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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding for flood prevention her Department has allocated to each local authority in 2016-17.

The Department provides funding for flood risk management projects through Grant in Aid to Risk Management Authorities, which include the Environment Agency, local authorities and internal drainage boards. Please see the attached table which shows Grant in Aid funding allocated to Risk Management Authorities in 2016/17. This is a snapshot for the current year and reflects the bids made by authorities for specific projects.

In addition funding for local authorities’ ongoing flood prevention responsibilities is provided through the Local Government Settlement. Local authorities have freedom to determine their own priorities and so there is no specific flood allocation by authority.

Funding for two ongoing flood responsibilities, the Lead Local Flood Authority role and local authorities’ role as statutory consultee on surface water for major developments, was previously provided through Defra and DCLG grants but as of 2016/17 has been fully rolled into the settlement. The visible lines show a notional amount for each authority for these two purposes. The lines indicate the priority central government gives to these two services but do not affect authorities’ freedom to set their own priorities locally.