Recommendation 25

The Government should initiate consultation on statutory requirements for assessing the cumulative impact of development on flood risk within local and regional plans by the end of 2025. These requirements should be introduced by 2027, ensuring land use policy and planning decisions are aligned with catchment-scale flood management strategies. Delivery should be supported through spatial planning frameworks and statutory, regularly updated Strategic Flood Risk Assessments. To address persistent weaknesses in implementation, the system must also include stronger compliance and enforcement mechanisms for both strategic and site- level Flood Risk Assessments, with requirements for post-construction inspections to ensure mitigation measures are delivered in practice. In addition, we recommend: • That water companies should be made statutory consultees on major planning applications. • That Defra work with the Environment Agency and farming bodies to develop a standardised approach for compensating farmers who host floodwater or implement natural flood management measures, recognising this as a public good. • That the Environment Agency publish clear guidance for riparian landowners on their statutory obligations and available support, and report annually on enforcement and compliance. • Defra should ensure that the Land Use Framework explicitly incorporate agricultural land and food production as strategic considerations in flood planning, including mechanisms to safeguard productive land and support multifunctional land use. (Recommendation, Paragraph 89)