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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Environment Agency on the (a) accuracy and (b) targeting of flood warning mechanisms.

The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Defra’s arm’s length bodies, including the Environment Agency, on a range of issues. This includes many topics on flood and coastal erosion risk management such as the Environment Agency’s flood risk maps and models.

The Environment Agency provides the Check for flooding service giving information on flood alerts and warnings as well as a five-day forecast. The Environment Agency uses its flood warning system to directly alert those who have signed up to receive flood warnings when flooding is expected in their area. There are currently around 1.6 million people signed up to receive these warnings.