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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the risk of further major flooding on the Somerset Levels in the winter of 2014–15.

There will always be a risk of major flooding on the Somerset Levels and elsewhere in the country, depending on how extreme the weather conditions are.

Significant funding has been provided to repair the flood assets damaged by the weather this winter, and a programme of repairs is underway.

The Environment Agency also has a number of measures in place to reduce the risks to the Somerset Levels, including improvements to the flood forecasting and warnings service in the area.

As part of the response to the recent record levels of rainfall and extensive flooding of the Levels, a 20 year action plan was developed to reduce the risk of major flooding. Significant additional funding has been secured this year to implement this plan. This includes dredging to reduce the risk of flooding.