Floods will hit the disadvantaged communities hardest

The National Audit Office has found that there are gaps in the government’s understanding of public spending for flood defence.

The spending watchdog has revealed a new report in which it states that the government is on track to achieve its target for better protecting 300,000 more homes from flooding by March 2021, but warns that it does not have a comprehensive measure of its progress in reducing the overall level of flood risk across England.

The government set the Environment Agency a target of better protecting 300,000 homes from flooding between 2015 and 2021, through an investment of £2.6 billion. The EA is on track to meet this target within its budget. Since 2015, over 700 new flood defence schemes have been introduced, providing better protection for over 242,000 homes.

The report says that, whilst the ‘homes better protected’ target is an easy to understand performance measure, on its own does not provide a good view of progress in tackling overall flood risk. The NAO also warns that headline figure of 242,000 homes better protected also does not take account of properties that have become less well protected due to factors such as housing development, climate change and the condition of flood defence assets.

Regarding gaps in the government’s understanding of public spending for flood defence, the NAO says that, without this knowledge, it cannot assess whether local authorities and other organisations have the resources they need to manage flood risk effectively. The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has committed to reviewing local government funding for flooding to ensure it is fair and matches the needs and resources of local areas, but a date for this has not been set.

Furthermore, the proportion of funding for flood defence going to the 20 per cent most deprived areas has reduced substantially since 2014. The government requires many flood schemes to be part-funded by communities, local authorities or businesses in the private sector, with the system including provisions for deprived communities who may have difficulty raising this type of investment. However, very few of the homes better protected in 2019 were in deprived areas; the proportion rose from four per cent in 2011, to 29 per cent in 2014, but then declined to eight per cent in 2019. Defra believes this decline is because most of the possible schemes in deprived areas have been completed, although it has not carried out any analysis to support this explanation.

The NAO recommends that the government provides a clearer sense of direction on what it aims to achieve, and what the measures of success will be for the 2021-2027 flood defence programme. Working with the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government and HM Treasury, Defra should 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. The EA should report on the geographical distribution of investment in its annual reporting and the amount of investment directed to deprived areas, to help inform policy decisions and government priorities.

Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, said: “Flooding and coastal erosion put lives, livelihoods and people’s well-being at risk. As our climate continues to change, and severe weather events become more common, flooding will impact more people.

“Although EA is on track to better protect 300,000 homes from flooding by 2021, there is still no comprehensive measure to show that flood risk in England has reduced, even though the current programme is coming to an end. Looking ahead to 2021-27, although the government has set a clear ambition, the lack of robust measures to track progress mean it will be difficult to demonstrate that its £5.6 billion investment provides an adequate response to the changing risk and good value for taxpayers.”