Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Flood Defences

Thursday 26 November 2020 · 3 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Government investing 2.6 billion from 2015 to 2021 in flood and coastal defences, with 650 million allocated to local authorities.
  • Government planning to invest 5.2 billion in flood and coastal defences between 2021 and 2027, including a 200 million resilience innovation fund.
  • Environment Agency and Lead Local Flood Authority meeting to address surface water flooding in Maw Green Road.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Kieran Mullan Con Bexhill and Battle
Agriculture & Rural Affairs Environment
Context

Local authorities face challenges in building adequate flood defences due to resource constraints. The question arises from concerns about insufficient financial support for local projects.

Question

What steps he is taking to ensure that local authorities have the resources to build adequate flood defences? Local authorities need significant funding to address flooding issues, especially with climate change increasing risks and costs.

Answer from Rebecca Pow

The Government are currently investing £2.6 billion between 2015 and 2021, approximately £650 million of which will be allocated to local authorities. Between 2021 and 2027, we will invest £5.2 billion in flood and coastal defences, in addition to a £200 million resilience innovation fund.

Answered
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Q2 Kieran Mullan Con Bexhill and Battle
Agriculture & Rural Affairs Environment
Context

Maw Green Road in Bexhill and Battle has faced severe flooding, affecting residents who have to use canoes. The local authority's efforts to secure financial aid have been unsuccessful.

Question

Will the Minister agree to meet me to look at its proposals to see what we can do to support it financially so that it can tackle this matter? Maw Green Road has been severely flooded, residents using canoes for evacuation. Local authority applications for funding have been declined.

Answer from Rebecca Pow

We all understand the difficulties that flooding can bring and my hon. Friend is right to raise it. I understand that the Environment Agency recently attended a meeting with the Lead Local Flood Authority to address the surface water flooding in Maw Green Road, and that the LLFA is pursuing specific actions to address the situation.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The Minister did not explicitly commit to meet or provide financial support beyond acknowledging efforts are underway.

How: We All Understand The Difficulties

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Q3 Neil Parish Con
Climate Agriculture & Rural Affairs
Context

The environmental land management scheme has potential to mitigate flooding, particularly flash flooding. The scheme's progress is of interest due to its role in future farming practices.

Question

How advanced is the ELM scheme, and when will we hear about it? In the future, can we ensure that the payments are enough so that people can farm water as part of their farming practice?

Answer from Rebecca Pow

My hon. Friend was right to raise the ELM scheme. Our future farming policy will be centred around support aimed at incentivising sustainable farming practice; creating habitats for nature recovery; and establishing new woodland ecosystem services to help tackle climate change.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The Minister did not provide specific timelines or details on funding adequacy for the scheme's implementation.

How: We Will Help Farmers To Deliver Environmental Public Goods

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