£34.5m for flood protection
Government minister, Hilary Benn, has today announced that at least £34.5 million of the £2.15bn total Government flood and coastal erosion spend over the next three years will be allocated to implement the final recommendations from Sir Michael Pitt's report on the summer floods
Mr Benn also announced that the Environment Agency will receive £1.8 billion of this funding over the same period, 2008/09 to 2010/11. The Agency will be responsible for allocating this funding across all Operating Authorities (which includes local authorities, Internal Drainage Boards and the Agency itself) and overseeing the programme of works to deliver a range of tougher targets for new and improved defences and projects. These will help to ensure that more households and important wildlife sites are protected from the risks of flooding.
Of the total £1.8 billion, the Environment Agency will use £788 million to fund the operating costs of its flood risk management service, which includes the routine maintenance of defences and the flood warning service, over the same three year period.
Hilary Benn said: "The devastation that was caused by the unprecedented level of rainfall this summer has shown us the awful and lasting impact flooding can have on communities.
"If we are to learn the lessons and reduce the impact of future flooding on this scale, we have much work to do. I have accepted the urgent recommendations outlined in Sir Michael Pitt's interim report, but there will be still more to consider when he publishes his final report, later on this year. This is why I have set aside an initial £34.5 million of funding, in anticipation of the work that his final recommendations may ask for."
Over £2.15 billion is planned to be invested by Government and local authorities in flood and coastal erosion management over the three years spending review period. As outlined in the Comprehensive Spending Review last October, spending will rise from its current level of £600m, to £650m in 2008-09, £700m in 2009-10 and £800 million in 2010-11.
Hilary Benn added: "Government has a duty to ensure that these record levels of investment are being used to best effect, so that householders receive effective protection and tax payers receive good value for money.
"That's why we've set new targets, in partnership with the Environment Agency, to ensure our additional investment is delivering increased protection. Investment from the last spending review is set to deliver improved protection for more than 100,000 houses. With this year's increased funding the Environment Agency will be improving protection for at least 145,000 homes - 45,000 of which will be the most at risk households."
This investment for the next three years will be:
* At least £34.5 million will be dedicated to implementing the final recommendations from the Pitt report. This money will come from a total budget of £62.5 million retained for now by Defra to fund a range of work which includes helping communities adapt to the flood and costal erosion impact of climate change.
* A total of £1.8 billion is to be allocated to Operating Authorities over the three years to fund all the on-the-ground flood management work, which includes building and maintaining defences, monitoring, and flood forecasting and warning.
* We estimate that local authorities will spend around £260 million maintaining their own defences, as well as funding additional work by the Environment Agency and Internal Drainage Boards.
