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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of trends in the number of developments on flood risks in Leicestershire.

The Government has committed to ensure we are building more high-quality, well-designed and sustainable homes, and creating places that increase climate resilience and promote nature recovery. Flood risk is an important consideration in the planning system.

The Environment Agency (EA) is a statutory consultee in the planning process on flood risk matters, in particular flooding from rivers.

On a strategic level, the EA actively engages with Local Planning Authorities’ (LPAs) Local Plan making process to ensure that new developments will be in line with the National Planning Policy Framework’s requirements on flood risk.

The EA ensures the LPA has the most up-to-date flooding information and data to make informed decisions regarding which locations they choose for significantly sized new development, using the principle that those areas at least risk of flooding should be chosen first.