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The Government’s refusal to set a national standard for resilience to flooding means there is...
Recommendation
The Government’s refusal to set a national standard for resilience to flooding means there is uncertainty about the level of its ambition. We would expect the Government to show leadership in the face of severe and growing risk by setting out its long- term objective. We are not convinced by the Government’s rationale for rejecting the National Infrastructure Commission’s recommendation of a nationwide standard for flood resilience. Such a standard could address limitations of cost- benefit approaches to allocating funding, and would improve public confidence in the Government’s approach to creating a country better protected and better prepared for flooding. The Government believes that national standards would be a “lowest common denominator”, but it is surely right for the Government to take a political decision on what its policies are meant to achieve. The Government should clearly set out the level of resilience that its interventions, including future capital investment and the actions in its July 2020 policy statement, are intended to deliver in the long term. This should be aligned to climate projections, and should include qualitative and quantitative objectives for what a nation resilient to flooding looks like. The Government should seriously re-examine the case for expressing this as a national standard for flood resilience, as recommended by the National Infrastructure Commission.
Paragraph Reference
35
Government Response
Not Addressed
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
The Government has considered the National Infrastructure Commission’s work on resilience and set out its response in July 2020. This addressed the difficulty of a ‘one size fits all’ approach that tries to express as a national standard, the right range of actions suited to the particular characteristics of each catchment, and nationally, that would unlock greater flood resilience. The Government is demonstrating leadership through its Policy Statement to enable greater action in a comprehensive, meaningful and practical way. In order to drive progress to create a nation more resilient to future risk, the Government has committed to develop a national set of indicators to monitor trends over time, strengthen reporting of progress and transform local flood and coastal erosion planning to accelerate progress. In addition, the Government will enhance cost-benefit appraisal techniques to reflect a wider range of resilience actions thereby providing a robust basis for guiding decisions locally and nationally. The Policy Statement sets out commitments reflecting a wide range of actions needed to achieve its ambition of a nation more resilient to flooding. As the Government implements these, it will bring forward proposals that, in more detail, indicate the contribution these different interventions will play. Together they will help secure the overall national ambition. The Government undertakes a robust assurance process of the Environment Agency’s activities and is strengthening its oversight and assurance processes for the new capital and revenue programmes which started in April 2021. This Government will track progress on the new capital programme, including the number of properties better protected and the wider benefits of the investment. These actions will help to drive forward progress and contribute towards making the country more resilient. The Government will set out further detail of its proposals to develop indicators and to strengthen reporting of progress in due course.
Timeline
Recommendation age
5.3 yrs
Report published
08 Feb 2021