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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of setting a target for all towns and cities at risk from flooding to improve water retention on public land by 10%.

Our Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Policy Statement sets out our long-term ambition to create a nation more resilient to flood and coastal erosion risk. This includes a holistic approach to managing water throughout catchments that considers the full range of actions which could be taken in an area, upstream and downstream by a variety of bodies. This includes natural flood management measures such as small scale storage or tree planting, using water infrastructure such as reservoirs to create space for water and manage flows, and blue green infrastructure such as sustainable drainage systems. This helps to ensure water availability in times of drought and slow and store water in times of excess.

On 13 March 2024 the Government published its response to the NIC’s study into ‘Reducing the risk of surface water flooding’ in England. In it, Government commits to work with the Environment Agency, National Infrastructure Commission, Climate Change Committee and other experts during 2025 to assess the merits of setting a long-term target and the most appropriate measure for flood risk reduction from all sources of risk. This work will be informed by the new National Flood Risk Assessment (due end of 2024) which will identify priority areas of flood risk and enable improved monitoring of progress.

The work to consider a long-term target will also contribute towards our reforms to local flood risk management planning. We plan to consult on these reforms in 2024 and this will include considering how local areas can best set measurable outcomes for flood risk in their areas and catchments, for all sources of flood risk to drive local action and progress. Future plans will support an integrated approach which promotes joined up action across the whole of an area or catchment, including upstream and downstream, and taking into account the impacts to surrounding areas.