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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that sufficient funding for flood prevention is distributed evenly.

As part of the Plan for Change, this Government is investing at least a record £10.5 billion until 2036 – the largest flood programme in history which is projected to benefit more than 890,000 properties.

The Government recently announced major changes to its flood and coastal erosion funding policy, making it quicker and easier to deliver the right flood defences in the right places by simplifying our funding rules.

To secure maximum value for every pound of taxpayer funding, projects will be prioritised by their benefit-to-cost ratios. Contributions from other sources will boost a project’s prioritisation. This approach uses government funding to unlock investment from public, private and charitable sources.

A minimum of 20% of FCERM investment will go to the 20% most deprived communities and a minimum of 40% to the 40% most deprived communities, ensuring deprived communities receive vital investment.