remit of the Office for Local Government (Oflog), to ensure that it is adding the greatest possible value to the system of transparency, accountability and support of local government. No decisions on the appointment of its Chair will be taken until this process is complete.

The Department is clear that data alone is rarely enough to assess any local authority’s performance and often needs context through further investigation. Oflog’s Data Explorer presents published data from across government and carries a prominent warning that it should be used to generate questions and not reach judgements.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to appoint a Chair for the Office for Local Government.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Department is committed to resetting the relationship between local and central government. As part of this, in September the Government announced it would review the remit of the Office for Local Government (Oflog), to ensure that it is adding the greatest possible value to the system of transparency, accountability and support of local government. No decisions on the appointment of its Chair will be taken until this process is complete.

The Department is clear that data alone is rarely enough to assess any local authority’s performance and often needs context through further investigation. Oflog’s Data Explorer presents published data from across government and carries a prominent warning that it should be used to generate questions and not reach judgements.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will take steps to refund local authorities following the decision to increase national insurance contributions from employers.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

Raising the revenue required to fund public services and restore economic stability requires difficult decisions on tax, which is why the government are asking employers to contribute more. The Government has committed to provide support for the public sector employers for additional employer national insurance contributions costs. This applies to those directly employed by the public sector, including local government. We will set out further details at the provisional Settlement in December.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to publish their White Paper on English devolution.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The English Devolution White Paper is due by the end of this year. We will make a statement to the house when it is published.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the increase in employer national insurance contributions on town and parish councils.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The government has no direct role in funding parish and town councils - and therefore does not intend to provide compensation, consistent with the approach taken by the previous government.

Found: meeting Members present: Lord Moylan (The Chair); Baroness Andrews; Lord Bailey of Paddington; Baroness Eaton

Found: Mr Kevin Blacoe Ms Anna Bogutskaya Professor Shirley Congdon Ms Amanda Dickins The Rt Hon The Baroness Eaton