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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the prioritisation of projects designed to address drainage, water level and flood risks; and what is their estimate of the costs of funding a programme to address these risks.

Flood defence projects are prioritised based on the economic benefits they could achieve in terms of the flood damages they would avoid and the number of homes that would be better protected from flooding or coastal erosion.

The Environment Agency's Long Term Investment Scenarios report represents the best currently available projections of potential long term costs to manage flood and coastal risk under a range of scenarios reflecting future uncertainties.

The latest report confirms that current Government investment plans to 2020, together with forecast local contributions, are in line with the level the Environment Agency’s assessment indicates is necessary to reduce overall flood risk.

The report it available on the GOV.UK website.