§ Mr Liddell-GraingerTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the flood defence budget will be in the next three financial years. [136555]
§ Mr. MorleyThe Government is committed to maintenance and improvement of flood and coastal defences, including those to reduce the risk of coastal erosion as well as flooding. Central Government's spending plans for flood and coastal defence remain as announced following the 2002 Spending Review:
£ 2004–05 469 2005–06 564 These figures include Defra funding and funding from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister through local authority mechanisms as well as an estimated £20 million revenue from a new funding stream in 2005–06.
Provision for 2006–07 will be set in the Government's next Spending Review in 2004.
§ Mr. Liddell-GraingerTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what fiscal contribution district councils are required to make to flood defence capital projects. [136556]
§ Mr. MorleyDistrict councils are empowered under the Land Drainage Act 1991 to undertake works to manage flood risk on watercourses which have not been 5W designated as "main rivers" (for which the Environment Agency has the requisite powers) and which are not in an internal drainage district (for which the relevant internal drainage board would have powers).
The district council is responsible for funding those projects which it directly promotes but Defra makes available grant aid at a rate of 45 per cent. for capital flood defence projects which meet the Department's criteria and (for those projects only) the council can also apply to the Department for a Supplementary Credit Approval to cover borrowing for the balance of expenditure after grant. The latter results in support from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) through its local authority funding mechanism.
The authority primarily responsible for managing flood risk in England is the Environment Agency. The Agency obtains part of its funding for capital flood defence projects along with other aspects of this activity from county councils and unitary authorities in the form of levies agreed annually by the relevant Flood Defence Committee. However, it is the intention that these levies should be largely replaced from April 2004 by direct funding from Defra as my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced to the House on 12 March. An appropriate transfer of resource from ODPM to Defra will take place to reflect this change in funding. A further change we are making is to transfer responsibility from district councils to the Agency of those ordinary watercourses identified as creating the greatest flood risk.