As part of the Plan for Change, the Government is committing to a record two-year investment of £2.65 billion with 52,000 properties set to benefit from new defences by March 2026.

Environment Agency: Ipswich Tidal Barrier

A statement issued by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs said the Government had inherited flood assets in their poorest condition on record, as years of underinvestment and damaging storms left 3,000 of the Environment Agency’s 38,000 high-consequence assets at below the required condition.

The statement says:

“To shore up creaking defences in need of repairs, funding will be reprioritised for investment in much-needed maintenance, benefitting a further 14,500 properties. This means a total of 66,500 properties will benefit from this funding.

“With the frequency of extreme weather events only continuing to rise, leading to devastating impacts for people, homes, businesses and communities and costing the UK economy billions each year, decisive action to invest in adapting to climate change has never been more important.”

The announcement comes as the Government’s Floods Resilience Taskforce meets today, with Floods Minister Emma Hardy joined by ministers from across government alongside representatives from the Met Office, Local Resilience Forums, and the National Farmers’ Union.

They will look at further steps that can be taken to protect the 6.3 million properties in England at risk from flooding, and discuss lessons to learn from Storms Bert, Conall and Éowyn this winter.

Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Steve Reed said:

“Under our Plan for Change, we are investing a record £2.65 billion to build and maintenance flood defences to protect lives, homes and businesses from the dangers of flooding.”

Up to 1000 projects are set to receive a share of the funding. Projects receiving funding include:

Bridgwater Tidal Barrier Flood Defence Scheme in Somerset, which will receive £43 million.

Derby Flood Risk Management Scheme “Our City Our River”, which is set to receive £35 million.

In the West Midlands, the Beales Corner project, which protects communities in Bewdley, will benefit from £2 million.

An additional £3.5 million for the Poole Bridge to Hunger Hill Flood Defences in Dorset

Support for property flood resilience schemes across Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, receiving £2.5 million.

Essential maintenance will be made to defences across the country including:

Phase 3 of the Stallingborough Sea Defences along the Humber estuary, receiving over £7 million

A further £3.8 million will be spent to improve protection in Pevensey Bay, as part of work to repair local sea defences.

Environment Agency Chair Alan Lovell said:

“The impact of flooding on our communities will only become greater as climate change brings more extreme weather, like Storms Bert, Conall and Éowyn.

“With this new funding, we will work closely with the Government to deliver the vital projects that are needed across the country, ensuring our investment goes to those communities who need it the most.”

£140 million from the investment programme will be prioritised for 31 projects that are ready for delivery; the full list of schemes to benefit will be announced in the coming months.

This year, £36 million is also being spent to undertake urgent repairs to defences damaged in last winter’s extreme flooding events.

For the next year, a further £72 million will go towards maintaining and repairing assets, including those damaged in recent flood events, to ensure they are as resilient as possible and operate as expected.  

Today’s Floods Resilience Taskforce will be hosted by Flood Re, a joint initiative between the Government and insurers aimed at making the flood cover part of household insurance policies more affordable.

The expert group’s discussions will focus on the national and local response to this winter’s flooding. It will also discuss further the long-term delivery of the Government’s flood resilience strategy and investment, including the planned review of the government’s funding formula for allocating money to flood and coastal erosion defence schemes.

Wider action to improve the nation’s flood resilience

The statement says the Government is committed to delivering a refreshed and updated approach to flood defences and that the existing funding formula for allocating money to defences:

slows down the delivery of new schemes through a complex application process

neglects more innovative approaches to flood management .

The Government says a consultation to update the formula will be launched shortly.

Elsewhere, £50 million has been allocated to internal drainage boards (IDBs) as part of a one-off £75 million IDB Fund. The funding will enable IDBs to manage water levels effectively for agriculture and environmental needs, ensuring their crucial role in flood and water management is supported for years to come. 

In addition, the Environment Agency has also confirmed that 34 natural flood management projects will move ahead to delivery. The projects, which are located across England, will use nature to increase the nation’s flood resilience.

Beneficiaries include Leicester City Council, which is working in partnership with Trent Rivers Trust to reduce flood risk across 13 locations in Leicestershire. Their work includes implementing blue green sustainable drainage at several schools, tree planting, and creating new wetlands to improve floodplain connectivity and increase flood water storage.