Flood Detection and Prevention: Technological Assistance

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon Excerpts

Thursday 19th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Katz (Lab)]

The noble Lord is right to quote what we said in our funding strategy from last autumn to assist with flood prevention. To be clear, the new funding policy is designed expressly to unlock additional investment from public, private and charitable sources. The new rules simplify eligibility and prioritisation, so that more projects can attract external contributions. We are expanding opportunities for natural flood management and sustainable drainage systems, in which private and charitable contributions are already established, and the EA is working closely with local partners. However, it would be remiss of me not to mention at this point that, on Tuesday, the Environment Agency announced a record-breaking £10.5 billion for flood defences over the next decade. It is important that we combine that heavy lifting from government investment with investment from other sources.

[Baroness Royall of Blaisdon (Lab)]

My Lords, last year, Professor Peter Bonfield undertook an independent review for Defra on how to improve the resilience of people and properties to flooding. Defra produced a report last November, called FloodReady—An Action Plan to Build the Resilience of People and Properties. Has this plan been brought to the attention of citizens who suffer from flooding, as did the citizens of Monmouth last autumn, so that they know how best to cope with and prepare for future floods?

[Lord Katz (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend for raising that important report—an example of engaging with communities. Apart from building flood defences in the first place, the most important thing we can do is make communities aware of early warnings to ensure that they can cope when floods occur. The Environment Agency is pioneering a number of different projects, such as working with Hello Lamp Post—I am glad I have the opportunity to mention this because I could not quite believe it when I was told about it. That firm has worked with AI to develop Hello EA, which allows people to talk to flood defences using mobile text messages and AI. It helps individuals learn how structures work and how flood risks are managed.