Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the cost to the public purse has been of flood damage in the UK in each of the last three years.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) does not hold records that show cost to the public purse from flood damage on an annual basis. It reviews the total economic damages after significant flood events in England.
The EA has published reports for the flood events of 2007, 2013/14 and 2015/16. It has also estimated the economic damages of the recent widespread flooding that took place in November 2019.
Total economic costs of the summer 2007 floods in England are estimated at £3.9 billion, inflation adjusted to 2015 prices.
Total economic costs of the winter 2013 to 2014 floods in England and Wales are estimated at £1.3 billion, inflation adjusted to 2015 prices.
Total economic costs of the winter 2015 to 2016 floods in England are estimated at £1.6 billion at 2015 prices.
The estimated economic damages for the November 2019 floods in England are £78 million and repair costs to defences around £120 million. Without flood defences, the economic damages could have been £1.6 billion higher. In other words, defences have helped to reduce the damages by 95%. The impacts during November 2019 would also have been significantly higher without the significant investment in flood risk management since 2007, when these areas also experienced extreme rainfall.
There is currently an ongoing research project funded by the Joint Research Programme to capture, calculate and store data on the economic costs of floods. Among other benefits, this project will allow the EA to better analyse flood impact data. Improved consistency in how data is recorded will enable economic damages to be compared across flood events and years.
The EA will produce estimates of economic damage to England for Storm Ciara and Storm Dennis once the full extent of the impacts are known.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to monitor air pollution in Norfolk.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Government uses a combination of monitoring and modelling to assess air quality. The Environment Agency (EA) manages the UK's national monitoring sites on behalf of Defra and the Devolved Administrations. There are around 300 EA managed monitoring sites in total across the UK, which monitor air quality, including at Norwich and Weybourne.
In addition, local authorities are required to review and assess local air quality, which includes monitoring. Defra provides calculation tools to support local authorities in their monitoring and modelling efforts. Positioning of local monitors is expected to be in line with national and local priorities, which may include schools and other locations where there is high risk of public exposure to air pollutants.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many properties and businesses have been flooded in Norwich in each year since 1997.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The government does not hold the data requested for all sources of flooding.
The Environment Agency is responsible for managing the risk of flooding from main rivers, reservoirs, estuaries and the sea. There are no recorded incidents of properties or businesses being flooded in Norwich from these sources of flooding since 1997.
Norfolk County Council is the lead local flood authority for Norwich and is responsible for managing the risk of flooding from surface water, groundwater and ordinary watercourses.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how his Department allocates funds to each region to protect dwellings and businesses from surface water flooding.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Lead responsibility for managing surface water flood risks lies with Lead Local Flood Authorities (LLFAs).
The Government, through Defra, provides the majority of funding for flood and coastal erosion risk management activities for England in the form of Grant in Aid which is administered by the Environment Agency. As well as using their own funds, LLFAs can bid for this funding to carry out surface water management projects. Funding for projects to reduce the risk of surface water flooding is considered on the same criteria as other flood and coastal erosion risks. Projects which have the greatest economic benefits, which provide protection to the most homes in relation to their cost, and those that protect the environment are prioritised for funding. In the six year programme from 2015 to 2021, £767,000 of this funding was allocated to surface water flood risk management schemes in Norfolk.
The Government also provides funding through the Local Government Settlement to LLFAs to carry out their surface water management and other duties under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. The total amount and breakdown per authority is published on gov.uk[1]. The total of the LLFA entries for Norfolk for 2017-18 is £851,730. This shows the significance central government gives to these services, but local authorities have freedom to determine their own priorities.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/core-spending-power-visible-lines-of-funding-2017-to-2018
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of funding to protect domestic dwellings and business from surface water flooding has been awarded to Norfolk.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Lead responsibility for managing surface water flood risks lies with Lead Local Flood Authorities (LLFAs).
The Government, through Defra, provides the majority of funding for flood and coastal erosion risk management activities for England in the form of Grant in Aid which is administered by the Environment Agency. As well as using their own funds, LLFAs can bid for this funding to carry out surface water management projects. Funding for projects to reduce the risk of surface water flooding is considered on the same criteria as other flood and coastal erosion risks. Projects which have the greatest economic benefits, which provide protection to the most homes in relation to their cost, and those that protect the environment are prioritised for funding. In the six year programme from 2015 to 2021, £767,000 of this funding was allocated to surface water flood risk management schemes in Norfolk.
The Government also provides funding through the Local Government Settlement to LLFAs to carry out their surface water management and other duties under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. The total amount and breakdown per authority is published on gov.uk[1]. The total of the LLFA entries for Norfolk for 2017-18 is £851,730. This shows the significance central government gives to these services, but local authorities have freedom to determine their own priorities.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/core-spending-power-visible-lines-of-funding-2017-to-2018
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the levels of domestic and business insurance held by those at risk of flooding in each local authority area.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Government does not collect information on the levels of domestic and business insurance held by those at risk of flooding in each local authority area.
Defra regularly considers the availability of affordable insurance for those at high flood risk. Defra undertook research in 2013 and 2015 and plans to undertake further research in 2018/19.
Flood Re was created to promote availability and affordability of insurance for households at high flood risk. In its first year of operation Flood Re has already enabled 130,000 households to access affordable flood insurance. Flood Re is actively monitoring the availability and affordability of insurance within the market on an ongoing basis.