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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help mitigate the impact of (a) increased rainfall and (b) storms on arable farm output.

The Government inherited flood assets in their worst condition on record following years of underinvestment by the previous Government – only 92% of the Environment Agency’s 38,000 high consequence assets are currently at required condition.

To ensure we protect the country from the devastating impacts of flooding, we will invest £2.4 billion over 2024/25 and 2025/26 to improve flood resilience, by building, maintaining, and repairing flood defences. The Government also announced an additional £50 million of investment into internal drainage boards, supporting farmers and rural communities from the impacts of flooding.

The new Flood Resilience Taskforce provides oversight of national and local flood resilience and preparedness ahead of and after the winter flood season.

Additionally, Defra’s farming budget will be £2.4 billion in 2025/26. This will include the largest ever budget directed at sustainable food production and nature’s recovery in our country’s history: £1.8 billion for environmental land management schemes. This funding will deliver improvements to cover a range of objectives including support to improve resilience to flooding.