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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of the £700 million allocated in Spring Budget 2016 to boost spending on flood defences and resilience funded by the 0.5 per cent rise in Insurance Premium Tax has been (a) allocated and (b) spent.

Of the £700 million announced in the Spring Budget 2016 to boost spending on flood defences and resilience, £446.6 million has been allocated to Defra and £150.5 million to the Department for Transport.

£406.6 million of this funding for Defra has been allocated for specific purposes to improve defences or better manage flood risk. We anticipate that a decision will be made by summer on the remaining £40 million.

£117.9 million of the funding allocated to Defra had been spent by March and £73.7 million of the funding allocated to Department for Transport has been committed to be spent in 2018.