Concern over flood defences budget

31/01/12

By Dominic Rees

There are fears that more homes could be put at risk from flooding amid concerns over the amount of money available to maintain defences.

At the moment, flood damage is currently estimated to cost around £1.1 billion a year.

However, the costs are forecast to rise as the effects of climate change begin to have an impact, with warnings that the annual costs of flooding in England and Wales could increase to between £1.5 billion and £3.5 billion by the 2020s, and as much as £12 billion by the 2080s.

MPs on the Public Accounts Committee released a report expressing concern that amid the predictions of the rising cost of dealing with flood damage, the budget to help maintain and improve flood defences had shrunk by 10 per cent.

This is despite the Environment Agency stating that the budget would need to be increased by 9 per cent over the spending period concerned.

The MPs also warned that it was unclear "where the buck stops" for managing the risk of flooding, as the shared responsibility between the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Environment Agency and local bodies, meant Defra would not know when to step in to tackle potential problems.