HANSARDCommons09 Jun 20261 contribution

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

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Flood Risk Management in England

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Emma Hardy)
LabourKingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice
Investment programme performance in 2024-25 and 2025-26
Between April 2024 and March 2026, the Government invested £2.65 billion to construct new flood schemes and repair existing defences. This investment has made a significant contribution to improving flood resilience across the country.
Following a period of declining asset condition in previous years, this Government have acted to stabilise the condition of flood defence assets. When this Government took office, 92.1% of high consequence assets were at or above their required condition (Q2 2024-25). Thanks to the reprioritisation of £108 million into asset maintenance, this has increased to 93.0% by end of March 2026.
Over the last two years, Government investment has also enabled the completion of new flood defence schemes in every region of England. In total, nearly 62,000 properties have benefited from improved protection against flooding and coastal erosion—almost 10,000 more than the Environment Agency’s target.
Building on this progress, a new investment programme began on 1 April 2026, supported by the new funding rules the Government announced in October 2025. The reforms will make it quicker and easier to deliver the right flood defences in the right places by simplifying our funding rules. They will optimise funding between building new flood projects and maintaining existing defences and ensure that deprived communities continue to receive vital investment.
Targets for 2026-27
In the first year of the new programme, the Government will invest £1.4 billion, which will fund more than 600 projects across the country. This will contribute towards a target of 70,000 properties benefiting from flood risk management interventions by the end of March 2027. “Properties benefiting” is a new metric, replacing the previous “properties better protected”. It will count all properties benefiting from a reduction in flood and coastal erosion risk due to new flood interventions and prevention of risk increases due to maintenance of existing assets. Unlike the previous metric, it will allow us to capture the impact of a wider range of resilience measures, such as nature-based solutions, property flood resilience and sustainable drainage systems.
The Government will also continue to prioritise asset condition. The target for high consequence assets at or above required condition will increase from 92% in 2025-26 to 93.5% in 2026-27.
Investment in 2026-27 will also deliver significant environmental benefits. Projects funded this year are expected to create or improve approximately 800 hectares of habitat and enhance some 250 kilometres of rivers.
The programme will run for ten years to March 2036. During the first three years up to March 2029, the Government will invest £4.2 billion in capital and resource funding.

Flood Risk Management in England

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Emma Hardy)

LabourKingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice

Investment programme performance in 2024-25 and 2025-26

Between April 2024 and March 2026, the Government invested £2.65 billion to construct new flood schemes and repair existing defences. This investment has made a significant contribution to improving flood resilience across the country.

Following a period of declining asset condition in previous years, this Government have acted to stabilise the condition of flood defence assets. When this Government took office, 92.1% of high consequence assets were at or above their required condition (Q2 2024-25). Thanks to the reprioritisation of £108 million into asset maintenance, this has increased to 93.0% by end of March 2026.

Over the last two years, Government investment has also enabled the completion of new flood defence schemes in every region of England. In total, nearly 62,000 properties have benefited from improved protection against flooding and coastal erosion—almost 10,000 more than the Environment Agency’s target.

Building on this progress, a new investment programme began on 1 April 2026, supported by the new funding rules the Government announced in October 2025. The reforms will make it quicker and easier to deliver the right flood defences in the right places by simplifying our funding rules. They will optimise funding between building new flood projects and maintaining existing defences and ensure that deprived communities continue to receive vital investment.

Targets for 2026-27

In the first year of the new programme, the Government will invest £1.4 billion, which will fund more than 600 projects across the country. This will contribute towards a target of 70,000 properties benefiting from flood risk management interventions by the end of March 2027. “Properties benefiting” is a new metric, replacing the previous “properties better protected”. It will count all properties benefiting from a reduction in flood and coastal erosion risk due to new flood interventions and prevention of risk increases due to maintenance of existing assets. Unlike the previous metric, it will allow us to capture the impact of a wider range of resilience measures, such as nature-based solutions, property flood resilience and sustainable drainage systems.

The Government will also continue to prioritise asset condition. The target for high consequence assets at or above required condition will increase from 92% in 2025-26 to 93.5% in 2026-27.

Investment in 2026-27 will also deliver significant environmental benefits. Projects funded this year are expected to create or improve approximately 800 hectares of habitat and enhance some 250 kilometres of rivers.

The programme will run for ten years to March 2036. During the first three years up to March 2029, the Government will invest £4.2 billion in capital and resource funding.