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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department has spent on flood defence investment in each year since 2021; what proportion of that annual spending was allocated to (a) Environment Agency capital schemes and (b) Environment Agency grant in aid schemes delivered by (i) local authorities and (ii) other risk management authorities; and how many properties were better protected in each of those years.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

On March 17^th, Minister Hardy announced that this Government is investing £1.4 billion into flood risk management in England in 2026/27. Flood defence investment allocations for schemes benefitting are published on gov.uk here: Programme of flood and coastal erosion risk management (FCERM) schemes - GOV.UK .

Funding for FCERM in England.

Flood and coastal erosion risk management report.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the FloodReady Review and its recommendation to mainstream property flood resilience, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that Environment Agency flood defence schemes make full use of property flood resilience measures to protect properties from low depth surface water flooding.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The FloodReady report, published in October 2025, sets out recommendations to support the wider uptake of property flood resilience (PFR) measures across the public, private and third sectors. The Government and the Environment Agency (EA) are supporting the delivery of the FloodReady recommendations, alongside existing policies that support the use of PFR as part of the broader flood and coastal erosion risk management approach.

The Government has committed a three-year investment of £4.2 billion to reduce risk from, and increase resilience to, flooding and coastal erosion. The Government’s new flood funding policy will be implemented from 1 April 2026.

EA flood defence schemes are developed using a range of measures to reduce flood risk, including natural flood management, traditional flood defences and PFR where appropriate. Decisions on the use of these measures are made on a case-by-case basis to ensure the most effective and value-for-money approach to protecting communities from flooding.

We have just announced funding for more than 600 flood schemes to help protect tens of thousands of homes and businesses in 2026/27 – from upgraded barriers and embankments to natural flood management projects that slow the flow of water and coastal defences reducing flood risk.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she will publish the total amount of spending on property flood resilience in each of the last five years; and how many properties have benefited from such measures in each of those years.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Environment Agency (EA) delivers PFR Schemes as part of the flood investment programme. Between April 2021 and March 31 2025, over £9m has been invested in Property Flood Resilience measures, delivering 1245 properties better protected.*

*Figures are provided in the table below

Found: Central) Mr Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat; Wimbledon) Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat; North Cornwall) Robbie Moore