Tens of thousands of homes and businesses will be better protected from flooding as the government has unveiled a record package of £2.65bn to build new flood defences and maintain and repair those already in place.
As part of the Plan for Change, the UK Government is committing to a record two-year investment with 52,000 properties set to benefit from new flood defences by March 2026.
To shore up creaking defences in need of repairs, funding will be reprioritised for investment in much-needed maintenance, benefitting a further 14,500 properties.
Overall, a total of 66,500 properties will benefit from this funding.
The investment is a fight back in the face of extreme weather events
With the frequency of extreme weather events continuing to rise, leading to devastating impacts for people, homes, businesses, and communities and costing the UK economy billions each year, decisive action to invest in adapting to climate change has never been more important.
As well as protecting families from the devastation of flooding, the investment supports economic growth by protecting businesses, providing jobs, and supporting a stable economy in the face of the increasing risk of flooding as a result of climate change.
The flood defences will also protect farmland that has been badly hit by recent storms, which will, in turn, help to safeguard farm businesses and farmers’ profits.
The UK’s flood defences need drastic improvement
The government says it inherited flood defences in their poorest condition on record, as years of underinvestment and damaging storms left 3,000 of the Environment Agency’s 38,000 high-consequence assets at below the required condition.
The announcement comes as the government’s Floods Resilience Taskforce meets today, with Floods Minister Emma Hardy joined by ministers from across government alongside representatives from the Met Office, Local Resilience Forums, and the National Farmers’ Union.
They will look at further steps that can be taken to protect the 6.3 million properties in England at risk from flooding and discuss lessons to learn from Storms Bert, Conall and Éowyn this winter.
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Steve Reed said: “The storms this winter have devastated lives and livelihoods. Under our Plan for Change, we are investing a record £2.65bn to build and maintain flood defences to protect lives, homes and businesses from the dangers of flooding.”
New projects will enable new defences and essential maintenance
Up to 1,000 projects are set to receive a share of the funding for new and improved flood defences. Those receiving funding include:
- Bridgwater Tidal Barrier Flood Defence Scheme in Somerset, which will receive £43m.
- The Derby Flood Risk Management Scheme “Our City Our River”, which is set to receive £35m.
- In the West Midlands, the Beales Corner project, which protects communities in Bewdley, will benefit from £2m.
- An additional £3.5m for the Poole Bridge to Hunger Hill Flood Defences in Dorset.
- Support for property flood resilience schemes across Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, receiving £2.5m.
Essential maintenance will also be made to flood defences across the country, including:
- Phase 3 of the Stallingborough Sea Defences along the Humber estuary, receiving over £7m.
- A further £3.8m will be spent to improve protection in Pevensey Bay as part of work to repair local sea defences.
“The impact of flooding on our communities will only become greater as climate change brings more extreme weather, like Storms Bert, Conall and Éowyn,” explained Environment Agency Chair Alan Lovell.
“With this new funding, we will work closely with the Government to deliver the vital projects that are needed across the country, ensuring our investment goes to those communities who need it the most.”
Protecting communities with essential repairs to flood defences
In addition to providing this crucial funding, the government will focus on fixing the foundations of the nation’s flood defences and giving communities confidence that they will protect them.
This year, £36m is being spent to undertake urgent repairs to defences damaged in last winter’s extreme flooding events.
For the next year, a further £72m will go towards maintaining and repairing assets, including those damaged in recent flood events, to ensure they are as resilient as possible and operate as expected.
Today’s Floods Resilience Taskforce will be hosted by Flood Re, a joint initiative between the Government and insurers aimed at making the flood cover part of household insurance policies more affordable.
The expert group’s discussions will focus on the national and local response to this winter’s flooding. It will also discuss further the long-term delivery of the government’s flood resilience strategy and investment, including the planned review of the government’s funding formula for allocating money to flood and coastal erosion defence schemes.
