Coastal Erosion

(asked on 18th January 2022) - 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 further steps he proposes to take to (a) mitigate the effect of coastal erosion and (b) assist those communities affected.


Answered by
Rebecca Pow Portrait
Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This question was answered on 21st January 2022

Between 2021 and 2027, we have doubled our overall investment in flooding and coastal erosion to £5.2 billion. This will ensure a further 336,000 properties are better protected from flooding and coastal erosion.

An additional £200 million will be invested in the Innovative Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme. This is already helping 25 local areas over six years to take forward wider innovative actions that improve their resilience to flooding and coastal erosion.

Local authorities are best placed to understand their coastline and to develop the most appropriate approaches to manage risk through Shoreline Management Plans and their local planning policies. These plans provide a high level, long term policy framework to manage local risks from coastal change over a 100-year timeline.

The Environment Agency is working with coastal authorities on a £1 million refresh of Shoreline Management Plans to ensure that they are up to date, using the best evidence in their recommendations and focus attention on priority areas for investment and adaptation.

As set out in our Flood and Coastal Erosion Policy Statement we will be reviewing the current mechanisms, including legal powers, which coastal erosion risk management authorities can use to manage the coast. We will also be exploring the availability and role of financial products or services that can help people or businesses to achieve a managed transition of property and infrastructure away from areas at very high risk of coastal erosion.

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