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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with (a) ministerial colleagues in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, (b) the Cabinet Office, and (c) leaders in local government on improving flood risk awareness.

The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of subjects, including flood risk. Discussions among Cabinet colleagues are considered confidential.

The Environment Agency (EA) launched its annual Flood Action Campaign on 7 November, to encourage people to prepare in advance for flooding. This campaign promoted awareness of flood risk this winter, the actions people can take to prepare and government investment in flood resilience. In excess of 100 partners supported the week which generated over 130 pieces of coverage in print, online and broadcast across national and regional media. EA and Defra social media posts received 1.8m impressions and 5.2k engagements. Year on year, page views of the ‘how to plan ahead for flooding’ page during Flood Action Week increased by 33%.

This autumn the EA also held winter readiness briefings and workshops with rural stakeholders, supported by the Met Office and the Flood Forecasting Centre, to communicate the range of services available to help prepare for possible flooding in rural locations this winter.