Source · Select Committees · Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Recommendation 7
7
Accepted in Part
Paragraph: 35
The Government’s refusal to set a national standard for resilience to flooding means there is...
Recommendation
The Government’s refusal to set a national standard for resilience to flooding means there is uncertainty about the level of its ambition. We would expect the Government to show leadership in the face of severe and growing risk by setting out its long- term objective. We are not convinced by the Government’s rationale for rejecting the National Infrastructure Commission’s recommendation of a nationwide standard for flood resilience. Such a standard could address limitations of cost- benefit approaches to allocating funding, and would improve public confidence in the Government’s approach to creating a country better protected and better prepared for flooding. The Government believes that national standards would be a “lowest common denominator”, but it is surely right for the Government to take a political decision on what its policies are meant to achieve. The Government should clearly set out the level of resilience that its interventions, including future capital investment and the actions in its July 2020 policy statement, are intended to deliver in the long term. This should be aligned to climate projections, and should include qualitative and quantitative objectives for what a nation resilient to flooding looks like. The Government should seriously re-examine the case for expressing this as a national standard for flood resilience, as recommended by the National Infrastructure Commission.
Government response summary AI-generated
The Government does not accept a 'one size fits all' national standard, citing difficulties. However, it commits to developing national indicators to monitor resilience trends, strengthening reporting, and transforming local planning to drive progress towards greater flood resilience.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
35
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government · verbatim extract
Accepted in Part
We welcome the focus on protecting not just homes, but also other properties. It is crucial that the success or otherwise of flood risk management interventions is closely monitored, in order to demonstrate progress toward strategic objectives and ensure value for money. We are particularly concerned that the EA has no plans to monitor progress on the number of properties that will be better protected in the next capital investment programme. The Government should provide further detail on its intentions to a “national set of indicators”, including how they will monitor progress toward a defined objective for flood resilience, and address shortcomings of the “homes/ properties better protected” metric.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗