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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help improve the quality of flood defences on private land.

The Government expects those responsible for all assets – including risk management authorities, other public and community organisations, the private sector and riparian owners – to invest in ongoing maintenance, ensuring timely repairs where necessary and that they are strengthened to ensure they are climate resilient. Under common law, all asset owners owe a duty of care to others and lead local flood authorities (unitary authorities or county councils) and the Environment Agency have powers to require them to maintain their assets to a suitable standard.

The condition of flood defence assets has steadily improved over the last two years and the Environment Agency continues to invest in maintaining and repairing the most critical assets. The Environment Agency routinely inspects 240,000 flood and coastal erosion assets. These inspections include non-Environment Agency assets, known as third party assets, because they provide a flood risk benefit and if they are not maintained to a suitable condition and operated in a timely manner they may risk the performance of the wider flood risk management system as a whole. In some instances, where an asset is owned and maintained by private individuals and does not form part of the Environment Agency’s flood defence system, these will not normally be inspected or maintained by the Environment Agency.

The Government has commenced a review of the statutory powers and responsibilities to map, monitor, inspect and maintain all assets across all flood risks and coastal erosion, (including watercourses and riparian landowners’ role and responsibilities). This will aim to ensure that responsibilities are clear and that there are effective powers in place to enable inspection and maintenance to be undertaken. The review will be completed by March 2024.