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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the timetable is for carrying out flood prevention work at the River Thames in Reading.

More than 700 properties, roads and other infrastructure are at risk of flooding from the Thames in north Reading and Lower Caversham. The Environment Agency (EA) has engaged widely with the community to raise awareness of flood risk and to get feedback on plans for a flood risk management scheme which would include flood walls, embankments and a channel to bypass Reading Bridge. The EA is reviewing feedback from the community and if there is support for the scheme it will progress work to secure the necessary permissions and funding.