Source · National Audit Office

Managing flood risk

Published: 27 Nov 2020 Recommendations: 9 Type: Value for Money NAO confirmed: 9 Department: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs

This report evaluates whether government’s approach to managing the risks of flooding and coastal erosion is achieving value for money.

Dept: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs Topics: Commercial and financial managementEnergy and environmentEnvironmental sustainabilityInfrastructure financeRisk and resilienceRisk management nao.org.uk →

Recommendations

9 items

8 accepted 1 partially accepted 8 implemented

Rec	Recommendation	Addressee	Acceptance	Implementation
1	Defra should: a) before the start of the new investment period (April 2021), provide a clearer sense of direction to all the bodies involved on what government aims to achieve, and what the measures of success will be; Ref Page 12, paragraph 26, point a · Implemented Q2 2021-22	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs	Accepted	Implemented ✓ NAO
2	b) work with the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government and HM Treasury to develop a clear understanding of whether flood risk management funding for local authorities is adequate to cover the level of flood risk individual authorities face, and report on this each year starting from 2021-22; Ref Page 12, paragraph 26, point b · Implemented Q4 2023-24	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs	Accepted	Implemented ✓ NAO
3	c) by April 2021, review its oversight of the programme to ensure it is making the most of existing opportunities to appropriately challenge EA’s approach, performance and investment decisions and that it has its own assessment of programme risks; Ref Page 12, paragraph 26, point c · Implemented Q2 2021-22	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs	Accepted	Implemented ✓ NAO
4	d) ensure, when developing its national set of indicators to track progress, that the indicators are clearly linked to the actions set out in its policy statement and that, where possible, its policy statement actions are measurable and time-limited; Ref Page 12, paragraph 26, point d · Implemented Q1 2024-25	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs	Partially accepted	Implemented ✓ NAO
5	e) work with EA to understand what is driving the profile of investment in deprived areas and whether there are any underlying structural issues behind the decline in investment since 2014; and Ref Page 13, paragraph 26, point e · Implemented Q4 2023-24	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs	Accepted	Implemented ✓ NAO
6	f) work with EA and HM Treasury to ensure funding cycles do not have an adverse impact on EA’s ability to manage their investment programme and optimise value for money. Ref Page 13, paragraph 26, point f · Implemented Q3 2021-22	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs	Accepted	Implemented ✓ NAO
7	EA should: g) update and improve its methodology for calculating the risk reduction achieved from its investment programme and, for each year of the new programme, report publicly on annual progress towards reducing risk by 11%; Ref Page 13, paragraph 27, point g	Environment Agency	Accepted	Not relevant ✓ NAO
8	h) as part of its annual reporting, report on the geographical distribution of investment, including the impact of changes to the partnership funding model and the amount of investment directed to deprived areas, to provide evidence to Defra to help inform policy decisions and government priorities; and Ref Page 13, paragraph 27, point h · Implemented Q4 2022-23	Environment Agency	Accepted	Implemented ✓ NAO
9	i) by April 2021, review and update the current approach to communicating with third-party asset owners, develop supporting tools and a communication plan for EA’s local area teams to work with third-party asset owners to ensure asset owners are aware of the condition of their assets and of the need for maintenance where required. Ref Page 13, paragraph 27, point i · Implemented Q3 2025-26	Environment Agency	Accepted	Implemented ✓ NAO

Public Accounts Committee follow-up

1 report

The Public Accounts Committee examined this NAO report and published its own recommendations. The government responds to PAC recommendations via Treasury Minutes.

26 Feb 2021 Public Accounts C… Forty-Fifth Report - Managing flood risk — 11 recommendations · parliament.uk