Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Water and Flooding
(): Just over 1,000 properties
flooded in late September after double the monthly average of
rain fell across central and southern England. Devastating
impacts were felt in communities across Northamptonshire,
Bedfordshire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Buckinghamshire and North
West London in particular. Our deepest sympathies are with those
whose homes and businesses have been damaged, whose lives have
been upended, and who are now facing months of disruption and
upset. The government reiterates its thanks to the Environment
Agency, local responders and many others who worked tirelessly to
help communities across the country deal with the impacts.
The condition of flood defences has declined in recent years
through a lack of investment. This was compounded when no more
funding was made available by the previous government to repair
damage from last winter. Asset condition is now at 92%, its
lowest point since 2010, with approximately 60,000 properties at
higher risk. The Environment Agency has allocated £36 million
this year to do the most urgent repairs from last winter's flood
events.
Despite this, over 22,000 properties were protected by existing
flood defences. Assets have stood up well. The Environment Agency
has not had any reports of asset failures that have resulted in
flooding. There may be some unseen damage to defences which the
Environment Agency will inspect and assess once the river levels
have subsided. My department will be carrying out a post-event
assessment with resilience partners to identify where lessons can
be learned.
Protecting communities from flooding is a key priority for this
government. The government is determined to turbocharge the
delivery and repair of flood defences, improve drainage systems
and develop natural flood management schemes. That's why we held
the first meeting of the government's newly established Flood
Resilience Taskforce last month. The government set up the
taskforce to improve coordination of the national and local flood
response and strengthen preparedness ahead of the winter flood
season.
We are investing over £1.25 billion this year to scale up
national resilience through building new and improving existing
flood defences. The government is reviewing the investment
programme to get it back on track after the pace slowed due to
the impacts of inflation and delays with the supply chain.
Decisions on future spending will be made at the spending review
later this month.
The Environment Agency's flood action week is running from 14 to
20 October. The campaign has simple messages and aims to increase
awareness of the risk of flooding and what individuals and
communities can do to prepare.
Together, the government's work to improve coordination of flood
response, strengthen our preparedness and invest in our flood
defences will better protect communities from flooding right
across the country.
