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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has to implement Sections 3 and 48 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010.

The Government is strongly committed to improving the implementation of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS).

In 2024 and 2026 we made changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) to support increased delivery of SuDS. The NPPF now requires all development to utilise SuDS where they could have drainage impacts. These systems should be appropriate to the nature and scale of the proposed development and designed to national standards.

Better delivery of SuDS may be achieved by continuing to improve the current planning policy-based approach and looking at ways of improving the approach to adoption and maintenance, rather than commencing Schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act 2010.