Source · Select Committees · Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Recommendation 15
15
Rejected
In response to this report the Government should publish an indicative ratio or allocation range...
Recommendation
In response to this report the Government should publish an indicative ratio or allocation range for projects under £3 million, broken down by flood and coastal projects, to prevent unintended competition between inland and coastal schemes and ensure balanced investment. (Recommendation, Paragraph 47) 23
Government Response Summary
The government rejects the recommendation to publish an indicative ratio for projects under £3 million, stating that it would risk constraining their evidence-led approach to the flood and coastal erosion investment programme. They explain that funding decisions are based on the best available risk evidence and local priorities, ensuring responsiveness to changing risks.
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government
Rejected
The flood and coastal erosion investment programme operates as a rolling programme. Schemes are developed and refined using the best available risk evidence, including national datasets such as the National Flood Risk Assessment (NaFRA) and the NCERM, supplemented by local evidence. This evidence base will continue to evolve over time as new information becomes available. Publishing an indicative ratio for projects below £3 million would risk constraining this evidence-led approach. The EA publish a list of schemes allocated funding for each year, and an interactive map of completed schemes. This includes all projects, including those addressing coastal erosion and flooding. The annual Section 18 report provides further details, including the distribution of schemes and amount of investment spent on schemes that protect against various flood sources – this provides the relevant investment levels. RFCCs play an important role within this process, providing local oversight and helping to shape decisions on local priorities. As per the government’s FCERM funding policy, more projects will be eligible for funding in the future. This approach ensures the programme remains responsive to changing risk, supports the development of the most beneficial projects at any scale, and enables funding decisions to reflect risk, local priorities and the programme strategic objectives.