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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of recent flooding response preparations.

Protecting communities from flooding is a key priority for this Government. Defra and the Environment Agency work together and with partners to continuously assess and improve flood response preparations.

In September 2024, the Government’s new Floods Resilience Taskforce assessed the preparedness and resilience to flooding in advance of the winter. The Taskforce met again on 5 February where members discussed the impacts and learning from flooding experienced since September.