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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress he has made with (a) Shropshire council and (b) the River Severn Partnership in discussions on funding research into solutions to flooding on the River Severn.

The River Severn Partnership is seeking to deliver a holistic whole water management approach to address both flood risk and water security as a means of underpinning local resilience and supporting economic prosperity across the whole catchment.

The Environment Agency (EA) is working with partners to develop a River Severn Strategy, building on established frameworks for the River Thames and Humber Estuary strategies. This will include modelling and options appraisals to identify a long-term programme of capital investment in water infrastructure across the whole catchment, including the tributaries of the River Teme, Warwickshire Avon and River Wye. The strategy will explore new and innovative fiscal models for funding infrastructure delivery as well as the ongoing operation of such measures. The comprehensive and holistic nature of the River Severn Strategy means that there are multiple potential partners and funding sources, and the EA is exploring many options and funding streams. Local partners have already contributed £300,000 to begin work on the strategy and this will be used as leverage in wider funding bids.