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

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether slumps in embankments in rural areas contributed to recent flooding events; and what steps they are taking to ensure embankment slumps are repaired.

The Environment Agency works closely with other Risk Management Authorities such as local authorities and Internal Drainage Boards to manage flood risk.

The Environment Agency maintains over 7,300km of embankments. In the last two years about 25% of the resource allocation from Flood Defence Grant in Aid was spent on maintaining our embankments.

The Environment Agency has been inspecting assets that may have been impacted by recent storms Babet and Ciaran. Over 2,200 inspections have been undertaken by Environment Agency inspectors and supply chain partners to date. Some assets are still not accessible due to ongoing high-water levels, and to get a full picture on the range of impacts may take a few weeks.

If the performance of an asset is reduced, then action will be taken to ensure that flood risk continues to be effectively managed until the asset meets the required condition.

The Environment Agency continues to have people on the ground supporting local communities and inspecting flood defence assets, and where required is developing plans based on the level of risk to return assets to their required condition.