Flood Risk Management in England

Emma Hardy Excerpts

Tuesday 9th June 2026 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Emma Hardy)]

Investment programme performance in 2024-25 and 2025-26

Between April 2024 and March 2026, the Government invested £2.65 billion to construct new flood schemes and repair existing defences. This investment has made a significant contribution to improving flood resilience across the country.

Following a period of declining asset condition in previous years, this Government have acted to stabilise the condition of flood defence assets. When this Government took office, 92.1% of high consequence assets were at or above their required condition (Q2 2024-25). Thanks to the reprioritisation of £108 million into asset maintenance, this has increased to 93.0% by end of March 2026.

Over the last two years, Government investment has also enabled the completion of new flood defence schemes in every region of England. In total, nearly 62,000 properties have benefited from improved protection against flooding and coastal erosion—almost 10,000 more than the Environment Agency’s target.

Building on this progress, a new investment programme began on 1 April 2026, supported by the new funding rules the Government announced in October 2025. The reforms will make it quicker and easier to deliver the right flood defences in the right places by simplifying our funding rules. They will optimise funding between building new flood projects and maintaining existing defences and ensure that deprived communities continue to receive vital investment.

Targets for 2026-27

In the first year of the new programme, the Government will invest £1.4 billion, which will fund more than 600 projects across the country. This will contribute towards a target of 70,000 properties benefiting from flood risk management interventions by the end of March 2027. “Properties benefiting” is a new metric, replacing the previous “properties better protected”. It will count all properties benefiting from a reduction in flood and coastal erosion risk due to new flood interventions and prevention of risk increases due to maintenance of existing assets. Unlike the previous metric, it will allow us to capture the impact of a wider range of resilience measures, such as nature-based solutions, property flood resilience and sustainable drainage systems.

The Government will also continue to prioritise asset condition. The target for high consequence assets at or above required condition will increase from 92% in 2025-26 to 93.5% in 2026-27.

Investment in 2026-27 will also deliver significant environmental benefits. Projects funded this year are expected to create or improve approximately 800 hectares of habitat and enhance some 250 kilometres of rivers.

The programme will run for ten years to March 2036. During the first three years up to March 2029, the Government will invest £4.2 billion in capital and resource funding.

The Government have committed £7.9 billion capital funding over the whole of the 10-year programme period. Resource funding for the period 2028-29 to 2035-36 will be confirmed at future spending reviews.

This £7.9 billion capital investment, plus the £2.65 billion we spent during the past two years, means that this Government have committed to investing at least £10.5 billion by March 2036.

This long-term commitment will strengthen the nation’s resilience to flooding and provide sustained protection for communities across the country.

Summary of floods funding figures:

£2.65 billion—2-year capital and resource spend 2024-25 and 2025-26

£4.2 billion—3-year capital and resource spend 2026-27, 2027-28 and 2028-29

£1.4 billion—1-year capital and resource spend 2026-27

£7.9 billion—10-year committed capital spend between 2026-27 and 2035-36

£10.5 billion—£7.9 billion committed capital spend between 2026-27 and 2035-36, plus £2.65 billion total spend in 2024-25 and 2025-26

These are spending allocation figures, as announced in February 2025 (£2.65 billion), June 2025 (£4.2 billion) and March 2026 (£1.4 billion). An official statistics publication will follow later in the year providing a more comprehensive summary of floods spending allocations and expenditure from previous years.

Rural flood resilience

This Government are committed to supporting farmers, strengthening food security, and building the resilience of rural communities to flooding. Frequent storms and record rainfall in recent years have highlighted the vulnerability of our farmland and rural communities to flooding and the critical role that well-maintained flood defences and watercourses play in supporting agricultural productivity and rural resilience.

Through the £91 million internal drainage board fund, 94 internal drainage boards have delivered over 270 projects across the country, providing benefits to more than 450,000 hectares of farmland and 250,000 properties. These projects are extending the lifespan of flood assets by an average of 27 years.

The internal drainage board fund has been a considerable success, but I also know that some areas have been hit harder than others by heavy rainfall. This includes Somerset, which I visited earlier this year, to hear first-hand from communities who have been deeply affected.

I am pleased to announce we are providing £50 million to Somerset council to improve local flood resilience. Somerset council will oversee delivery of the funding and will work closely with local partners to deliver local actions. Despite being low lying, and having high water level management costs, Somerset did not benefit significantly from the internal drainage board fund due to the broad ownership of flood assets across the county. This targeted funding addresses this and recognises the unique challenges the area faces. Fund due to the broad ownership of flood assets across the county. This targeted funding addresses this and recognises the unique challenges the area faces.

The funding is in addition to the record level of investment in the flood investment programme.

National forecasting and warning service

Yesterday the latest floods resilience taskforce met, with a focus on improving public engagement with flood risk. Ensuring individuals and communities have the information they need, helps them to understand the risks but also to take the appropriate action.

To support this, the Environment Agency is launching a new national forecasting and warning service. This is a substantial upgrade to England’s flood warning capability, strengthening public safety by delivering clearer, more consistent and more reliable flood forecasts and warnings nationwide.

[HCWS97]