§ Mr. WigginTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the number of homes damaged by flooding between January and June; what measures are in place to prevent flooding; and if she will make a statement on her objectives for flood defence. [131061]
§ Mr. MorleyI understand that 1,209 properties have been flooded in the period between January and June 2003 based on Environment Agency figures. In the most serious flooding incident in the Thames Valley over the new year, it is estimated that some 400 properties were protected from flooding and disruption to a further 1,000 properties was prevented by the Jubilee River flood alleviation scheme. In other areas of the country, flood defences have of course also reduced flooding.
The Department's policy is to reduce risks to people, property and the environment from flooding and coastal erosion through the provision of defences, flood forecasting and warning systems, increased flood resilience of property, beneficial land management changes and discouragement of further development on the floodplain. The Government invests significant sums of money each year to reduce risk and this investment profile is rising steeply with plans to spend approximately £1.5 billion between 2003–04 and 2005–06.
Defra has agreed Service Delivery Agreement (SDA) targets with Treasury to implement the outcome of the Funding Review and reduce risk to houses, infrastructure and environmental assets from the Department's capital programme over the spending review 2002 period. Delivery plans for these targets are available from the Defra website: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environ/fcd/policy/aim.htm. We are also developing a new Strategy for Flood Management and Coastal Protection which will be a cross-Government update to our 1993 Strategy. A Stakeholder Forum is being established, partly to inform this Strategy work.
Defra's flood management programme includes High Level Targets for operating authorities, encouragement of Shoreline Management Plans and Coastal Groups, a joint research and development programme with the Environment Agency and funding of the Agency's flood plain maps, Catchment Flood Management Plans, Public Awareness Campaigns and the National Flood and Coastal Defence Database and associated risk assessment methodology.