The level of investment in an area is determined by the level of flood risk and Defra scores its business cases against factors including number of homes, businesses and infrastructure protected.44 Defra published guidance for government on rural proofing in 2017 (updated in 2022) to help departments to ensure that rural areas receive fair and equitable policy outcomes. Its guidance states that implementation might need to be designed and delivered differently in rural compared to urban areas and it encourages departments to overcome undesirable policy impacts in rural areas.45 Defra told us that, of the £5.2 billion investment, 45% of it will benefit properties in rural communities, which will include some smaller villages and communities. In addition, Defra set aside £100 million of the capital investment for a Frequently Flooded Allowance which targets the communities that are worst affected by frequently flooding. However, we understand that the current method for prioritising projects favours the more population dense urban locations over rural, leaving some rural communities without any protection and there is a lack of provision for smaller communities of fewer than 100 houses that can nevertheless be devastated by the impact of flooding. It was not clear to us that Defra was following its own guidance on rural proofing.46