Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the status of the Lowestoft Tidal Barrier following the reduction in the number of projects to be completed by the Environment Agency as part of its programme of flood and coastal erosion risk management schemes to 2027.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In March 2020, the government doubled its investment in flood defences to a record £5.2 billion between 2021 and 2027 to better protect communities across England from flooding and coastal erosion. Since April 2021, over £1.5 billion has been invested in over 200 flood protection schemes, better protecting over 71,000 properties.
Defra has allocated over £80 million to the Lowestoft Flood Risk Management Scheme. The first two of three phases have been completed successfully.
Like many other infrastructure projects, cost have increased significantly over the last years. Defra is aware that East Suffolk Council halted the scheme in January due to a significant funding shortfall.
Defra would encourage the council to work with EA and other potential partners to explore additional funding in line with Government’s Partnership Funding principles.
The EA and Defra are continuing to engage with East Suffolk Council to identify options for developing a viable proposal.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to page 13 of the the National Audit Office report entitled Resilience to flooding, published on 15 November 2023, how many (a) projects have been cancelled and (b) homes will no longer be better protected; and where those homes are located, by local authority area.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In March 2020, the Government doubled its investment in flood defences to a record £5.2 billion between 2021 and 2027 to better protect communities across England from flooding and coastal erosion. Since April 2021, over £1.5 billion has been invested in over 200 flood protection schemes, better protecting over 71,000 properties.
The capital investment programme is annually reviewed and updated to accommodate changes, including the introduction of new schemes or urgent works.
The Government is aware of the challenges and delays caused by inflation and the availability of skills and labour across the sector. The start of the programme was also impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, which resulted in fewer people to develop projects and delayed mobilisation of construction activity.
As stated in the NAO report, the Environment Agency forecast that 1,500 projects will provide better protection to 200,000 properties by the end of the programme in March 2027.
Delivery is the Government’s key priority, and we are working with the Environment Agency to review the programme in the light of the impacts of inflation and the pandemic. More information will be available in due course.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish a breakdown of spending from the flood and coastal erosion risk management investment programme by the (a) number, (b) type and (c) location of flood defences completed.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Each year the Environment Agency produces a summary of flood and coastal erosion risk management work carried out by risk management authorities in England. This is required under Section 18 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. When the current FCERM investment programme ends, after March 2027, the Environment Agency will publish a report with a breakdown of spending, similar to the report published in 2022 after the 2015-2021 investment programme.
We are in the third year of the current 6-year £5.2 billion Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management (FCERM) investment programme. At the end of March 2023, the Environment Agency estimated that approximately £1.5 billion of this funding has been invested with over 200 flood risk schemes completed and almost 60,000 properties better protected. Below is a breakdown of spending by region for the current investment programme.
ONS Region | 2021 to 2023 expenditure (£ millions) | 2021 to 2023 Properties better protected |
East Midlands | 148 | 9,620 |
East of England | 153 | 5,730 |
London | 67 | 9,730 |
North East | 29 | 240 |
North West | 203 | 6,570 |
South East | 246 | 17,490 |
South West | 191 | 4,240 |
West Midlands | 72 | 2,790 |
Yorkshire & Humber | 244 | 2,940 |
Nationally led projects | 144 | 0 |
Total | 1,496 | 59,350 |
The breakdown of the types of schemes delivered within the first two years is as follows:
Main Rivers/Sea | 140 |
Coastal Erosion | 8 |
Surface Water | 66 |
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2024 to Question 15154 Flood Control: Finance, in which local authority areas the completed flood defences are located; what type of flood defences they are; and how many homes are protected by those flood defences in each local authority area.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are in the third year of the current six-year £5.2 billion Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management (FCERM) investment programme. This investment programme will better protect hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses from flooding and coastal erosion. At the end of March 2023, approximately £1.5 billion of this funding has been invested with 60,000 properties better protected from flooding and coastal erosion. This was delivered through over 200 completed schemes.
Below is a table which shows properties better protected by Local Authority boundary between April 2021 and March 2023. The figures include Environment Agency, Local Authority, and Internal Drainage Board flood and coastal risk management projects that fall within that boundary. We are unable to provide a breakdown of the type of flood defences for each authority. However, the Environment Agency’s Programme of flood and coastal erosion risk management shows completed FCERM schemes within the previous six-year investment programme (2015-2021), and the first year of the current capital investment programme (2021-2027) which are now better protecting homes.
Each year the Environment Agency also produced a summary of flood and coastal erosion risk management work carried out by risk management authorities in England. This is required under Section 18 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. When the current FCERM investment programme ends, after March 2027, the Environment Agency will publish a report with a breakdown of spending, similar to the report published in 2022 after the 2015-2021 investment programme.
Please see the table attached. Notes for the table:
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of setting a target for all towns and cities at risk from flooding to improve water retention on public land by 10%.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Our Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Policy Statement sets out our long-term ambition to create a nation more resilient to flood and coastal erosion risk. This includes a holistic approach to managing water throughout catchments that considers the full range of actions which could be taken in an area, upstream and downstream by a variety of bodies. This includes natural flood management measures such as small scale storage or tree planting, using water infrastructure such as reservoirs to create space for water and manage flows, and blue green infrastructure such as sustainable drainage systems. This helps to ensure water availability in times of drought and slow and store water in times of excess.
On 13 March 2024 the Government published its response to the NIC’s study into ‘Reducing the risk of surface water flooding’ in England. In it, Government commits to work with the Environment Agency, National Infrastructure Commission, Climate Change Committee and other experts during 2025 to assess the merits of setting a long-term target and the most appropriate measure for flood risk reduction from all sources of risk. This work will be informed by the new National Flood Risk Assessment (due end of 2024) which will identify priority areas of flood risk and enable improved monitoring of progress.
The work to consider a long-term target will also contribute towards our reforms to local flood risk management planning. We plan to consult on these reforms in 2024 and this will include considering how local areas can best set measurable outcomes for flood risk in their areas and catchments, for all sources of flood risk to drive local action and progress. Future plans will support an integrated approach which promotes joined up action across the whole of an area or catchment, including upstream and downstream, and taking into account the impacts to surrounding areas.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Farming Recovery Fund opened in response to Storm Henk will be available to farmers in (a) Yorkshire, (b) Norfolk and (c) Derbyshire.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has triggered the Flood Recovery Framework in Berkshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Surrey, Warwickshire, West Northamptonshire, Wiltshire, and Worcestershire, to provide funding for affected households and businesses as a result of severe flooding caused by Storm Henk. Farmers in these areas are likely to be eligible for a number of these funds, including the Business Recovery Grant (for up to £2,500 per SME business), the Property Flood Resilience grant (up to £5,000 per flooded property) and Business Rate relief.
We are currently assessing the impact of the flooding caused by Storm Henk on farmland to enable us to confirm eligible areas for the Farming Recovery Fund. Eligible areas will be within the same areas announced for the wider Flood Recovery Framework, which does not currently include areas in Yorkshire, Norfolk and Derbyshire.
We are monitoring the situation closely and further guidance on support for farmers affected by the flooding will be published on gov.uk in early March.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much of the flood and coastal erosion risk management funding (a) has been allocated and (b) is available.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are in the third year of the current six-year £5.2 billion Flood and coastal erosion risk management investment programme. The funding can be spent on projects that better protect properties in England as well as the development of future projects.
At the end of March 2023, the Environment Agency estimated that approximately £1.5 billion of this funding has been invested with over 200 flood risk schemes completed. Over £800 million will be invested in the current financial year until March 2024 and the remaining money is indicatively allocated to projects until the end of March 2027.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice)
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 is of (a) purchase of and (b) construction works on Sevington Internal Border Facility.
Answered by Mark Spencer
Sevington BCP is operated from a site owned by DFT.
The Department considers that this information is commercially sensitive and should be withheld.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the operating hours each (a) day and (b) week for the products of animal origin border control point in the Sevington Internal Border Facility.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The responsibility for the operation of the Sevington Border Control Post, if and when it is designated, will fall to Ashford Borough Council as the statutory enforcing authority.
The planned hours of operation are being finalised but it is expected that the facility will accept animal products for inspection 24 hours, seven days a week.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many and what proportion of port health staff at Ashford Border Control are completing sanitary and phytosanitary checks.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The responsibility for ensuring the appropriate staffing is in place to conduct the necessary sanitary and phytosanitary checks will lie with Ashford Borough Council as the statutory enforcing authority. They are developing their staffing plans for the site.