The Environment Agency has said that it is prioritising high-risk assets and activities, together with continuing to work on flood defence construction, in its latest operational update on how it is working during the coronavirus emergency.

The EA says it remains fully operational, with the majority of staff working from home and remaining frontline teams active on the ground where necessary, tackling priority issues such as flood risk and pollution.

The Environment Agency has closed most of its offices, with only four, Horizon House in Bristol, Quadrant 2 in Sheffield, Temple borough in Rotherham and 2 Marsham Street in London remaining open to essential staff only.

All staff, wherever they are working, are following NHS guidance to reduce their risk of contracting Coronavirus.

The role the Agency’s field teams play is critical and remains a priority. Much of its work has been identified as essential by the government and the Agency is to continue flood defence construction work.

The EA has agreed ways of working for field teams to reduce the risk of contracting Coronavirus – including maximising social distancing and working as flexibly as possible to reduce the number of face to face interactions between team members. Protective measures to safeguard kit and vehicles used for operational duties are also in place.

It is also ensuring contractors are aware of site and people restrictions and are following the correct procedures.

Flood defence construction work prioritised to protect most at-risk communities

The Agency is also reviewing flood defence schemes currently under construction to ensure staff and contractors are able to work safely while trying to meet deadlines to reduce flood risk for vulnerable communities.

Where work is continuing the EA has taken steps to ensure that everyone involved has been trained on social distancing and will not put anyone at risk. If the work cannot be done safely the work will stop.

Inspections of flood risk assets damaged in Storms Ciara and Dennis are still underway using local inspectors, with work prioritised to protect the most at-risk communities to ensure they continue to remain resilient.

The Agency intends to carry out a full assessment of the impact of Coronavirus on its asset repair programme as the situation develops, but in the meantime will continue to prioritise work that poses a significant risk to lives and livelihoods.

The update says:

“If repairs to major infrastructure assets are disrupted by the impact of Coronavirus, we will where possible put in place temporary mitigation for the risk, pending a full repair.”

“We anticipate all our work will be impacted by the controls we and government have put in place. This is likely to mean that completion dates for new projects will slip and other key activities may take place at less regular intervals. We will do our best to keep communities informed of any delays and the action that we are taking to minimise them.”