Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to ensure that insurance companies do not make the provision of flood insurance conditional on actions being taken by third parties to provide protections where the resident has no power to compel them to act.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Insurers consider a range of factors in setting premiums and/or excesses in household insurance policies that include cover against flooding. Individual insurers will take different approaches to assessing flood risk. The decision to insure a property is a commercial decision made by the insurer.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to reply to the letter of 14 February 2023 sent by email from Westminster City Council, Kensington and Chelsea Council, Hammersmith and Fulham Council, Camden Council and the London Environment Directors’ Network on Flood Re eligibility criteria.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
A response was sent to Cllr Geoff Barraclough on 18 April 2023.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the number of residents who are unable to access insurance through the Flood Re scheme as a result of living in (a) buildings that are subdivided into more than four units and (b) blocks of flats where the leaseholders jointly share the freehold but have formed a private management company.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There is currently no evidence of a widespread systemic problem for residents in accessing insurance, where they are ineligible for Flood Re. Tenants and leaseholders are able to obtain contents insurance supported by Flood Re regardless of the size of the block.
The British Insurance Brokers’ Association and the Association of British Insurers has established a Signposting Service, to help source insurance. The signposting service has assisted over 13,000 enquiries since its launch in September 2022. This is further supported by a Code of Practice for insurers which sets out good practice in dealing with consumers who are having difficulty accessing flood insurance, including communicating exclusions to customers.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the (a) budget and (b) planned completion date is of each of the schemes in her Department's Flood and coastal resilience innovation programme for 2021 to 2027.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The £200m Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme is a 6-year programme. Between 2021 and 2027, the flood and coastal resilience innovation fund, managed by the Environment Agency, will allocate:
The remaining funds will be used to support the projects and the evaluation of the programmes.
Attached hyperlinks for further information about the programme Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme | Engage Environment Agency (engagementhq.com)
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she is taking steps with Cabinet colleagues to track the (a) cost of insurance and (b) availability of financial lending in coastal communities vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has published research into the availability and affordability of insurance in 2013, 2015, 2018 and 2023. Alongside this, Flood Re monitor the availability and cost of home insurance for flood affected households, including those in coastal areas.
As part of the £200m Flood and Coastal Innovation Programme (FCIP), Ministers have allocated £36m over 6 years, to develop a ‘Coastal Transition Accelerator Programme’ (CTAP) to trial opportunities, in a small number of coastal areas at significant risk of coastal erosion, to transition and adapt to a changing climate/coastline.
East Riding of Yorkshire and North Norfolk were identified as the areas to lead off the programme. Within their projects programme, they will be exploring the availability and role of financial products or services that can help people or businesses in communities most at risk of coastal erosion. Other coastal communities and risk management authorities will benefit from the learning that will be shared from this programme to inform future climate resilience and adaptation.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the impact of costal flood risk on the availability of mortgage offers.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Flood Re scheme enables insurers to offer affordable insurance for households at risk of flooding, including coastal flooding. This includes buildings insurance which is a condition of most mortgage offers.
In 2022/23, Flood Re provided cover for over 265,000 household policies. More than 500,000 properties have benefitted since the scheme’s launch. Flood Re is available via more than 85 insurance brands representing 94% of the home insurance market.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many Coastal Change Management Areas there are; and if she will publish a list showing where each one is located.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 18 October 2022 to PQ 60017.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to publish a progress update to her Department's Surface water management action plan, published on 17 July 2018, further to the update in July 2021.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government will provide an update on the actions from the 2021 surface water government update as part of its response to the NIC’s surface water study later this year.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has completed Action plan 3 in the policy paper entitled Surface water management, a government update, published 29 July 2021.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On 29 July 2021, Government published an update that set out the work that had been done to contribute to Action 3 of the Surface Water Management Action Plan and the further actions required to complete this. The Environment Agency is on track to complete actions in 2024 as set out in that document and continues to work with risk management authorities to improve the national picture of surface water flood risk.
In August 2022, the Environment Agency published an update to the Risk of Flooding from Surface Water maps, incorporating additional local mapping. The Environment Agency has also continued to work closely with lead local flood authorities (LLFAs) through the development of the new National Flood Risk Assessment, encouraging LLFAs to share data, local knowledge, and further local detailed mapping. This work will enable local information to be included in improved national surface water flood maps for publication in 2024.
The Environment Agency strongly encourages LLFAs to work with Water and Sewerage companies in the development of any local detailed modelling and mapping. It continues to work with both the water industry and the insurance sector to help promote collaborative working and data sharing.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information her Department holds on the water companies which have (a) published final drainage and wastewater management plans and (b) submitted those plans to Ofwat as part of their PR24 Business Plan.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency, Ofwat, the Consumer Council for Water, and Defra, have reviewed and provided feedback on the draft DWMPs from each of the nine water companies in England. The final DWMPs have been published by the water companies and are publicly available on their websites.