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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the timetable is for the publication of the Severn Valley Water Management Scheme.

The Severn Valley Water Management Scheme is being developed by the Environment Agency and the River Severn Partnership. Engaging with partners on both sides of the English/Welsh border, an initial plan of potential interventions has been created that would make a significant difference to community resilience along the upper Severn catchment. This plan outlines possible approaches to effective water management across the Upper Severn catchment using a hybrid of formal engineered solutions, natural flood management, and land use change. The basis of funding and delivery is complex, and partners have a key role to play to co-create and deliver solutions on the ground, to access funding sources that will enable delivery, and to help the Environment Agency to engage with communities and businesses across the catchment. This critical engagement work will begin later this year which will help develop the plan further. To deliver an effective intervention plan, the input and support of authorities within Wales will greatly assist, and the Environment Agency is currently undertaking discussions, facilitated by Defra, with Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales.