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

7 Recommendations

23 Conclusions

1 Report

1 Oral session

4 Letters

1 Event

Activity timeline 7 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

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

14 results

3 Recommendation Accepted

Forty-Fifth Report - Managing floo…

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

In 2014 the NAO report on strategic flood management found there was a profusion of plans that often duplicate across geographical or administrative areas. Defra and the Agency have not followed the NAO recommendation to review their strategies and plans … Read more

Government Response

The government accepts the recommendation and provides an update, committing to transform local flood risk planning by 2026, consult on reforms in due course, and is working to consult on updated draft Flood Risk Management Plans in Autumn 2021.

HM Treasury

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5 Recommendation Accepted

Forty-Fifth Report - Managing floo…

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

The current indicators used to monitor national flood risk do not cover important elements such as risks to agricultural land, business premises, and infrastructure. The Agency uses the number of homes ‘better protected’ as the main performance indicator for its … Read more

Government Response

The government accepts the recommendation, confirming it is developing a new national set of flood risk indicators by Spring 2022 that will incorporate all types of flood risk (residential, non-residential, agricultural, infrastructure) and allow for comparison over time.

HM Treasury

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6 Recommendation Accepted

Forty-Fifth Report - Managing floo…

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

The Department has not ensured that all regions, deprived areas in particular, get a fair share of the available funding. The Agency uses the level of risk in an area and the readiness of projects to go ahead to decide … Read more

Government Response

The government accepts the recommendation, committing to undertake and publish annual analysis of investment levels across regions and deprived areas through KPIs, with reporting beginning by Spring 2022, and will take appropriate action to reduce funding inequality.

HM Treasury

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7 Recommendation Accepted

Forty-Fifth Report - Managing floo…

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

We are not convinced that the Department has yet done enough to address the difficulties those recently flooded have in getting affordable insurance. Some people who have recently been flooded still face difficulties in obtaining affordable insurance. The Department states … Read more

Government Response

The government accepted the recommendation, stating it wrote to the Committee by the deadline and committed to ongoing research into flood insurance, publishing responses to consultations on the Flood Re scheme and Property Flood Resilience (PFR) in due course, and continuing significant investment in PFR measures.

HM Treasury

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10 Conclusion Accepted

Forty-Fifth Report - Managing floo…

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

The amount of funding local authorities receive for flood risk management is determined by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s (MHCLG) local government funding formula. The Department told us that, taken as a whole, local authorities are spending … Read more

Government Response

The government agreed with the committee's conclusion, confirming its commitment to review local government funding for statutory flood and coastal erosion risk management functions as part of the Spending Review 2021, aligning with the existing commitment noted by the committee.

HM Treasury

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16 Conclusion Accepted

Forty-Fifth Report - Managing floo…

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

The Agency explained that on-going maintenance costs are increasing for three main reasons. First, as a result of more extreme weather due to climate change, both more extreme flooding and more extreme droughts. Second, some flood defences in England are … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees with the committee's observation and details its existing multi-year flood and coastal defence investment programmes, including a record £5.2 billion for the next six years, and past increases in maintenance funding. It also mentions reviewing future budgets as part of SR21.

HM Treasury

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18 Conclusion Accepted

Forty-Fifth Report - Managing floo…

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

The Agency is on track to better protect 300,000 homes as a result of its capital investment programme for 2015–16 to 2020–21. While this a clear and easily understood measure, it does not provide any indication of what has happened … Read more

Government Response

The government states it agrees with the committee's observation and is developing an improved framework for understanding overall flood risk, including new methods for calculating risk reduction. By Spring 2022, the department will have in place a full suite of metrics (KPIs) and a new oversight process to monitor flood risk.

HM Treasury

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19 Conclusion Accepted

Forty-Fifth Report - Managing floo…

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

The Agency also uses its National Flood Risk Assessment (NaFRA) model to estimate the number of properties at risk of flooding each year. Due to changes in methodology over the 2015–16 to 2020–21 period, a direct comparison between years is … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees with the observation and states that the department and Agency are developing a framework for understanding overall flood risk, including improved methods, new KPIs by Spring 2022, and considering interim improvements to the current NaFRA before its 2024 update.

HM Treasury

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20 Conclusion Accepted

Forty-Fifth Report - Managing floo…

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

When we asked the Agency how it assesses overall national flood risk for non- residential buildings, agricultural land and infrastructure it said that it does not measure this unless it is part of a particular flood scheme. So, for example … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees with the observation and is developing a framework for understanding overall flood risk, which includes improved methods like Expected Annual Damages (EAD) and a new suite of KPIs by Spring 2022, aiming to provide a more comprehensive national assessment for all asset types.

HM Treasury

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21 Conclusion Accepted

Forty-Fifth Report - Managing floo…

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

The Agency recognised that the way flood risks are often described, using percentages and probabilities of being flooded, are not very meaningful for the public. It described 18 Q 27: C&AG’s Report, para 16 19 Letter dated 27 January from … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees with the observation and commits to developing an improved framework for understanding overall flood risk, including new measurement methods and KPIs. By Spring 2022, the department will have in place new metrics and an oversight process to monitor flood risk and inform future action, contributing to better risk communication.

HM Treasury

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22 Conclusion Accepted

Forty-Fifth Report - Managing floo…

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

The Department has committed to developing a new national set of indicators on flood risk by spring 2022. It confirmed that these new indicators will be measurable and will enable the tracking of national flood risk over time.25 24 Q … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees with the committee's observation and reaffirms its commitment to developing a national set of indicators on flood risk by Spring 2022, outlining the framework and metrics currently being developed.

HM Treasury

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23 Conclusion Accepted

Forty-Fifth Report - Managing floo…

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

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (the Department) told us that the responsibility for deciding which flood defence schemes to invest in is delegated to the Environment Agency (the Agency). The Agency explained that it decides which schemes … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees with the committee's observation on delegated responsibility for scheme selection. It commits to monitoring the performance of the investment programme, including regional and deprived area investment, through KPIs and a new governance board, with strengthened reporting of progress by Spring 2022.

HM Treasury

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24 Conclusion Accepted

Forty-Fifth Report - Managing floo…

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

The Agency published a report in 2020 which showed that people from more deprived areas faced greater flood risk than those living in less deprived areas, although the gap had narrowed in the last 15 years. The report also showed … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees with the implied need for better understanding and monitoring, committing to monitor the flood defence investment programme and report on investment in deprived areas via KPIs, with strengthened reporting in place by Spring 2022.

HM Treasury

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25 Conclusion Accepted

Forty-Fifth Report - Managing floo…

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

We also asked the Agency about the reasons for the wide variation in the level of flood defence investment per property at risk between regions. The Agency explained that the level of flood risk will determine where investment is made. … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees with the observation and commits to new actions, including monitoring regional investment patterns through KPIs, establishing a new governance board to review reports, and strengthening overall reporting by Spring 2022. It is also exploring ways to support local economies through a Call for Evidence.

HM Treasury

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Government Response AI assessment · 29 of 7 classified

Accepted 14

Accepted in Part 1

Acknowledged 3

Deferred 7

Not Addressed 1

Rejected 3

Total 7 recs + 23 conclusions

Correspondence 4 letters

6 Jul 2021 Correspondence from Tamara Finkelstein, Permanent Secretary, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, re Forty-fifth Report of Session 2019-21: ‘Managing Flood Risk’, dated 28 June 2021

Parliament page

16 Apr 2021 Correspondence from Tamara Finkelstein, Permanent Secretary, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, re Forty-fifth Report of Session 2019-21: ‘Managing Flood Risk’, dated 7 April 2021

Parliament page

1 Feb 2021 Correspondence from Sir James Bevan, Chief Executive, Environment Agency, re recent research into flood risk for deprived areas, dated 27 January 2021

Parliament page

1 Feb 2021 Correspondence from Tamara Finkelstein, Permanent Secretary, DEFRA, re regarding parish councils and their role in supporting flood and coastal erosion risk management locally, dated 27 January 2021

Parliament page