Flood Control: Finance

(asked on 8th June 2020) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will increase spending on flood defences in line with the recommendations of the 2007 Pitt Review.


Answered by
Rebecca Pow Portrait
Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This question was answered on 15th June 2020

The Government is currently investing £2.6 billion between 2015-2021 to deliver more than 1,000 flood defence projects to better protect 300,000 homes by 2021. Overall funding for flood defences nationally has increased steadily in real terms since 2005/06, from an annual average of £671 million between 2005/06 and 2009/10 to an annual average of £821 million for the period 2014/15 to 2018/19.This is on top of £1 billion to maintain flood defence assets between 2015 and 2020. This is an increase in real terms when compared to the average of £812 million over the previous five years.

At the Budget in March, it was confirmed that Government will double the amount it invests in the flood and coastal defence programme in England to £5.2 billion over six years from 2021, better protecting a further 336,000 properties, including 290,000 homes. Additional funding of £200 million will help over 25 local areas to take forward wider innovative actions that improve their resilience to flooding and coastal erosion.

Defra’s Flood and Coastal Resilience Partnership Funding policy was introduced in 2011 following the recommendations of Sir Michael Pitt’s review of widespread flooding in 2007. It was a move away from the previous approach whereby the Government would fully fund some schemes but once that money was committed no further schemes were funded.

On 17 April 2020, Defra and the EA announced and published an update to the Partnership Funding Policy, which comprised 4 technical changes to this policy, including an intention to launch a consultation later this year (2020) on floods funding policy to gather insights from across the country. These views will help to further develop our floods funding vision for the future.

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