Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
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Benn pledges £34 million to implement Pitt Review recommendations
Hilary Benn has today announced that at least £34.5 million of the £2.15bn total Government flood and coastal erosion spend over the next three years will be allocated to implement the final recommendations from Sir Michael Pitt's report on the summer floods.
Mr Benn also announced that the Environment Agency will receive £1.8 billion of this funding over the same period, 2008/09 to 2010/11. The Agency will be responsible for allocating this funding across all Operating Authorities (which includes local authorities, Internal Drainage Boards and the Agency itself) and overseeing the programme of works to deliver a range of tougher targets for new and improved defences and projects. These will help to ensure that more households and important wildlife sites are protected from the risks of flooding.
Of the total £1.8 billion, the Environment Agency will use £788 million to fund the operating costs of its flood risk management service, which includes the routine maintenance of defences and the flood warning service, over the same three year period.
Hilary Benn said:
"The devastation that was caused by the unprecedented level of rainfall this summer has shown us the awful and lasting impact flooding can have on communities.
"If we are to learn the lessons and reduce the impact of future flooding on this scale, we have much work to do. I have accepted the urgent recommendations outlined in Sir Michael Pitt's interim report, but there will be still more to consider when he publishes his final report, later on this year. This is why I have set aside an initial £34.5 million of funding, in anticipation of the work that his final recommendations may ask for."
Over £2.15 billion is planned to be invested by Government and local authorities in flood and coastal erosion management over the three years spending review period. As outlined in the Comprehensive Spending Review last October, spending will rise from its current level of £600m, to £650m in 2008-09, £700m in 2009-10 and £800 million in 2010-11.
Hilary Benn added:
"Government has a duty to ensure that these record levels of investment are being used to best effect, so that householders receive effective protection and tax payers receive good value for money.
"That's why we've set new targets, in partnership with the Environment Agency, to ensure our additional investment is delivering increased protection. Investment from the last spending review is set to deliver improved protection for more than 100,000 houses. With this year's increased funding the Environment Agency will be improving protection for at least 145,000 homes - 45,000 of which will be the most at risk households."
This investment for the next three years will be:
* At least £34.5 million will be dedicated to implementing the final recommendations from the Pitt report. This money will come from a total budget of £62.5 million retained for now by Defra to fund a range of work which includes helping communities adapt to the flood and costal erosion impact of climate change.
* A total of £1.8 billion is to be allocated to Operating Authorities over the three years to fund all the on-the-ground flood management work, which includes building and maintaining defences, monitoring, and flood forecasting and warning.
* We estimate that local authorities will spend around £260 million maintaining their own defences, as well as funding additional work by the Environment Agency and Internal Drainage Boards .
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. The Written Statement can be found at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/ministers/statements/default.asp
2. Hilary Benn announced on 9 October as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review that government spending would rise to at least £650/700/800 million. The table below shows a breakdown of spending now proposed (excluding Defra's own spend which is still being considered as part of the overall business planning round):
£ millions
Allocated to Total
Operating
Authorities
LA Own Retained EA Resource Capital
Spend (for now) (maintenance Programme(new &
(Estimated) in Defra & operational improved defences
costs) & projects)
2007/08 86 0 247 259 602
Baseline
2008/09 87 4 251 308 650
2009/10 87 20.5 258 334.5 700
2010/11 87 38 279 400 804
CSR 3 261 62.5 788 1,042.5 2,154
Year total
3. Defra funds almost all the Environment Agency's Flood Defence activity, and, through the Agency, local authorities and Internal Drainage Boards on a project by project basis for capital improvement works.
4. The new targets that the Environment Agency will oversee the delivery of are as follows:
Outcome Measure Definition Minimum Target
OM1 Economic Benefits Average benefit cost 5 to1 average
ratio across the capital with all projects
programme based upon the having a benefit
present value whole life cost ratio
costs and benefits of robustly greater
projects delivering in than 1
the CSR07 period.
OM2 Households Number of households 145,000
protected with improved standard households of
of protection against which 45,000 are
flooding or coastal at significant or
erosion risk. greater
probability
OM3 Deprived Number of households for 9,000 of the
households at risk which the probability of 45,000 households
flooding is reduced from above
significant or greater
through projects
benefiting the most
deprived 20% of areas.
OM4 Nationally Hectares of SSSI land 24,000 hectares
important wildlife where there is a
sites programme of measures in
place (agreed with
Natural England) to
reach target condition
by 2010.
OM5 UK Biodiversity Hectares of priority 800 hectares of
Action Plan habitats Biodiversity Action Plan which at least
habitat including 300 hectares
intertidal created by should be
March 2011. intertidal
5. Defra has policy responsibility for flood and coastal erosion risk management in England. Delivery on the ground is the responsibility of operating authorities.
6. Local authorities receive extra support from the Department for Communities and Local Government for levies paid to the Environment Agency and to internal drainage boards and for their own spend on maintenance and operation of defences.
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