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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the Environment Agency's flood modelling in relation to the decommissioning of the Black Sluice Pumping Station.

Defra keeps the Environment Agency’s (EA) flood risk modelling under review to ensure it remains robust and appropriate for managing flood risk.

Following flooding in the Black Sluice, or South Forty Foot Drain, catchment in January 2025, the EA published an Evidence Based Review in May 2025. This review identified the need for a detailed assessment of flood modelling associated with the decommissioning of the Black Sluice Pumping Station. In response, additional work was commissioned later that month to examine the 2016 Black Sluice Catchment Works modelling and to assess how modelling assumptions compared with the circumstances of the January 2025 flooding event. This work also considered other factors that contributed to the flooding. The technical modelling assessment has been undertaken by consultants, Mott MacDonald, and has been completed with final reports being prepared for publication in summer 2026.