§ 20. Mr. SwireTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the money made available to fund flood protection in rural areas in 2002–03. [101133]
§ Mr. MorleyDefra provides grant aid on capital flood and coastal defence projects that meet specified criteria and an appropriate priority score. Decisions regarding which projects to promote and their timing rests with operating authorities. It is therefore not possible to say how much of the funding has been directed to rural areas until after the financial year has ended. The figures will depend on the definition of "rural areas", as many schemes classified as "urban" are to protect communities within what would normally be considered as rural areas. ODPM allocate funding to support local authorities' expenditure on flood defence on the basis of their past expenditure.