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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what additional steps her Department plans to take to reduce the risk of flooding in East Yorkshire.

In March 2020, the Government announced a record £5.2 billion investment over six years in flood and coastal erosion schemes to better protect communities across England. An additional funding of £200 million over six years will help over 25 local areas to take forward wider innovative actions that improve their resilience to flooding and coastal erosion. £8 million of the £200 million Flood and Coastal Innovation Programme has been allocated to the four adaptive pathways support work in the Thames and Humber estuaries, the Severn Valley, and Yorkshire to trial and develop ways of planning ahead and making wise investment choices for the decades to come in face of the long-term uncertainties brought by climate change.

The Environment Agency is progressing a wide range of studies, in partnership with other flood risk management authorities and stakeholders, to identify options to further reduce flood risk in the East Yorkshire area, both now and into the future. The outputs will afford a better understanding of the needs, risks and opportunities and shape flood risk management in East Yorkshire and the wider area for decades.

These include the Humber 2100+ study, which is developing an integrated approach to flood risk across the Humber Estuary. Large parts of East Yorkshire, particularly along the north bank of the Humber Estuary, are at risk of tidal flooding – a risk which will only increase with climate change. The Environment Agency and 11 local authorities (including East Riding of Yorkshire Council) are working together and with others to develop the long-term strategic approach for managing tidal flood risk, so safeguarding the future of the Humber area in the face of sea level rise and climate change. Other studies include strategic reviews of flood risk in the upper and middle catchments of the river Hull and in the middle catchment of the river Humber. The Environment Agency is also reviewing its flood models for the River Hull.

Specific to the East Yorkshire parliamentary constituency, much of the land here is predominantly low-lying farmland, drained over hundreds of years and heavily reliant on embankments, land drainage and pumping to manage flood risk. The Environment Agency is working closely with the Rt Hon Member, the Rt Hon Member for Beverley and Holderness, Internal Drainage Boards, landowners and farmers to shape our approach to reducing flood risk.