Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the national flood risk assessment data, published on 25 March 2025, whether she has written to schools with buildings in flood zones (a) two and (b) three.

The department’s Schools Water Strategy team works with delivery partners such as the Environment Agency, water companies and lead local flood authorities to deliver flood prevention measures in schools through a number of workstreams.

The Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) in schools project collaborates with industry experts to jointly fund SuDS’ installation in schools at risk of surface water, reducing their flood risk.

The Environment Agency Partnership contributes funding to enable large-scale community flood schemes to be delivered.

The Property Flood Resilience assesses and implements property flood resilience and recovery measures across the school estate, targeting schools in high-risk areas and schools that have suffered repeated disruption.

Awareness and Education signposts or provides schools with appropriate information and tools to manage their water-related climate risks, as well as educational materials to support this and necessary behavioural changes

The department has invested in measures to reduce risk to flooding at 573 schools to the end of 2024/25 through the Schools Water Strategy, and will continue to invest in flood prevention in schools at risk of flooding in line with the published Sustainability and Climate Change strategy.

All education settings are expected to have a climate action plan to prepare for the effects of climate change, of which flooding is one. Taking a whole-school approach to climate change includes consideration towards climate adaptation and mitigation, supporting carbon reduction and nature recovery and increasing resilience to climate-related impacts such as flooding. The department has commissioned the Sustainability Support for Education hub to help settings start or continue with their sustainability journey, as well as funding the Climate Ambassador programme, which provides access to tailored support from experts from industry to develop and implement their climate action plans. Details about the hub can be found here: https://www.sustainabilitysupportforeducation.org.uk/. Details about the programme are available here: https://climateambassadors.org.uk/.