Mentions:
1: Rennie, Willie (LD - North East Fife) Today, I do not have my hand out for large and costly flood prevention schemes. - Speech Link
2: Thomson, Michelle (SNP - Falkirk East) Its progress, process and outcomes will have a far-reaching impact on other flood prevention programmes - Speech Link
3: Hamilton, Rachael (Con - Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire) prevention “in the round”. - Speech Link
4: Kerr, Stephen (Con - Central Scotland) prevention project forward? - Speech Link
5: Hamilton, Rachael (Con - Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire) Will the cabinet secretary tell members why just 15 out of a total of 42 flood prevention schemes have - Speech Link
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what remediation and flood prevention work has been undertaken in South Holland and the Deepings constituency since 2019.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In the South Holland and the Deepings Constituency, £3.2m of Government Investment (GiA) was invested in Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management (FCERM) schemes between 2019-20 and 2022-23 inclusive. Risk Management Authorities including the Environment Agency, Local Authorities and Internal Drainage Boards work in partnership to deliver the FCERM programme. In this period, 62 properties were better protected through capital schemes. Further flood warning and mapping improvements, recovery activities after flooding in 2019-20, and cross-boundary projects and studies were delivered outside of this capital programme. The Environment Agency has spent £10,511 revenue on Flood and Coastal Risk Management Maintenance between 2019-20 and 2023-24 inclusive. Actions include culvert clearance and weed cutting to improve flood conveyance, maintaining flood defences through embankment repairs and erosion protection, and operational safety improvements and mechanical and electrical maintenance of structures. The Lincolnshire Flood Risk and Water Management Partnership provides co-ordinated management and delivery of food risk and drainage functions of all relevant organisations across Lincolnshire.
Mentions:
1: Philip Dunne (Con - Ludlow) Support from the local authority to help with prevention and then clean-up remains vital. - Speech Link
2: Philip Dunne (Con - Ludlow) That inevitably takes immediate priority over their long-term work to create lasting flood prevention - Speech Link
3: Richard Foord (LD - Tiverton and Honiton) Prevention is not where it needs to be. - Speech Link
4: Emma Hardy (Lab - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle) effect, but to bring together all those involved in flood prevention and resilience to ensure that everyone - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: Brown, Siobhian (SNP - Ayr) I have met the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Dogs Trust, the dog control - Speech Link
2: Chapman, Maggie (Green - North East Scotland) Drainage systems are no longer adequate, other flood prevention measures are insufficient, and crisis - Speech Link
3: Arthur, Tom (SNP - Renfrewshire South) our places and set Scotland on a long-term course towards sustainable flood resilience. - Speech Link
4: Kerr, Stephen (Con - Central Scotland) I rise as a member whose constituency has a very high level of flood risk. - Speech Link
Asked by: Brendan Clarke-Smith (Conservative - Bassetlaw)
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 his Department has had with the Environment Agency on trends in the level of (a) dredging and (b) desilting as a means of flood prevention.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Ministers and Defra officials regularly meet with the Environment Agency to discuss flood and water management issues, including dredging.
The Environment Agency assesses each situation individually and dredge when it is the right solution, and it provides long-term value for money. Understanding where it will, and will not, reduce flood risk is key.
Where there is evidence that dredging will reduce flood risk to local properties or agricultural land without increasing flooding downstream, it meets government criteria, and is cost effective, the Environment Agency will do it.
Dredging can contribute to reducing flooding in some locations, but in others dredging would be an extremely inefficient and ineffective way to manage flood risk, as the natural processes in many rivers can cause the silt to return and accumulate in the same places very quickly. We also know from historic records and modelling that dredging in some locations can increase erosion and flood risk for communities downstream.
In extreme flooding events, the relatively small increases in width and depth achievable by dredging the channel do not provide anywhere near enough capacity to contain the excess flood water, since the channel may already be full of water, and therefore does not prevent flooding.
Any structures encroaching in the river such as bridges, weirs and natural features need to be considered, as these could be damaged or may be pinch points with hard foundations which can make dredging ineffective. Deepening can in some instances also cause destabilising of natural riverbanks leading to soil erosion and damage to riverside flood defences.
Asked by: Brendan Clarke-Smith (Conservative - Bassetlaw)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what remediation and flood prevention work his Department has carried out in (a) Worksop, (b) Retford and (c) the district of Bassetlaw in each of the last three years.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency are committed to better protecting Bassetlaw and the area remains a high priority for them.
Environment Agency representatives will be meeting with the MP on 19 January 2024 to discuss flooding in his constituency and community drop-in events for constituents in Retford and Worksop are being planned for February. Updates will be sent to the MP once venues and dates have been decided.
Worksop
Since 2021 The Environment Agency have spent a total of £468,000 in Worksop on remediation and flood prevention work.
£257,000 has been spent on routine & intermittent maintenance, consisting of grass cutting, weed cutting & spraying, maintenance of outfalls & penstocks, clearance of debris screens, tree and bush clearance and desilting at Ryton Place and Bracebridge to improve conveyance.
Between 2023-2027, there is no current planned investment in capital schemes in Worksop itself.
Retford
Since 2021 The Environment Agency have spent a total of £603,000 in Retford on remediation and flood prevention work.
£368,000 has been spent on routine & intermittent maintenance in Retford consisting of grass cutting, weed cutting & spraying, maintenance of outfalls & penstocks, clearance of debris screens, tree and bush clearance and Intermittent Works to improve Retford Beck Debris Screen.
Between 2023-2027, £3.2m of Government Investment is currently planned for Retford.
Bassetlaw
Since 2021 The Environment Agency have spent a total of £1.6m in Bassetlaw (including the above figures) not including the routine & intermittent maintenance figures above.
Between 2023-2027, £13m of Government Investment is planned to be invested in schemes in Bassetlaw.
Mentions:
1: Robbie Moore (Con - Keighley) Through the property flood resilience repair grant scheme, eligible flood-hit property owners can apply - Speech Link
2: Richard Thomson (SNP - Gordon) Will he commit to funding and delivering flood prevention and defence measures that not only keep pace - Speech Link
3: Ben Bradley (Con - Mansfield) Part of the recovery and the prevention of future flooding impacts is about reinstating and recovering - Speech Link
4: Iain Stewart (Con - Milton Keynes South) identify the parts of the network that are vulnerable to flooding, and to put in place the necessary prevention - Speech Link
5: Tobias Ellwood (Con - Bournemouth East) I welcome the financial support for flood-hit communities. - Speech Link
Asked by: Brendan Clarke-Smith (Conservative - Bassetlaw)
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 take steps to support the Environment Agency to produce a flood prevention business plan for Bassetlaw constituency.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Under the Flood and Water Management Act (2010) Nottinghamshire County Council (as the designated Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) for Bassetlaw District Council are required to produce a Local Flood Risk Management Strategy (LFRMS).
This includes a comprehensive Action Plan detailing the activities that will be undertaken to manage flood risk in the county. Following events such as Storm Babet and Henk, the LLFA is required to undertake investigations (referred to as Flood and Water Management Act (2010) Section 19 Investigations) into the causes and consequences of flooding and these should then be used to update the Nottinghamshire LFRMS with agreed actions which need to be undertaken to effectively manage the flood risk.
The Environment Agency is working closely with the County Council and other Risk Management Authority’s to ensure that the evidence of flooding which we have recently experienced is fully reflected in the Plan and the action Plan is revised accordingly. This, coupled with the National 6-Year Capital Programme of works approved by the Regional Flood and Coastal Committee and the Flood Response Planning of the Local Resilience Forum is the framework we use to deliver more resilient communities, as is required by the National Flood Risk Management Strategy.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department's policy statement entitled Flood and coastal erosion risk management, published in July 2020, how much and what proportion of the £5.2 billion of funding for flood mitigation has been allocated to nature-based flood-prevention solutions.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency has estimated that between March 2015 and April 2021 it spent £20 million on natural flood management elements of wider flood defence schemes. This was in addition to the £15m natural flood management programme. There will be even more natural flood management in the £5.2bn flood defence programme from 2021-27, including £25 million funding to improve flood resilience through natural flood management, launched by the Environment Agency and Defra in September 2023.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what flooding (a) remediation and (b) prevention work has been undertaken in East Yorkshire constituency since 2019.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There has been £2.8m of capital investment in the East Yorkshire parliamentary constituency between 2019/20 and 2023/24. This has provided the Environment Agency led project to refurbish Barmston Sea End Outfall and projects to reduce surface water flooding delivered by the East Riding of Yorkshire Council in Pocklington and Langtoft.
Hempholme and Wilfholme pumping stations have both been refurbished, with most funding secured from the Local Enterprise Partnership and Internal Drainage Board. Both pumping stations have played a significant part this winter in helping to remove flood water from farmland in the River Hull catchment.
The Environment Agency is also conducting a project to assess and evaluate investment need in the Upper and Middle Hull, focussing on existing flood risk management assets. In addition, East Riding of Yorkshire Council has developed a business case for a scheme to reduce flood risk in the Kelleythorpe area of Driffield and is conducting feasibility studies for two other villages in the constituency.