UK Inquiry Tracker

Managing flood risks

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry

Opened: 17 Dec 2020 Closed: 17 May 2021 Parliament page

Flooding and coastal erosion put lives, livelihoods and people’s well-being at risk. The Environment Agency estimates that 5.2 million homes and businesses in England are at risk of flooding and that around 700 properties are vulnerable to coastal erosion over the next 20 years. In addition, more than two thirds … Read more Flooding and coastal erosion put lives, livelihoods and people’s well-being at risk. The Environment Agency estimates that 5.2 million homes and businesses in England are at risk of flooding and that around 700 properties are vulnerable to coastal erosion over the next 20 years. In addition, more than two thirds of properties in England are served by infrastructure sites and networks that are at risk from flooding. The Met Office’s UK climate projections show more extreme weather events and sea level rises resulting from climate change. This, when combined with increased housing development, will heighten flooding and coastal erosion risks. The government set the Environment Agency (EA) a target of better protecting 300,000 homes from flooding between 2015 and 2021, through an investment of £2.6 billion, and it is currently on track to meet this target within its budget. Since 2015, over 700 new flood defence schemes have been introduced, providing better protection for over 242,000 homes. On average, EA has spent £2,750 for each property with an annual likelihood of flooding of at least 1%. By providing better protection for 242,000 homes, EA’s investment programme has delivered valuable benefits for people, with flood risk being substantially lower for many thousands of homes in England. However, the headline figure of 242,000 homes better protected also does not take account of properties that have become less well protected due to factors such as housing development, climate change and the condition of flood defence assets. Following the 2019-20 autumn and winter floods, the number of properties at risk as a result of the condition of EA flood defences and other infrastructure assets increased by 171% from 70,000 in 2018-19, to 189,000 in 2019-20. The cost of repairing and maintaining flood defences could increase by between 20% and 70% a year as a result of climate change. The government’s approach is designed to ensure deprived areas do not miss out on investment, but the proportion of funding for flood defence going to the 20% most deprived areas has reduced substantially since 2014. The government requires many flood schemes to be part-funded by communities, local authorities or businesses in the private sector. The system includes provisions for deprived communities who may have difficulty raising this type of investment. However, very few of the homes better protected in 2019 were in deprived areas; the proportion rose from 4% in 2011, to 29% in 2014, but then declined to 8% in 2019. Defra believes this decline is because most of the possible schemes in deprived areas have been completed, but has not carried out any analysis to support this explanation. The Committee will question senior officials at Defra and the Environment Agency. If you have evidence on government’s management of protecting homes from flood risk, please submit it here by 6pm on Thursday the January 2021 Show less

1 Recommendation

29 Conclusions

1 Report

1 Oral session

4 Letters

1 Event

Activity timeline 8 events

31 Aug
2021

Report published

Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Forty-fifth report from Session 2019-21

6 Jul
2021

Correspondence

Correspondence from Tamara Finkelstein, Permanent Secretary, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, re Forty-fifth Report of S…

16 Apr
2021

Correspondence

Correspondence from Tamara Finkelstein, Permanent Secretary, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, re Forty-fifth Report of S…

26 Feb
2021

Report published

Forty-Fifth Report - Managing flood risk

1 Feb
2021

Correspondence

Correspondence from Sir James Bevan, Chief Executive, Environment Agency, re recent research into flood risk for deprived areas, dated 27 J…

1 Feb
2021

Correspondence

Correspondence from Tamara Finkelstein, Permanent Secretary, DEFRA, re regarding parish councils and their role in supporting flood and coa…

14 Jan
2021

Oral evidence

Managing flood risks

14 Jan
2021

Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Wilson Room, Portcullis House

Managing flood risks

Oral evidence sessions 1 session

14 Jan 2021

View on parliament.uk

Managing flood risks

Catherine Wright · Environment Agency Sally Randall · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Sir James Bevan · Environment Agency Tamara Finkelstein · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
Forty-Fifth Report - Managing flood risk	HC 931	26 Feb 2021	30	Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

30 results

2 Conclusion

Forty-Fifth Report - Managing floo…

Scarce local authority resources and low levels of private sector investment are barriers to the...

Scarce local authority resources and low levels of private sector investment are barriers to the effective management of flood risks, especially given the impact of Covid-19. Lead local flood authorities (unitary authorities or county councils) are responsible for managing local … Read more

Government Response

2: PAC conclusion: Scarce local authority resources and low levels of private sector investment are barriers to the effective management of flood risks, especially given the impact of Covid-19. 2: … Read more

HM Treasury

Managing flood risks

Activity timeline 8 events

Oral evidence sessions 1 session

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Recommendations & Conclusions

Scarce local authority resources and low levels of private sector investment are barriers to the...

In 2014 the NAO report on strategic flood management found there was a profusion of...

Short-term funding cycles are impacting on the Agency’s ability to manage flood risks effectively.

The current indicators used to monitor national flood risk do not cover important elements such...

The Department has not ensured that all regions, deprived areas in particular, get a fair...

We are not convinced that the Department has yet done enough to address the difficulties...

Despite the known risks, there are still plans to build houses on flood plains.

On the basis of a Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence...

Lead local flood authorities (unitary authorities or county councils) manage the risk of surface and...

The amount of funding local authorities receive for flood risk management is determined by the...

The Government introduced partnership funding in 2011, requiring many flood schemes to be part-funded from...

The EA Strategy highlights the role of Community Interest Companies (CIC) including the East Wash...

Nearly all this partnership funding has been obtained from public sector sources, with only £39...

The government has a record of providing the Agency with long-term capital funding settlements, with...

The Agency told us that multi-year revenue funding settlements are preferable and help it to...

The Agency explained that on-going maintenance costs are increasing for three main reasons.

The Agency is already seeing the impacts of climate change through the increasing strain on...

The Agency is on track to better protect 300,000 homes as a result of its...

The Agency also uses its National Flood Risk Assessment (NaFRA) model to estimate the number...

When we asked the Agency how it assesses overall national flood risk for non- residential...

The Agency recognised that the way flood risks are often described, using percentages and probabilities...

The Department has committed to developing a new national set of indicators on flood risk...

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (the Department) told us that the responsibility...

The Agency published a report in 2020 which showed that people from more deprived areas...

We also asked the Agency about the reasons for the wide variation in the level...

We asked the Department why some people faced difficulties in obtaining affordable insurance after being...

The Department’s research, following the floods in Doncaster in November 2019, suggests that some people...

Written evidence from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and Flood Re emphasised the importance...

The Agency told us that the government’s current strategy was not to build houses on...

Written evidence from Flood Re highlighted that the Agency does not have responsibility for surface...

Correspondence 4 letters