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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to reforest upstream areas to reduce flooding risk.

The Government’s new £640 million Nature for Climate Fund will drive up tree planting and peat restoration rates, including in upland areas. This fund will complement many of the Environment Agency’s existing flood and coastal erosion risk management schemes that include nature-based solutions such as tree planting. In addition, the Environment Agency’s new National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy outlines the need to increase the use of nature-based solutions including tree planting to slow the flow of or store flood water to reduce flooding risk.