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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Government’s commitment to invest £10.5 billion in flood defences by 2036, (a) how much has been allocated to each English region to date, (b) how many of the 151 completed schemes were operational during Storm Claudia, and (c) what assessment she has made of the effect of reprioritising £108 million towards maintenance on improving the condition and reliability of existing assets.

This Government will invest at least £10.5 billion into our flood defences between April 2024 and March 2036 better protecting nearly 900,000 properties.

1. Having benefitted from over £745 million of capital funding in 2024/25, flood defence schemes have received an indicative allocation of over £659 million for 2025/26.
2. Some of the 151 completed flood and coastal schemes are always operational, including during Storm Claudia, due to their fixed presence. Many areas benefitted from these, often combined with other scheme or defences. Whilst it is not possible to identify them individually, all Environment Agency assets operated as expected.
3. This Investment is ensuring that 92.9% of Environment Agency-maintained flood defence assets in high consequence systems (those that protect a large number of properties) were at required condition in October 2025. This is an increase of 0.8% since Q2 in 2024.

The investment will also reduce deterioration and target repairs to assets, benefitting an additional 14,500 properties in England.