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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the (a) time taken and (b) cost of dredging operations undertaken by the Environment Agency was in the (i) 2012-13 and (ii) 2013-14 financial years in each operational area; and what the expected benefits of such operations were.

Dredging is not identified as a separate category within the Environment Agency’s budget allocations or work recording systems, as it is often carried out at the same time as other channel activities. It is included within the broader category of ‘conveyance’ on which the Environment Agency spent around £45 million and £32 million in total in 2012/13 and 2013/14 respectively. The Environment Agency carries out conveyance work, including dredging, where it cost effectively reduces flood risk to people and property. The Environment Agency estimate that, on average, conveyance work provides about £7 of reduced flood damages for every pound spent. Dredging can provide other benefits, such as land drainage and navigation.

The funding spent on conveyance in each operational Environment Agency area was:

We do not hold information on the time it took for each of the dredging operations to be undertaken.