The Minister acknowledged the severity of flooding risks and expressed concern over the insufficient engagement between developers and communities. He outlined existing policies within the national planning policy framework aimed at mitigating flood risks, including mandatory flood risk assessments for all proposed developments in areas at risk from any source of flooding. The minister highlighted recent updates to these policies to account for climate change impacts and increased resilience measures. Furthermore, he detailed significant investments made by the government towards enhancing flood defences across England, amounting to £5.2 billion, aimed at protecting an additional 336,000 properties from flood risks. The minister concluded by affirming the government's commitment to reviewing planning practices to better integrate sustainable drainage systems and mitigate future flood risk.