Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 11
11
The Government introduced partnership funding in 2011, requiring many flood schemes to be part-funded from...
Conclusion
The Government introduced partnership funding in 2011, requiring many flood schemes to be part-funded from sources other than government grant-in-aid. The cost of individual schemes is shared between national and local sources of funding, to allow more schemes to go ahead. The Agency told us that partnership funding had been successful in attracting additional local funding. The Agency estimates that the partnership funding model attracted £530 million of investment during the period April 2015 to March 2021, exceeding its target of £390 million. More than half the schemes the Agency delivered over this period included some partnership funding.11 7 Qq 33–37 8 Qq 34–35, 55 9 Qq 39–40; C&AG’s Report, fig 2, para 3.25 10 Qq 38–39 11 Q 63; C&AG’s Report, para 2.17, 2.19 Managing food risk 11
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target Implementation date: alongside Spending Review 2021 2.2 The Agency tracks partnership funding for the capital programme monthly to identify what contributions need to be secured. The Agency also monitors those schemes that most reduce flood risk but are at highest risk of not delivering to focus on viable schemes where shortfalls in funding are preventing their progression. The government’s policy statement of June 2020 on flood and coastal erosion risk management (FCERM) sets out a number of actions that will further strengthen incentives for generating partnership funding. 2.3 Funding for flood risk management is part of the overall Local Government Settlement. Depending on local decisions, the settlement for 2021-22 will see councils’ core spending power in England rise from £49 billion in 2020-21 to up to £51.3 billion in 2021-22, a 4.6% increase in cash terms. The majority of local government funding is un-ringfenced, recognising that local authorities are best placed to decide how to meet the major service pressures in their local areas. 2.4 The government has committed to review local government funding for statutory flood and coastal erosion risk management functions, and as part of Spending Review 2021 (SR21) is considering the priorities for local government finance reform, including how funding is allocated to councils.