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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to enact Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010.

The Government is strongly committed to improving the implementation of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) and we are looking at what additional steps might be taken to support this

Better delivery of SuDS may be achieved by continuing to improve the current planning policy-based approach and looking at ways of improving the approach to adoption and maintenance, rather than commencing schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. A final decision on this matter will be made in the coming months.

We intend to consult on national planning policy related to decision making later this year, including policies on flood risk and SuDS. Also, this year, we will consult on ending freehold estates, which will include options to reduce the prevalence of private management arrangements for community assets, including SuDS.