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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department plans to take to provide additional support to local authorities to prepare for flooding in winter 2024-25.

We set up the first ever Floods Resilience Taskforce on 12 September. The Taskforce sets out a new approach to preparing for flooding, and working cohesively between national, regional and local government, including the devolved administrations and flood risk partners. This Taskforce will ensure that the UK’s preparedness for, and resilience to, flooding is reviewed regularly and robustly. It will ensure we continuously improve to ensure optimum protection to people, homes and businesses.

The Environment Agency has also completed briefing sessions with the Local Resilience Forum chairs group, providing an overview of winter preparedness activity and the likely scenarios for this winter.