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

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role of farmland in mitigating potential flood damage by retaining excess water on fields in times of floods, and whether they have plans to reward farmers in this regard.

Farmers and land managers can, and do, play a key role in helping to mitigate flood risks, by taking actions which encourage infiltration into the soil, transpiration, slowing the flow of water through a catchment and, in the event of a flood, temporarily storing water away from a watercourse to help protect communities, infrastructure and businesses (including agricultural businesses) downstream.

There will be measures that benefit flood risk mitigation in all three Environmental Land Management schemes: Sustainable Farming Incentive, Countryside Stewardship, and Landscape Recovery.

Some areas of land will flood naturally. Anyone farming on a natural flood plain should expect water to enter the flood plain as a result of natural processes. There is no right to compensation or other payments for natural flooding.

In some cases, the Environment Agency will create a temporary flood storage area on private land using its powers under the Water Resources Act 1991. These areas are designed in liaison with land managers and operated by the Environment Agency. Landowners are entitled to compensation to cover the losses and damages they incur when such a scheme is carried out on their land.