Flood Control

(asked on 17th January 2024) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that the UK Government Resilience Framework adequately reflects the needs of communities that are repeatedly affected by flooding.


Answered by
Robbie Moore Portrait
Robbie Moore
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This question was answered on 31st January 2024

The Government’s long-term flood and coastal erosion risk management Policy Statement, published in 2020, sets out our ambition to create a nation more resilient to future flood and coastal erosion risk. It includes five ambitious policies and a number of actions which will accelerate progress to better protect and better prepare the country against flooding and coastal erosion in the face of more frequent extreme weather as a result of climate change.

Flooding resilience in England is a priority for Defra as part of the ‘whole of society’ approach to resilience outlined in the UK Government Resilience Framework (UKGRF). In December 2023 the Government published an implementation update for the UKGRF outlining progress to date in delivering commitments in the Framework. For example, the Government is investing a record £5.2 billion in the Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Capital Programme. Since 2021, over £1.5 billion has so far been invested in flood defence projects across the England, with over 67,000 properties better protected. Climate change projections are built into the design of new flood defences to make sure they are fit for the future.

On the 5 April 2023, the Government also announced the first communities in England to benefit from the Government’s £100 million Frequently Flooded Allowance. These communities have been allocated a total of £48 million, better protecting more than 2,300 households and businesses.

Defra and the Environment Agency also work closely with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) to share flood risk information and identify particularly vulnerable areas. We constantly review our policies in the light of the most up-to-date evidence. This includes UK Climate Projections and the Government’s five-yearly UK Climate Change Risk Assessment.

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