2nd Special Report - Flooding: Cooperation across Government: Government Response to the Committee’s Second Report of Session 2016–17

This is the government's response, published 9 September 2016.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The Government welcomes the report but rejects the Committee's conclusion that it has failed to take a long-term approach to flood management, and does not accept the recommendations on infrastructure resilience.

• On maintenance, the Government says it will protect flood defence maintenance funding in real terms until the end of this Parliament, with an additional £40m per year announced in Budget 2016.
• On the Committee's call for a 99% asset condition target, the Government says the optimum range is between 96% and 98%, as a higher target would require maintenance to be carried out "very quickly and at substantially increased cost".
• On infrastructure resilience, it states that it "does not accept the Committee's recommendations" but shares the goal, and says the National Flood Resilience Review will announce further actions agreed with industry.
• On planning, it does not consider there is "a justified need" for a new systematic approach to checking that homes are built in accordance with planning permission, citing existing enforcement powers.

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error