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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of flood prevention schemes in small conurbations in Oxfordshire.

Across Oxfordshire, the Environment Agency (EA) and partners have successfully delivered two capital schemes to provide better protection from river flooding to 108 properties since 1 April 2015. The full programme of flood and coastal erosion risk management schemes, including schemes completed in the whole of the Thames area, can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/programme-of-flood-and-coastal-erosion-risk-management-schemes.

A number of communities have been identified by the EA and its partners where temporary barriers could be used for flood mitigation. These temporary barriers are put up to protect homes and businesses when there is an increased risk of flooding.

The EA has an environment programme which looks at flood mitigation methods such as Natural Flood Management, focusing on areas where capital schemes are not viable and where the greatest gain can be achieved for the environment.

Every year the EA carries out maintenance of the watercourses in high risk areas. This includes making sure that trash screens are clear, assets are working and vegetation is cleared as needed. Last year in Oxfordshire, £1million was spent on the maintenance programme.