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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what precautionary steps his Department is taking to support communities at risk of flooding.

In July 2020, the Government published a long-term Policy Statement, which sets out our ambition to create a nation more resilient to future flood and coastal erosion risk. The Policy Statement includes five policies and a number of supporting actions which will accelerate progress to better protect and better prepare the country against flooding and coastal erosion.

The Government announced in March 2020 a record £5.2 billion investment in around 2,000 flood and coastal erosion schemes to better protect communities across England. In July 2020 we announced an additional £170 million to accelerate the building of 23 flood schemes across the country.

To support communities that have experienced repeated flooding, the Government announced the creation of a new Frequently Flooded Allowance in July 2022 to boost schemes in these areas. The new ring-fenced £100 million allowance, as part of the £5.2 billion programme, will be targeted at eligible communities where 10 or more properties have flooded twice or more in the past 10 years.

In addition to the £5.2 billion investment in flooding and coastal erosion, the government’s Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation fund (2021–2027) will allocate:

• £150 million to the flood and coastal resilience innovation programme, to support 25 local areas to demonstrate how practical innovative actions can work to improve resilience to flooding and coastal erosion;
• £36 million to the coastal transition accelerator programme, to trial opportunities, in a small number of coastal areas at significant risk of coastal erosion, to transition and adapt to a changing climate; and
• £8 million to the adaptation pathways programme for work on long term planning for climate adaptation in the Thames and Humber estuaries, the Severn Valley and Yorkshire.