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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her speech at the Oxford Farming Conference on 6 January 2016, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on how responsibility for maintaining local watercourses will be shared.

Following discussions between Defra, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) and the Somerset Rivers Authority, the Secretary of State for DCLG confirmed that authorities in Somerset will be able to raise extra funding via a shadow precept from April 2016.

The Government also provides funding to Lead Local Flood Authorities (LLFAs) to carry out their duties under the Flood and Water Management Act. As part of the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2016-17, the DCLG has proposed protecting LLFA funding in real terms over the life of this Parliament.