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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of ring-fencing funding within the Flood Defence Grant-in-Aid scheme for natural flood management.

The Government is investing a record £5.2 billion in the floods capital programme. Funding is allocated where the risk is highest and the benefits are greatest.

Natural Flood Management (NFM) is an integral part of the programme with both standalone NFM projects as well as conventional projects including NFM measures.

In September 2023, the Government announced a ring-fenced £25 million fund for improving flood resilience through NFM. Successful projects will be announced early this year.