Recommendation 21

HM Government Not Addressed

Defra undertakes detailed financial oversight and assurance, including agreeing the business case for the flood and coastal erosion risk management investment programme as a whole, monitoring progress against programme targets and ensuring the programme is evalu between new flood projects and maintaining existing defence assets. An integrated set of outcome metrics will support allocation of funding towards the most beneficial interventions. We have retained the principle of partnership funding as it maximises every pound of government investment. It fosters collaborative behaviours by bringing multiple partners together to create the best possible projects and outcomes. Under the new rules, we are giving equal weighting to all types of benefit, noting this doesn’t mean that a hectare of agricultural land has the same amount of benefit as a hectare of housing. This approach differs from the old rules which gave higher payments for properties in comparison to environmental and agricultural benefits. The government is committed to valuing a broad range of the co-benefits of adaptation, including economic and environmental outcomes. All decisions on key government spending are subject to clear requirements through the Green Book to consider national benefits such as mental health outcomes and economic stability. The government will continue to invest in deprived communities, who are disproportionately affected by social vulnerability and health inequalities. Under the new rules, deprived communities will receive at least the same share of investment as their weight in the population. A minimum of 20% of investment will go to the 20% most deprived communities and a minimum of 40% to the 40% most deprived communities, combined over both the next three and ten years.