§ Mr. LoveTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects the Environment Agency to publish its pre-feasibility report on the Lower Lee Valley Flooding Strategy. [40679]
§ Mr. MorleyThis Department provides grants for flood and coastal defence capital works, and associated studies, which meet essential technical, economic and environmental criteria and achieve an appropriate priority score. Further to increases in spending plans in the last two spending reviews, additional funding of £51 million over the four years from 2000–01 was announced in November 2000 following the severe flooding that year. An increased priority was given to urban flooding defences and the grant rates for all river flood defences were increased by 20 per cent.
Operational responsibility for flood management measures rests with the local operating authorities, normally the Environment Agency and local councils, who decide which projects to promote and their timing. I understand that the initial scoping report for the Lower River Lee Flood Defence Strategy is currently being reviewed by the agency and they plan to publish a summary of it in April this year. The purpose of the report is to identify flooding problems and key issues.