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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of not commencing Schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 on surface water flood risk from new housing developments.

The Government is strongly committed to improving the implementation of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS).

The National Planning Policy Framework requires developments to utilise SuDS where they could have drainage impacts.

Better delivery of SuDS may be achieved by continuing to improve the current planning policy-based approach and looking at ways of improving the approach to adoption and maintenance, rather than commencing Schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act 2010.