Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the proposals in the Planning for the future consultation, published 6 August 2020, on future trends in the number of flooding events.

As set out in the Planning for the Future consultation, we committed to assessing the extent to which our planning policies and processes for managing flood risk may need to be strengthened.

This assessment process has already started. Our review of policy for development in areas of flood risk found that there are robust measures in place to protect people and property from flooding which all local planning authorities are expected to follow.

Informed by interim findings of our review, our National Planning Policy Framework was updated to clarify that all sources of flood risk should be considered when making planning decisions. The Framework is clear that flood risk assessments are needed for all areas where development is proposed that are at risk of flooding, from all sources, both now and in the future. Areas at little or no risk of flooding from any source should always be developed in preference to areas at higher risk of flooding.

As also set out in the review, we will use the final findings to inform a future more detailed review of the National Planning Policy Framework which is likely to be required, to support implementation of the Government's proposals for wider reform of the planning system. The Government is committed to maintaining robust protections, in line with our ambition to create a nation more resilient to future flood and coastal erosion risk.