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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many non-Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management staff counted under the Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management cost-heading at the Environment Agency have been redeployed to inspect flood defence assets in each of the last five months.

The Environment Agency has not redeployed any non–flood and coastal erosion risk management staff to inspect flood risk management assets in the last five months. The Environment Agency only uses fully trained staff to inspect assets and has trained and used 200 armed forces personnel for this purpose.