Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to improve flood resilience on (a) key arterial roads and (b) motorways in (i) Surrey and (ii) the South East.

National Highways manages the risk and impacts of flooding across England’s Strategic Road Network (SRN). It has a range of proactive controls and response measures, including a programme of targeted interventions for flood risk sites across the network, including the South East region. The third Road Investment Strategy will emphasise the need to improve the SRN’s resilience to future climate change, including new flood risk.

On local roads, the Government is providing local authorities with £7.3 billion of funding for local highway maintenance over the next four years, which supports measures to improve resilience. The Department is also working with the UK Roads Leadership Group to help local highway authorities understand and deal with the effects of climate change, including flooding.