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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the asset condition of flood (a) defences and (b) infrastructure across Cambridgeshire’s middle-level.

Assets in the Middle Level are primarily managed by the Middle Level Commissioners with some managed by the Environment Agency (EA).

The 2021 EA’s “Future Fens – Flood Risk Management Project Baseline Report” underscores the importance of these assets across Cambridgeshire Fens.

1. We do not have access to asset condition data for the Middle Level Commissioner’s assets. www.middlelevel.gov.uk

The majority of EAs assets are at target condition, on the Low Bank there are 6 out of 66 assets below target condition and to be brought back to target condition.

The EA’s Middle Level barrier bank, recently underwent a £44.3m embankment raising project, ensuring it remains in target condition.

1. The Middle Level Commissioners oversee flood risk with a total area of 734km² in size. Specifically for the Middle Level sub-catchment, the Future Fens baseline report has identified approximately £281m would need to be invested in both Environment Agency and Middle Level Commissioner’s assets over the next 100 years to maintain the 2021 level of service. It also estimated that these assets deliver around £10.5bn worth of benefits.

The Environment Agency’s Fens2100+ programme, with a £9.8m budget, aims to assess and develop a strategy for future asset management and investment needs.