§ Lord Marlesfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
What has been, for the most convenient recent year for which information is available, the total government expenditure in the United Kingdom on sea defences and main river works, indicating how the expenditure has been financed; the proportion of total expenditure financed by drainage rates; and on whom drainage rates are levied. [HL2767]
§ Baroness HaymanThis Answer is in respect of England only, as flood defence is a matter for the devolved authorities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
In England, measures to reduce the risk of flooding from main rivers and the sea are undertaken primarily by the Environment Agency. In 1998–99 the agency's total expenditure on flood defence was £277.0 million. The agency's major sources of income for flood defence are government grants towards approved capital works (£33.5 million in 1998–99) and levies from local authorities (£192.6 million in 1998–99). Local authority levies are included in the Standard Spending Assessments of the local authorities.
In the agency's Anglian Region, a general drainage charge is levied on occupiers of agricultural land, the income from which totalled £2.9 million in 1998–99. This provided nearly 5 per cent of the agency's expenditure on flood defence in that region of £58.9 million, and 1.5 per cent of the agency's total expenditure in England.
17WAFlood defence works to reduce the risk of flooding from non-main rivers and the sea may be undertaken by local authorities or internal drainage boards (IDBs) but a breakdown of expenditure is not readily available. Part of the IDBs' expenditure is financed by drainage rates charged to owners of agricultural land within their districts.