Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
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 oral contribution of the Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 10 September 2020, Official Report, column 759, which Members she has had Zoom calls with and when on the issue of flooding.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises the impact that flooding has had on individuals, businesses and local communities and sympathises with all those affected. The Secretary of State, myself and the department have been actively engaging with hon. Members whose constituencies have been affected by flooding.
I am always willing to discuss flooding, or other pertinent matters, with hon. Members, and I refer the hon. Member to the reply previously given on 17 September 2020, PQ UIN89799. [https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2020-09-14/89799]
For completeness, meetings and other engagements I have had with hon. Members so far this year are detailed below.
Date | Event |
8 October 2020 | Meeting with South Yorkshire November 2019 flood-affected Members and other local risk management authorities |
7 October 2020 | End of day debate, flooding in Staffordshire, led by the hon. Member for Stafford |
1 September 2020 | Meeting with the hon. Member for South Ribble |
30 September 2020 | End of day debate, flooding preparedness in Yorkshire, led by the hon. Member for Barnsley Central |
21 July 2020 | All-Party meeting about the Severn Valley, attended by the hon. Members for Shrewsbury and Atcham, Gloucester, Montgomeryshire, West Worcestershire, North Herefordshire, Stroud, Stafford, the Rt Hon Member for Ludlow, and Defra’s PPS the hon. Member for Brecon and Radnorshire |
20 July 2020 | Meeting with the hon. Member for North East Derbyshire |
4 June 2020 | Meeting with the Rt Hon Member for Scarborough and Whitby and the hon. Member for Thirsk and Malton |
3 June 2020 | End of day debate, flood defences for Tenbury Wells, led by the hon. Member for West Worcestershire |
14 May 2020 | Members surgery with the hon. Members for Don Valley and Barnsley Central |
7 May 2020 | Meetings with the hon. Members for Don Valley and Brigg and Goole |
30 April 2020 | Meeting with the hon. Member for Cheadle |
23 April 2020 | Meeting with the hon. Member for Shipley |
16 March 2020 | Meeting with the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale |
11 March 2020 | Westminster Hall debate, flooding of the River Severn, led by the hon. Member for Shrewsbury and Atcham |
9 March 2020 | End of day debate, improving rainwater attenuation and reservoirs to prevent flooding, led by the hon. Member for Warwick and Leamington |
4 March 2020 | Opposition debate, flooding, led by the Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the hon. Member for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport |
27 January 2020 | Meeting with the hon. Member for Macclesfield |
30 January 2020 | Westminster Hall debate, South Yorkshire flooding, led by the Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), the hon. Member for Barnsley East |
20 January 2020 | End of day debate, Lowestoft flood barrier, led by the hon. Member for Waveney |
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
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 30 September 2020 to Question 95729, whether the Environmental Agency received enough funding from all of its sources of funding to reach its estimated investment need for flood and coastal protection.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The 2020 Budget announced £5.2 billion of Defra capital investment for the six years starting in 2021. This equates to £866 million per year. In addition there will be partnership funding contributions, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government investment direct to local authorities and revenue investment for the maintenance of defences.
Subject to the upcoming comprehensive spending review, it is very likely the overall level of investment over the six years from 2021 will exceed the £1 billion per year identified in the Environment Agency’s Long Term Investment Scenarios.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
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 30 September 2020 to Question 95729, how much funding the Environment Agency has received from all its sources of funding including Government investment in each year since 2010.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The table below shows all the sources of funding for Environment Agency (EA) expenditure by year since 2010/11. This includes central government funding to the Environment Agency, together with local levy and other sources which includes partnership-funding-contributions to Environment Agency schemes that are partially funded by government Grant in Aid.
Estimated Total Flood and Coastal Risk Management Expenditure through Environment Agency (EA), 2010/11 to 2019/20 (£m)
Financial Year | EA Central Government Funding Resource | EA Central Government Funding Capital | EA Local Levy | EA funding from other sources | Total |
2010/11 | 291.6 | 360.0 | 30.9 | 17.1 | 699.6 |
2011/12 | 287.8 | 260.7 | 33.7 | 16.9 | 599.1 |
2012/13 | 268.0 | 269.1 | 20.2 | 27.2 | 584.5 |
2013/14 | 250.6 | 315.3 | 29.1 | 39.4 | 634.4 |
2014/15 | 282.6 | 466.7 | 24.1 | 42.9 | 816.3 |
2015/16 | 274.5 | 390.7 | 18.2 | 55.8 | 739.2 |
2016/17 | 314.6 | 446.9 | 27.1 | 55.0 | 843.6 |
2017/18 | 338.2 | 403.1 | 29.3 | 49.8 | 820.4 |
2018/19 | 304.8 | 453.0 | 35.5 | 42.8 | 836.1 |
2019/20* | 316.7 | 514.1 | 38.9 | 38.0 | 907.7 |
*Note that for 2019/20 the accounts have not yet been finalised for the last financial year, these figures are still subject to change.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimates the Environment Agency has made of the funding required for flood risk mitigation projects in each year since 2010.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency’s (EA) Long Term Investment Scenarios (LTIS) for England sets out the total national level of investment required for FCERM. The Environment Agency produced LTIS 2009, 2014 and LTIS 2019. LTIS is used as evidence for government and others considering future policy and investment choices.
The latest LTIS was published in 2019 and shows that the EA’s best estimate of the overall economic optimum level of investment has a long-term annual average of over £1 billion. The 2020 Budget announcement for capital funding is consistent with the ‘optimal’ spend suggested by LTIS. Overall funding is expected to at least meet the LTIS recommendation, allowing for faster progress towards long term adaptation.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding the Environment Agency has been allocated for flood risk mitigation projects in each year since 2010.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra provides the majority of its funding for flood and coastal erosion risk management to the Environment Agency (EA) as Grant-in-Aid, which is the mechanism for financing Non-Departmental Public Bodies, such as the EA. The EA spends this funding directly on manging flood risk, but it also passes some of this funding on as capital grants for flood or coastal erosion defence improvements to local authorities or Internal Drainage Boards – local public authorities established in areas of special drainage need which manage water levels within their respective drainage districts.
The capital funding allocated to the EA for flood and coastal erosion risk management in present and future financial years 2019/20 to 2021/22 can be found in table 1 (page 4) of the document available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/funding-for-flood-and-coastal-erosion-risk-management-in-england.
Expenditure on flood and coastal erosion risk management by the EA, Defra and Lead Local Flood Authorities for 2010/11 – 2018/19 can be found in table 2 (page 5) of the same document. Figures for 2019/20 spend are still in the process of being audited and will be available in an updated document on GOV.UK soon.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of flood warning systems in the UK.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
Approximately 1.4 million people in England are signed up the Environment Agency’s free flood warning service which sends a message directly to people by voice message, text or email when a flood warning is issued. On average, over 99% of messages sent are received within 15 minutes.
The Environment Agency is continually reviewing the adequacy and improving its warning service to enable people to take timely and appropriate action. These improvements mean that by 2022 the flood warning service will be expanded to all places at a high risk of flooding from rivers and the sea.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding the Government has allocated to flood resilience schemes in each year since 2010.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All the flood and coastal erosion risk management schemes delivered by the Environment Agency help to increase the resilience of people and places to flooding or coastal erosion risk.
Expenditure by the Environment Agency 2010/11 – 2018/19 can be found in table 2 (page 5) of the document available at the following link: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/funding-for-flood-and-coastal-erosion-risk-management-in-england.
Financial Year | EA Resource (£m) | EA Capital (£m) | Total (£m) |
2010/11 | 291.6 | 360.0 | 651.6 |
2011/12 | 287.8 | 260.7 | 548.5 |
2012/13 | 268.0 | 269.1 | 537.1 |
2012/14 | 250.6 | 315.3 | 565.9 |
2014/15 | 282.6 | 466.7 | 749.3 |
2015/16 | 274.5 | 390.7 | 638.2 |
2016/17 | 314.6 | 446.9 | 761.5 |
2017/18 | 339.2 | 403.1 | 742.3 |
2018/19 | 304.8 | 453.0 | 757.8 |
Figures for 2019/20 spend are still in the process of being audited and will be available in an updated document on the GOV.UK website soon.
The Government invested in property flood resilience measures for homeowners as part of flood recovery schemes delivered by local authorities in 2013/4 (£24 million) and 2015/6 (£45 million). There are new recovery schemes underway for those impacted by the exceptional flooding of November 2019 (closes December 2021) and February 2020 (closes July 2022).
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to reforest upstream areas to reduce flooding risk.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government’s new £640 million Nature for Climate Fund will drive up tree planting and peat restoration rates, including in upland areas. This fund will complement many of the Environment Agency’s existing flood and coastal erosion risk management schemes that include nature-based solutions such as tree planting. In addition, the Environment Agency’s new National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy outlines the need to increase the use of nature-based solutions including tree planting to slow the flow of or store flood water to reduce flooding risk.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding for the Environmental Agency.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency has the resources to deliver its statutory duties. It receives grant in aid from the Government plus charge income for its regulatory services. In 2019/20 the Environment Agency had a budget of £1.377 billion and in 2020/21 the Environment Agency’s budget is £1.742 billion.
In the spring Budget the Chancellor announced record funding of £5.2 billion for flood defences between 2021 and 2027, offering better protection from flooding for 336,000 homes and non-residential properties. The Environment Agency also received £120 million for repairs following winter flooding.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much the Environmental Agency has spent on flood defence measures in each year since 2010.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Expenditure on flood and coastal erosion risk management by the Environment Agency 2010/11 – 2018/19 can be found in table 2 (page 5) of the document available at the following link: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/funding-for-flood-and-coastal-erosion-risk-management-in-england.
Environment Agency spend taken from the above reference document is as follows:
Financial Year | EA Resource (£m) | EA Capital (£m) | Total (£m) |
2010/11 | 291.6 | 360.0 | 651.6 |
2011/12 | 287.8 | 260.7 | 548.5 |
2012/13 | 268.0 | 269.1 | 537.1 |
2012/14 | 250.6 | 315.3 | 565.9 |
2014/15 | 282.6 | 466.7 | 749.3 |
2015/16 | 274.5 | 390.7 | 638.2 |
2016/17 | 314.6 | 446.9 | 761.5 |
2017/18 | 339.2 | 403.1 | 742.3 |
2018/19 | 304.8 | 453.0 | 757.8 |
Figures for 2019/20 spend are still in the process of being audited and will be available in an updated document on the GOV.UK website soon.