Asked by: Alison Griffiths (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much flood risk management funding has been allocated to Environment Agency projects affecting the Aldingbourne Rife catchment in each of the last five financial years; and what funding is planned for each of 2026–27 and 2027–28.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency has invested over £735,000 in the past two years on routine vegetation clearance and channel maintenance across the Aldingbourne Rife and connected watercourses. Each May the Environment Agency inspects the channel, followed by machine and hand‑cutting works through summer and autumn as needed. Flood risk assets, including the Bognor Regis sea wall, ramps and flood gates and Felpham Pumping station, are routinely checked throughout the year and debris screens are cleared whenever needed, 24/7, especially before and during rainfall events.
This pattern of routine maintenance and operational checks will continue in 2026-2027.
Asked by: Alison Griffiths (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what watercourse maintenance and channel clearance works the Environment Agency carried out on the Aldingbourne Rife in the last 24 months; and what further works are planned in 2026–27.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency has invested over £735,000 in the past two years on routine vegetation clearance and channel maintenance across the Aldingbourne Rife and connected watercourses. Each May the Environment Agency inspects the channel, followed by machine and hand‑cutting works through summer and autumn as needed. Flood risk assets, including the Bognor Regis sea wall, ramps and flood gates and Felpham Pumping station, are routinely checked throughout the year and debris screens are cleared whenever needed, 24/7, especially before and during rainfall events.
This pattern of routine maintenance and operational checks will continue in 2026-2027.
Asked by: Alison Griffiths (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance the Environment Agency provides to local planning authorities on assessing the cumulative impact of development on surface water flood risk and drainage capacity in low-lying coastal areas.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Lead Local Flood Authorities (LLFAs) are the lead authority for managing surface water flooding. LLFAs are statutory consultees on major development, providing expert advice to local planning authorities. The Environment Agency (EA) has a strategic overview for all sources of flooding.
In December 2024 the EA published its updated National Assessment of Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk in England. This included an updated assessment of surface water flood risk.
The EA also supports consideration of surface water flood risk in decision making for new developments through the Flood Map for Planning and Check your long term flood risk services.
The EA is supporting implementation of the Government’s new flood and coastal erosion risk management funding policy, which made several improvements to aid investment in managing surface water flooding. The EA has produced guidance explaining how the new policy will work in practice.