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 defences at Windsor Park; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of allocating funding to strengthen those defences.

The Environment Agency manages a defence known as Spitalfield Reservoir on the Bourne Ditch within Windsor Great Park, on Crown Estate land. Funding is allocated for the ongoing maintenance of the reservoir. The Environment Agency maintains the embankments and penstocks within the concrete structure to manage impoundment of water and the downstream flow.

Under Section 12 of the Reservoir Act 1975, an annual inspection is required to be undertaken by a qualified Supervising Engineer. The last inspection of the Spitalfield Reservoir, in September 2023, identified a number of minor maintenance actions that will be carried out by the Environment Agency over the coming months. The Supervising Engineer did not identify issues that would reduce the standard of protection the reservoir offers to protect properties downstream.

If Measures in the Interest of Safety were found during any inspection, where the resilience of the reservoir was below its current design standard of protection, funding would be sought for works required.