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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department plans to announce the long-term funding solution for internal drainage boards.

Internal drainage boards (IDBs) are mainly funded locally through drainage rates paid directly by agricultural landowners and special levies issued to district or unitary authorities.

Defra and DLUCH are working together to review the funding pressures reported by IDBs and the contributing local authorities, to consider whether any changes to current funding arrangements may be needed in the future.

For the current financial year, the Government has announced a £75 million fund, for IDBs to support agricultural land and rural communities recover from recent flooding events and modernise infrastructure to increase future resilience. In addition, the Government is providing an additional £3 million in grant funding to support local authorities most significantly impacted by the increase in special levies in 2024-25.