Recommendation 24

HM Government Deferred

The government is committed to building the homes the country needs while maintaining the highest levels of flood protection. The government will consider whether further changes are necessary to manage flood risk and coastal change when we consult on planning reform, including national policy related to decision making, intended later this year. The Environment Agency supports local planning authorities to produce strategic flood risk assessments through guidance, in collaboration with the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management and the Association of Directors Environment, Economy, Planning & Transport. The Environment Agency reports annually on its compliance and enforcement through the Chief Regulator’s annual report, where it publishes its business performance metrics. Enforcement of applications is at the discretion of local planning authorities, who have a wide range of powers available to them to address breaches of planning control, with strong penalties for non-compliance, where conditions imposed on the grant of planning permission have not been complied with. It is for local planning authorities to decide what, if any, action to take depending on the circumstances of each case. The government will consider the recommendation for a new water company statutory consultee status in the light of responses to our consultation on reform of statutory consultees. This includes proposed criteria for the adoption of any new statutory consultee. We recognise the critical importance of landowner buy-in to the successful implementation of flood storage areas and natural flood management. The Environment Agency works with landowners to create flood storage areas to temporarily store water away from the watercourse, helping protect communities, infrastructure, and businesses downstream. Where the land is not within a floodplain, the Environment Agency can pay the landowner for this service. The Environmental Land Management schemes provide payments for maintaining eligible natural features in the landscape, which landowners can apply for. This reflects their contribution to delivering public goods and helps secure long-term environmental and flood resilience outcomes. Working with partners and stakeholders, the Environment Agency published new guidance for riparian landowners in 2024. This new, easily accessible guidance aims to increase riparian landowners understanding of their roles and responsibilities. In addition, the Environment Agency also published guidance for Risk Management Authorities on good practice for both asset maintenance and inspection. It outlines how digital tools and techniques will transform inspections and maintenance in the future. The government’s Land Use Framework will set out a strategic approach on how we transform land use across England to deliver the government’s Plan for Change and support sustainable economic growth. Over the next 25 years, our landscapes will need to support spatial plans for housing, infrastructure, and clean energy, alongside climate change mitigation and adaptation, food production, and statutory commitments for nature recovery. The framework will provide guidance on managing the multiple demands on land and how we make the most of what our diverse landscapes have to offer. Consideration of agricultural land is already embedded within the appraisal process for flood defence funding. Recent reforms to our flood funding policy ensure equal weighting to all the different types of benefits from a scheme, removing the previous bias towards protecting properties. Although reducing risk to properties, including those in rural areas, will of course remain a key aim of the programme.