Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has (a) carried out a recent review of the allocation of Flood Defence Grant in Aid funding which will be available for flood risk schemes and (b) made an assessment of the effectiveness of that funding.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government announced in March 2020 the amount invested in flood and coastal erosion schemes would be doubled in England to £5.2 billion between 2021 and 2027. The Government keeps under review how funding is allocated to maximise its effectiveness.
Grant in Aid is allocated through the Government’s Partnership Funding policy to create greater partnership working between authorities and communities. Defra undertook an independent evaluation of the policy in 2018 and found it enabled more schemes to be delivered.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of trends in the frequency of flooding in York; and whether he has made an assessment of whether the flood defence barriers will be exceeded before 2039.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Following flooding in York in December 2015, the Environment Agency (EA) received a £64 million booster funding to better protect 2,000 properties within the city and local communities, in addition to £38 million to upgrade the Foss Barrier.
The flood management projects delivered, mainly on the River Ouse, are designed to protect properties from a flood with a 1% probability of happening in any given year, considering the effects of climate change until 2039. Further climate change predictions indicate upper catchment flood alleviation measures will be required past 2039 to offer York the same standard of protection. Catchment-wide measures aim to ‘slow the flow’ of water and lower water levels through the city in times of flood. Opportunities include engineered storage areas and natural flood management.
The EA has undertaken preliminary modelling work to assess indicative locations for upstream flood storage, informing a long-term plan and future investment programme. The EA is also reviewing the operation of its existing flood management systems in the upper catchments on the Rivers Swale, Ure and Nidd to identify the potential for new approaches to managing flood risk and the environment, as well as the long-term investment requirement for these systems.
In addition, City of York Council is leading the £6 million ‘York and North Yorkshire Natural Catchment Flood Risk Solutions Project', also called ‘Ousewem’. The project aims to look at wider catchment opportunities and is part of Defra’s £150 million Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme. The project will develop a range of incentivised natural flood risk management opportunities across the Rivers Swale, Ure, Nidd and Ouse catchments.
Any future work in the middle and upper catchments to ‘slow the flow’ and ‘store’ water will likely require changes to current land use. Significant areas of the catchment are agricultural, and any future changes to the use of land will be challenging.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the potential cost to the public purse of providing coastal armour to protect the cliffs at Pakefield, Lowestoft in the context of the recent tidal surges.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government announced in March 2020 a record £5.2 billion investment over six years in flood and coastal erosion schemes to better protect communities across England. East Suffolk Council is the responsible risk management authority for the coast at Pakefield and has been working on erosion management issues in the area. The Environment Agency administers Government Flood Defence Grant in Aid funding to all risk management authorities. To apply for funding the authority needs to submit a business case to the Environment Agency outlining the various technical aspects of the project including economic, environmental and technical feasibility appraisals. To date, no business case has been submitted to the Environment Agency. The Environment Agency is aware that Coastal Partnership East, on behalf of East Suffolk Council, has been working with the community in Pakefield since 2016 to explore the coastal management options, including into the longer term, for the whole frontage.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent funding his Department has allocated to Coastal Partnership East following recent tidal surges in Pakefield, Lowestoft.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government announced in March 2020 a record £5.2 billion investment over six years in flood and coastal erosion schemes to better protect communities across England. East Suffolk Council is the responsible risk management authority for the coast at Pakefield and has been working on erosion management issues in the area. The Environment Agency administers Government Flood Defence Grant in Aid funding to all risk management authorities. To apply for funding the authority needs to submit a business case to the Environment Agency outlining the various technical aspects of the project including economic, environmental and technical feasibility appraisals. To date, no business case has been submitted to the Environment Agency. The Environment Agency is aware that Coastal Partnership East, on behalf of East Suffolk Council, has been working with the community in Pakefield since 2016 to explore the coastal management options, including into the longer term, for the whole frontage.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of coastal erosion to the local (a) community and (b) economy in Lowestoft.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Coastal erosion is a natural process that always has and will shape coastlines around the world.
Shoreline Management Plans (SMPs) are developed and owned by the local councils and coastal protection authorities. These provide long-term strategic plans which identify approaches for managing the flood and coastal erosion risks at every stretch of coastline. The EA are supporting local authorities to update and strengthen the SMPs by 2024 through a technical refresh project to ensure they are up to date, using the best evidence in their recommendations and focus attention on priority areas for investment and adaptation. Over £2m will be used for this project and will include the development a new digital on-line tool to improve access, understanding and use of SMPs.
We are investing £5.2 billion between 2021 and 2027 to better protect communities across England from flooding and coastal erosion. In addition, we are investing £200 million as part of the Flood and Coastal Innovation Resilience Programme in 25 areas across England to take forward wider innovative actions that improve resilience to flooding and coastal erosion.
As part of this programme, Defra has provided £8.4 million funding to East Suffolk Council and Great Yarmouth Borough Council. The Resilient Coasts Project will offer a complete suite of planning, engagement, technical and financial tools to support coastal transition for communities. The learning will be shared with other coastal authorities and could also be applied to the rest of the UK coast.
Asked by: Anna Firth (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether the Levelling Up funding awarded for the Leigh Port Regeneration Scheme will be withdrawn.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
In Round 1 of the Levelling Up Fund we awarded £19.9 million to Southend-on-Sea City Council to support infrastructure upgrades to coastal attractions, this included the renovation of Leigh Port.
My officials will be in touch to arrange a meeting so you can discuss with me how we can further progress this project and ensure it is delivered successfully.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support fishing communities.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Fisheries are a priority for this Government. Since the fishing sector rightly want stocks to be there for the future, sustainability is critical to the economy and the environment. We are showing our support in a variety of ways.
We secured quota uplifts, amounting to £146 million by 2026, due to leaving the EU.
We have started to develop Fisheries Management Plans which allow more bespoke approaches to managing our stocks, including those that were badly protected by the Common Fisheries Policy. This will help ensure economic, environmental and social sustainability in the long term.
We have opened new sustainable fisheries for spurdog and bluefin tuna, and have responded to requests to improve the management of crawfish.
Additionally, the £100 million UK Seafood Fund is bringing long-term economic benefits to coastal communities.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Sheffield (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the damage caused by flooding following (1) Storm Babet, and (2) Storm Ciarán; and what steps they are taking to combat the increase in the frequency and severity of flooding caused by climate change.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government acknowledges the devastating impact Storm Babet and Storm Ciarán have had on householders and businesses and sympathises with those affected.
The Environment Agency has been inspecting assets that may have been impacted. As of Wednesday 22 November, the Environment Agency have conducted almost 12,000 inspections – these inspections are in response to both storms. During Storm Babet the Environment Agency estimate that around 2,150 properties flooded, and around 97,000 were protected. During Storm Ciarán estimates are that around 180 properties flooded and around 42,000 properties were protected.
This Government is acting to drive down flood risk from every angle. in July 2020 we published a long-term Policy Statement, which sets out our ambition to create a nation more resilient to future flood and coastal erosion risk. Alongside this, the Environment Agency’s National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy for England and Roadmap to 2026 is helping to create climate resilient places.
The Government is investing a record £5.2 billion over 6 years in flood and coastal erosion schemes to better protect communities across England. In March 2023, the Environment Agency estimated that approximately £1.5 billion of the investment programme had been spent, with over 200 flood risk schemes completed. Around 60,000 properties have benefited from better protection since the start of the current 6-year programme (between April 2021 to March 2023). This takes the total number of properties protected to 374,000 since 2015.
Lastly, Government is investing £200 million in a flood and coastal resilience innovation programme supporting local projects across the country. In September 2023, Defra also announced a new £25 million natural flood management programme. This information can be found on Gov.uk.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his Department's policy is on providing support to householders who believe that actions taken by the Environment Agency have caused flooding to their properties.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) take flood risk incredibly seriously and have a long-term plan to upgrade and invest in flood defences across England to benefit local communities. When building flood defences there is a legal requirement that they cannot increase the flood risk of communities either upstream or downstream.
Creating climate resilient places lies at the heart of the EA’s National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy for England (FCERM Strategy) and Roadmap to 2026. The EA’s role in flood and coastal erosion risk management is outlined here. The EA is also a Category 1 responder set out by The Civil Contingency Act (2004).
The EA are in the third year of the current 6-year £5.2billion Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management (FCERM) investment programme. The funding can be spent on projects that better protect properties in England as well as the development of future projects.
At the end of March 2023, the EA estimated that approximately £1.5 billion of this funding has been invested with over 200 flood risk schemes completed.
Around 60,000 properties have benefited from better protection since the start of the current 6-year programme (between April 2021 to March 2023). This takes the total number of properties protected to 374,000 since 2015.
During Storms Babet and Ciarán around 2,400 properties sadly flooded but defences protected a further 110,000.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Trial encourages low-income pensioners to apply for extra financial support, published on 17 July 2023, what the priority objectives are of the invitation to claim trial.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
In addition to our ongoing Pension Credit communications campaign, in July we launched a more targeted ‘Invitation to Claim’ trial. Approximately 2,500 pensioner households across ten local authority areas in Great Britain were sent letters encouraging them to contact DWP and make a claim. The areas were chosen to be representative of urban, rural and coastal communities and target households were identified as most likely to be missing out because they were claiming Housing Benefit but not Pension Credit.
The objectives of the trial are to learn whether using data in this way can help accurately identify eligible households; and whether directly contacting households in this way is an effective way of boosting Pension Credit applications.