Funding Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management (FCERM) maintenance: learning from existing and past practice

This project explored case studies of funding for flood defence maintenance in the UK and abroad, to inform the development of a Partnership Working approach.

Documents

Funding Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management (FCERM) maintenance: Learning from existing and past practice - technical report (1.1MB) PDF

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Details

Background

Government is keen to explore other options for increased collaboration in:

  • funding maintenance work
  • drawing in funding from non-government sources where appropriate
  • improving collaboration and partnership working between the Environment Agency and others with an interest in maintenance activities - farmers and landowners

Objectives

This project aimed to identify evidence to support the development of the Partnership Funding approach. It would explore policy options from both the UK and abroad through cases where different approaches to maintenance work have previously been tried.

Results

It found that there were no clear examples from abroad that provide readily usable solutions for the UK situation. The type of alternative approaches that have been identified by this study are more common in the UK than other countries with established flood risk management industries. This included elsewhere in western Europe, the U.S.A or Australia. It also noted a difference in attitudes from contributors between capital flood defence works and maintenance works. This made communications about the benefits of maintenance a particular challenge.

This project was started in 2013 and completed in 2014 at a cost of £36,970.

Updates to this page

Published 22 February 2021