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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the disaggregation of local authority responsibilities in the context of local government reorganisation on (a) flood management and (b) resilience planning.

Lead Local Flood Authorities are required, under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010, to develop and maintain a strategy for managing local flood risk. They also have a duty to collaborate with other flood risk management authorities and to keep a register of flood risk management assets.

During the local government reorganisation process, councils continue to deliver their business‑as‑usual services and duties, which remain unchanged until reorganisation is complete. Commitments undertaken by existing councils will become the responsibility of any new unitary authorities, the exact details of which will be worked out and planned for in the transition period jointly with the new and predecessor councils.

Local government reorganisation remains a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create stronger local councils empowered across local services, equipped to drive economic growth, improve local public services, and empower their communities.