Asked by: Lord Hunt of Chesterton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what (1) advice, and (2) funding, they have provided, or intend to provide, to help property owners protect their properties from flooding.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
Since 2016 Defra have been working with industry through a Property Flood Resilience Roundtable to explore how business, homeowners, and Government can reduce the impact of flooding through greater awareness and the use of Property Flood Resilience (PFR) measures.
Following the unprecedented flooding in November and following the recent storms, Government announced Property Flood Resilience recovery grants of up to £5,000 in affected areas to help eligible homes and businesses become more flood resilient.
Between 2015 and 2021 the Environment Agency is spending approximately £3.6 million of grant in aid on PFR resistance measures for households at very significant risk. In additional, the Government is funding a £2.9 million PFR Pathfinder project which aims to boost the uptake of PFR measures through education, advice portals and innovative initiatives to make homes and buildings more resilient to floods.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Chesterton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had, or intend to have, with the insurance industry about incentivising property owners to protect their properties from (1) flooding, and (2) wind damage.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
Since 2016, Defra has worked with insurers and other industry representatives through a Property Flood Resilience (PFR) Roundtable to take forward technical issues and develop pathways to deliver greater uptake of Property Flood Resilience. A ‘Code-of-Practice’ to improve service delivery has recently been published by the group.
Flood Re have published their Quinquennial Review into the future development of the scheme, including ways to incentivise PFR, which the Government is carefully considering.
We have not had any discussions with the insurance industry on wind damage.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Chesterton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to provide more data to local organisations and communities to help them prepare for future floods.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The Environment Agency (EA) publishes data and maps for England on coastal erosion risk and flood risk. This includes a five-day flood forecast, river levels and flood warnings. The EA makes, and will continue to make, this and other environmental data openly available for download so that it can be used by individuals, communities and local organisations free of charge. The EA will continue to improve these digital services based on feedback.
The EA will be releasing an updated flood information service (https://flood-warning-information.service.gov.uk/warnings) in spring 2020 which will feature more impact information, rainfall information and improved navigation. In addition, the EA is working with Fujitsu, EE and the University of Hull to undertake trials of Cell Broadcasting technology (https://flood-warning-information.service.gov.uk/cell-broadcast-trial), and is intending to work with other Government bodies to help to implement this service to warn those at highest risk in advance of flooding.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Chesterton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take to ensure that hazard data is publicly available and visible, in particular, data on (1) coastal erosion, (2) wind strength, (3) flood risks, and (4) the impact on the delivery of emergency services.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The Government has already taken a number of steps to ensure that hazard data is publicly available and visible.
The Environment Agency (EA) publishes data and maps on coastal erosion and flood risks. The EA also issues flood warnings and flood alerts as part of the Government Digital Service. These are publicly available. The EA also makes other environmental data openly available for download via the Defra Data Services Platform.
The Met Office provides forecasts of average wind speed and wind gust speed up to a week ahead. This is available on the Met Office’s public website and its app. When wind is deemed likely to pose a significant hazard, the Met Office issues warnings to public and emergency responders as part of the National Severe Weather Warning Service. Warnings are accessible from the Met Office through its app and also widely available via many other media channels.
More widely, the National Risk Register (NRR) is a public-facing document that delivers an overview of the key risks most likely to cause disruption in the UK and provides key guidance on individual preparedness during emergencies. The NRR is the declassified version of the National Security Risk Assessment, a cross-Government document that rigorously assesses key risks and their impacts on the UK, including extensive data on the disruption to emergency services. Though it cannot publish all data due to inherent sensitivities, the NRR identifies disruption to emergency services as a key consequence of many of the natural hazards and, where possible, links to key websites hosting hazard data and information on potential disruptions are provided. The current NRR can be found on the GOV.UK website and an updated version will be published in the first half of 2020.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Chesterton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made, if any, in improving the management of higher ground areas in the UK where a natural event, farming and forest management can modify flood run-offs towards lower ground areas.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The Government, in conjunction with farmers, landowners and the third sector, has made progress in exploring how management of the uplands can contribute towards flood mitigation in the lowlands. This can be achieved through the use of natural processes, such as natural flood management, as well as changing land use and behaviours to better manage the flow of water.
Each catchment is different and requires a unique approach to management but natural flood management measures can be implemented across any area e.g. uplands, lowlands, urban and rural. These measures can include tree planting, leaky debris dams and peatbog restoration on upper slopes, flood washlands and river re-connection and naturalisation mid-catchment and management and creation of coastal marsh and sand dune systems in coastal areas.
There is evidence that natural flood management measures, that are appropriately designed and situated, can help manage flood and coastal risks, often alongside other measure, and can also provide other benefits to the natural environment, including but not limited to habitat creation, increased biodiversity and improved water quality. The Environment Agency (EA) has published an evidence directory which summarises the effectiveness of working with natural processes, from a flood risk and wider ecosystem perspective[1].
This work is supported and encouraged by the Government and complements its record capital investment programme in flood defences. There are currently approximately 40 capital schemes, led by the EA, that include natural flood management measures and the Government expects this to increase. Alongside this successive governments have invested in specific natural flood management programmes. This includes a £15 million programme supporting more than 55 projects, looking at the effectiveness of these interventions including in the uplands. These projects will enable new approaches to be tested and will help determine where natural measures can be most effective.
Similarly the Government has used the Countryside Stewardship Scheme to promote natural process and flood mitigation. For instance, grants are available for the creation and restoration of wetland habitats, tree planting, grip blocking and leaky woody dams. In particular the Facilitation Fund brings farmers and other land managers together to improve the natural environment at a landscape rather than single-farm scale to achieve greater improvements than individual holdings could on their own. One round in 2017 offered funding to groups who implemented natural flood management measures to manage the flow of water.
Looking ahead our exit from the European Union will enable us to leave the Common Agricultural Policy and move to a more ambitious and effective system based on the principles of ‘public money for public goods’. This new scheme will enable land managers to enter into agreements to be paid for delivering a range of public goods set out in the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan. This includes mitigation of and reduced risk from environmental hazards, such as flooding which could be achieved through natural flood management.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-with-natural-processes-to-reduce-flood-risk
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Chesterton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what funding they plan to provide towards (1) the prevention of coastal erosion, and (2) new housing and infrastructure in inland areas as a result of any such erosion.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The Government is investing £2.6 billion between 2015 and 2021 to better protect the country from flooding. This will deliver over 1,000 flood defence schemes to better protect 300,000 homes by 2021.
Of this £2.6 billion, over £1.2 billion of the current Government funding programme will better protect 170,000 properties from coastal change.
The National Planning Policy Framework expects local authorities to make provision for development and infrastructure that needs to be relocated away from Coastal Change Management Areas. There are a range of Government funding mechanisms (for new homes and growth for example) that can be used proactively to support change in communities. Coastal Protection Authorities (usually District Councils) lead on coastal erosion risk management activities in their area.
We are looking at current funding arrangements and an assessment of funding needs beyond 2021. We will continue to work with the Environment Agency to consider future investment needs and the Government’s role in supporting the resilience of communities.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Chesterton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what information they are collecting and publishing on the rates of coastal erosion in different regions, especially in rural areas; and what level of expenditure, if any, they plan to commit to reducing the current rates.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Management of coastal erosion is a devolved matter. Coastal erosion is a natural process that always has and always will shape our coastline.
The National Coastal Erosion Risk Maps provide a consistent assessment of coastal erosion risk around England and Wales, and contain predictions for the future. They have been available to the public on the Environment Agency’s (EA) website since 2012, but were temporarily unavailable in April 2018. The EA expects them to be live again in June 2018.
We defend the coastline where it is sustainable and affordable to do so, and let the coast function naturally in areas where it is not. Coastal protection authorities (district councils) lead on management of coastal erosion risk in England. The EA provides a strategic overview to ensure that decisions on the English coast are made in a joined up manner. There are 22 shoreline management plans covering the 6,000 mile coast of England and Wales. The plans are based on scientific, social, economic and environmental data. The plans provide a high level, long term policy framework to manage the risk of coastal change over three time horizons: 20, 50 and 100 years. The plans recommend four approaches to manage the coastline. These scale from building and maintaining new defences (hold the line), to allowing the coast line to evolve naturally (no active intervention). These plans were developed by coastal groups in each area, the members of which were drawn from individual coastal protection authorities, executive agencies and other local interests.
Between April 2015 and March 2021, the Government plans to invest £165 million in coastal erosion projects and £690 million on schemes to better protect communities against flooding from the sea around England. The Scottish Government provides local authorities with £42 million each year to help them invest in flood protection measures.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Chesterton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how their 25-year environmental planning and implementation policies will be coordinated to involve all relevant Government departments and agencies.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The 25 Year Environment Plan is a Government plan and will inform environmental policy for the next 25 years including the upcoming Agricultural and Fisheries Bills, and will sit alongside the Clean Growth Plan, the Industrial Strategy and other related Government initiatives.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Chesterton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what will be the role of the Natural Environment Research Council in guiding and monitoring their 25-year plan for improving the environment; and which areas of research will be of greatest importance.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
In light of the publication of the 25 Year Environment Plan, we are reviewing our evidence requirements and will ensure that we will continue to engage fully with the Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC) as we explore synergies between our programmes. We have a very positive relationship with NERC in delivering long-term support for policies that have national and international importance and we are keen to build on this. Such cooperation enables us to co-design research programmes, helping to ensure that NERC’s strategic investments are appropriate, support excellent research and tackle environmental challenges.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Chesterton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which the amount of plastic waste being collected by local authorities is sufficient to prevent that waste degrading the environment; and which government agencies are (1) monitoring the current situation, and (2) planning for the future, in this regard.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Environmental Protection Act 1990 requires local authorities to make provisions for the collection and disposal of household waste, including arrangements for the collection of plastics where appropriate.
The Government and the Environment Agency with support from the Waste and Resources Action Programme work with local authorities to monitor the effectiveness of these services and to promote comprehensive collection and recycling of waste, including plastics.
The Government wants to reduce the harm plastics pollution has on the environment and in 2018 will publish a resources and waste strategy which will set out actions in this area, including how we will work towards zero avoidable waste by 2050.