The Government has committed to investing an additional £15 million for natural flood management measures.
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Andrea Leadsom announced the extra funding in the House of Commons yesterday.
The MInister told MPs that the current £2.5 billion six-year capital floods programme to improve flood defences would provide better protection for at least 300,000 homes in the six-year period from 2015 to 2021.
She also said that it was “absolutely our intention” to make sure that new developments are better protected in all planning decisions.
Former Defra Minister Richard Benyon MP said that given that more than 5 million homes are at flood risk in Britain, it was important that Defra continued its work not just in building flood defences with concrete, steel and earthworks, but also in looking at how nature and land managers can be incentivised to create greater protection for households.
Andrea Leadsom replied:
“Yes, my hon. Friend is quite right. There are concrete barriers, which are very important, and we have had 130 new schemes since January, better protecting 55,000 homes. However, natural flood management—slowing the flow, and looking at ways to work with the contours of our environment to improve protection—is also vital. I can announce that we have been given £15 million to invest in further projects to do just that.”
Labour MP Sue Hayman told the House that the Autumn Statement gave little hope to the residents of the 5 million properties at risk of flooding, asking the Minister how many schemes have seen a spade in the ground following the announcement in the March Budget of an additional £700 million of capital expenditure for flood defences and prevention.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at Defra Dr Thérèse Coffey said 130 new flood schemes had been completed this year, protecting over 55,000 households. All but three of the 660 Environment Agency flood defences damaged last winter had now been repaired and the three remaining assets have contingency plans in place. The Environment Agency had recently launched its flood awareness campaign and last month saw the launch of the property level resilience action plan on how householders can protect their homes from flooding, she said.
Mary Creagh MP said that despite the announcement of an extra £700 million of flood defence spending there has not been a clear plan from the Government about how the money is going to be spent and called for it to set out a proper transport infrastructure resilience plan for the whole country.
Responding to a question from Martin Vickers, the MP for Cleethorpes seeking confirmation that there would be no slippage in future flood defence spending on the Humber, Dr Coffey said:
“ I can assure my hon. Friend that the schemes already planned will continue given the record £2.5 billion investment this Government are making in flood defences.”
However, she failed to give a direct reply to a question from Robert Flello, MP Stoke-on-Trent South calling for Defra, together with the Department for Communities and Local Government to make water companies statutory consultees on planning applications, saying:
“I recognise that water companies are not currently a statutory consultee, but that does not stop them having conversations. The Environment Agency continues to provide advice on all planning applications, and in 98% of planning applications across England its advice is accepted.”
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