§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans he has to increase funding to the Environment Agency to undertake emergency flood prevention measures in the South-West. [105417]
§ Mr. MorleyThe Government are aware of the serious flooding that occurred over the Christmas period. We sympathise with all those affected and pay tribute to the work done by the Environment Agency and others to mitigate the effects. Apart from grants towards approved capital works, the Ministry does not contribute to the cost of the Environment Agency's flood defence work. The great majority of this work is funded by levies on local authorities, for which funding is provided through the Revenue Support Grant and Standard Spending Assessments arrangements. The cost of any emergency 13W flood prevention measures in the South-West will need to be met through these existing mechanisms. If studies identify the need for future capital works, MAFF funding will be considered against the normal criteria and national priority assessments.