Research and analysis

Flood and coastal erosion risk management: assessment of benefit of the 2015 to 2021 capital investment programme

Published 11 April 2022

Ministerial foreword

The winter of 2013 to 2014 was then the wettest on record with 11,000 homes and commercial properties flooded. There were particularly pronounced effects in the Thames Valley and West of England – including in my home county of Somerset where the Levels were submerged.

2019 to 2020 saw some parts of the country experience a month’s worth of rain in just 24 hours, as Storms Ciara and Dennis brought damage and disruption to Yorkshire and the Humber and the Midlands in particular.

Since I became Floods Minister, I have been struck by the commitment, hard work and generosity of spirit demonstrated by first responders and local communities in each flooding incident. As we reflect on the 2015 to 2021 capital programme, I am mindful that our £2.6 billion investment in nationwide flood defences has better-protected more than 314,000 properties. There is more to do, but it is important that we acknowledge how far we have come.

More than 850 flood defence projects were completed in this period, and this has better protected not only properties, but also 580,000 acres of agricultural land along with thousands of businesses, communities and major infrastructure. Amongst a wide variety of schemes we have pioneered work to support natural flood management and more resilient buildings.

Recent flooding events have been a stark reminder of the challenges that we face. With climate change bringing more extreme weather, we must redouble our efforts to build resilience against flooding. Our 2020 Policy Statement set out our plan to do so, and we have doubled our investment in flooding defences to £5.2 billion until 2027.

We are unlocking investment from water companies, boosting action to make our buildings more resilient to floods, and we are managing our river catchments in a holistic way, from source to sea. Our Nature for Climate Fund and our new environmental land management schemes are helping to harness the power of nature in the fight against flooding - from tree planting to the creation of habitats, slowing water flow and restoring peatlands to hold water. We will ensure that homes, businesses and local communities are better prepared – ensuring they have the information and advice they need.

We have come a long way since 2014 and as we seek to level up our country, we will continue to invest to better protect our communities – wherever they may be. Much has been achieved and we will continue to invest to better protect our communities, bringing multiple benefits as we level up all parts of the country.

Rebecca Pow MP
(Minister for Nature Recovery and the Domestic Environment)

Executive summary

Between April 2015 and March 2021 government invested £2.6 billion into its flood and coastal defence investment programme. At its conclusion, the Environment Agency and partners exceeded its target to better protect 300,000 homes. The programme has seen more than 850 flood defence projects delivered and has better protected more than 314,000 homes across England delivering on time and within budget and managing the impacts of significant winter storm events and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since 2014, we have prioritised spending money where it has most been needed, investing Flood Defence Grant in Aid to maximise the economic benefits and number of homes better protected and taking into consideration local choices and priorities. This is in line with Defra’s partnership funding policy. For example, Yorkshire has suffered devastating flooding events in recent years – with towns like Fishlake and Hebden Bridge understandably fearing a repeat of the devastation brought about in 2019.

In response to demonstrable need, since 2015, we have invested more in flooding defences for Yorkshire and the Humber than any other region, better protecting more than 83,000 properties.

Table 1: Defra Flood Defence Grant in Aid funding and homes better protected by Office for National Statistics (ONS) region 2015 to 2021.

ONS Region	Grant in Aid 2015 to 2021 (£ million)	Number of homes better protected (April 2015 to March 2021)
East Midlands	280	38,000
East of England	300	12,000
London	150	19,600
North East	75	6,500
North West	330	37,600
South East	430	80,600
South West	265	27,900
West Midlands	125	8,000
Yorkshire and the Humber	530	83,800

Introduction

Between 2015 and 2021 government invested £2.6 billion to reduce flood risk and better protect England from flooding. Capital investment into flood and coastal erosion risk management is crucial to achieve government’s long-term ambition to create a nation more resilient to future flood and coastal erosion risk.

This report sets out some of the key headlines and achievements of the 2015 to 2021 capital investment programme. This report also sets out how the outcomes of the investment programme which started in 2015, will inform future delivery of the new investment programme that started in 2021.

The 2015 to 2021 flood and coastal defence investment programme

Government investment between 2015 and 2021

In the 2014 investment plan: Reducing the risks of flooding and coastal erosion, government set out the rationale for the then £2.3 billion capital investment into new flood defences and what this aimed to achieve. The investment was necessary to:

• better protect homes, businesses and infrastructure at flood risk
• support economic growth through avoiding damages caused by flooding
• keep pace with increasing flood risk brought about by climate change
• maintain and restore existing flood defence assets

Throughout the programme, government provided additional Grant in Aid for flood defence schemes that met specific criteria, for example, where they would boost regeneration in more deprived communities. These additional investments are outlined in table 2 and brought the total investment to £2.6 billion.

Table 2: Summary of additional funding between 2015 and 2021 which will bring wider benefits to local communities.

Date	Additional funding	Purpose
2016	£173 million	Building flood defences in areas affected by December 2015 floods, protecting more than 7,400 properties. See the press release: £700m boost for flood defences brings £150m more for Yorkshire and Cumbria.
2016	£20 million	3 schemes benefited from £20 million allocated for new flood defence investment
2017	£15 million	To deliver schemes with natural flood management measures to further develop the evidence base on working with natural process to reduce flood risk
2018	£40 million	To boost local regeneration in deprived communities at high flood risk. See the press release: £40m extra funding to boost regeneration and better protect thousands of homes against flooding.
2018	£36 million	To build new flood schemes with £12 million allocated to Hull. See the press release: Flood scheme boost with £36m of funding.
2019	£62 million	13 flood defence projects boosting economic regeneration and increasing prosperity. Many located in communities that suffered from December 2015 winter flooding. See the press release: Government pledges £62m flood funding for communities in England.

Humber Hull Frontage - protecting homes, businesses and enhancing the local area to bring about economic and social benefits

The Humber Hull Frontage Scheme completed construction in March 2021. The scheme provides an example of successful partnership working as completion of the scheme was made possible by a £3 million contribution from Highways England along with £25 million of Grant in Aid funding.

It not only better protected 28,364 homes, but also better protected over 4,000 commercial properties, a nationally important port and transport hub and over 200 listed buildings and two conservation areas.

The image shows a section of the Humber estuary, showing the Hull frontage flood defence improvements. Picture by Andy Vipas.

The scheme also created improvements to the Trans Pennine trail and enhanced the landscape at St Andrew Quay and Victoria Dock Village.

Investing in schemes not only focusses on protecting properties from flooding, but also provides a range of wider benefits. In this case, enhancing areas that local communities can enjoy, increasing tourism, providing increased job security by protecting the places people work and preserving historical places.

Better protecting homes, providing security and peace of mind for communities

Government set the target to better protect 300,000 homes as part of the 2015 to 2021 capital investment programme. The programme exceeded this target and ultimately better protected over 314,000 homes, estimated to reduce flood risk by 5%, following the construction of more than 850 new flood and coastal erosion schemes in the period April 2015 to March 2021.

Chart 1: delivering the better protected homes target between 2015 and 2021.

Year	Number of homes better protected
2015 to 2016	54,400
2016 to 2017	42,500
2017 to 2018	45,800
2018 to 2019	50,700
2019 to 2020	48,600
2020 to 2021	72,000

What does it mean to “reduce flood risk”?

We use annual expected damages avoided as a proxy to indicate flood risk reduction, by assessing how these expected damages have been reduced as a result of investment.

Better protecting over 314,000 homes from flooding and coastal erosion has reduced the expected annual damages caused by flooding to properties in England by 5%. As a result, it is estimated that this investment has reduced the nation’s flood risk by 5%.

Further work is underway to update our methodologies for collecting information and reporting on change in flood risk.

Defra invests Grant in Aid wherever flood risk is highest across the country and where it will benefit the most people and property, using a consistent set of criteria to fund schemes proposed by all Risk Management Authorities (RMAs). This approach is set out in the government’s Partnership Funding Policy. Investment in the 2015 to 2021 programme has benefitted all regions of England as seen in the figure below and table 3.

Figure: A map showing the Defra Flood Defence Grant in Aid funding by Office for National Statistics (ONS) region 2015 to 2021. The same data is also shown in table 3.

Table 3: Defra Flood Defence Grant in Aid funding by Office for National Statistics (ONS) region 2015 to 2021.

ONS Region	Grant in Aid 2015 to 2021 (£ million)
East Midlands	280
East of England	300
London	150
North East	75
North West	330
South East	430
South West	265
West Midlands	125
Yorkshire and the Humber	530
Cross Region and National	195

Some Grant in Aid funding invests in activities that support integral services at a national level. For example, there is ongoing work on the National Flood Risk Assessment 2 (NaFRA2) to develop the system that underpins national-scale flood analysis in England. There are also certain projects or schemes that cross several regional boundaries (coastal monitoring for example) and these are categorised as cross regional investments.

We are already seeing a positive impact to communities and businesses from managing flood risk. In January 2021, Storm Christoph sadly saw around 700 residential and non-residential properties flooded across England. However, as a result of the work undertaken by the Environment Agency and other RMAs to increase the country’s flood resilience, the network of flood defences protected a further 49,000 properties that may otherwise have also experienced the damaging effects of flooding.

Providing benefits to all

The government also pay more funding to recognise local deprivation, with new flood schemes that better protect homes in the 20% most deprived parts of the country continuing to qualify for funding at 2.25 times the rate than that available to schemes in less deprived areas.

In 2018, £40 million of funding was announced that aimed to boost local regeneration in deprived communities at high flood risk (table 2). This funding was invested across the country from Cornwall to Northumberland. Rochdale and Littleborough received £5 million of this funding for the River Roch Flood Alleviation scheme. Rochdale and Littleborough in Greater Manchester were badly flooded on Boxing Day in 2015 during Storm Eva. This scheme is a £56 million project to better protect 800 properties.

Table 4: Over 46,000 homes in the most deprived areas of the country were better protected from April 2015 to March 2021 (designated by the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2019).

ONS Region	Number of homes in the 20% most deprived areas better protected from flooding or coastal erosion (April 2015 to March 2021)
East Midlands	8,800
East of England	2,300
London	7,700
North East	1,400
North West	12,800
South East	500
South West	300
West Midlands	1,100
Yorkshire and the Humber	11,600
Total	46,500

Not all homes can be protected through community level flood defence schemes, and even where present, these can be overtopped by severe flooding. That is why the 2015 to 2021 investment programme also invested in other flood and coastal risk management activities that could work to reduce flood risk in combination with traditional flood and coastal defences, including natural flood management schemes and Property Flood Resilience (PFR).

PFR can help to reduce the flood damages experienced by property owners, occupiers and businesses^{[footnote 1]} and enable faster recovery in local communities. Flood defence grant in aid can, in certain circumstances, be used for resistance measures through wider flood alleviation approaches – such as temporary flood doors or gates fitted to a property’s external doors. See the case study about better protecting homes through Property Flood Resilience (PFR).

The last 6 year flood and coastal erosion risk management investment programme (2015 to 2021) included more than 80 property flood resilience schemes. These schemes better protected over 1,700 homes.  

Case study: Better protecting homes through Property Flood Resilience (PFR)

The Environment Agency, Kent County Council and Maidstone Borough Council have worked in partnership to deliver the Middle Medway flood resilience scheme. The scheme aims to reduce flood risk to homes at ‘very significant risk’.

The scheme was completed in November 2020 and in total, the Environment Agency has installed PFR measures to 286 homes across the middle Medway villages. The scheme started in 2017 with surveys of over 460 properties to identify which properties were suitable for PFR measures. These measures included flood doors, flood gates and air brick covers.

The scheme has cost £1.8 million and up to £7,500 per property came from government Grant in Aid. The Southern Regional Flood and Coastal Committee also provided an extra £195,000 to the project.

The image shows a house with metal flood barriers in the front. These help to reduce the risk of flooding to individual properties.

Providing wider benefits to the economy, businesses and infrastructure

In addition to directly better protecting homes from flooding, the programme also provided increased resilience and wider benefits to businesses, infrastructure and the environment. Table 5 outlines the range of benefits that have qualified for Grant in Aid under the Partnership Funding policy.

The majority of this investment was allocated based on the overall economic benefits that flood schemes can provide. These included better protecting properties, minimising disruption to major infrastructure sites and utilities, and reducing risks to civic buildings, education facilities and the public realm. Schemes also managed risks for agriculture, as well as reducing stress and health impacts through benefitting communities and environmental improvements.

Table 5: Defra Grant in Aid (GiA) awarded per category under the Partnership Funding policy^{[footnote 2]}.

Benefits	Defra GiA (£ million)	Proportion	Description
Wider economic benefits	1,270	55%	Economic benefits to businesses, agriculture, public services, health.
Benefits to households at risk of flooding	850	37%	Benefits to households moved out of any flood probability category to a lower category.
Benefits to households at risk of coastal erosion	140	6%	Benefits to households better protected from coastal erosion.
Statutory environmental obligations	50	2%	Habitat created or improved to help meet statutory environmental obligations.

The amount of Defra flood defence Grant in Aid a project can claim is based on the extent to which it can achieve specific benefits and outcomes and these are set out in the Partnership Funding Policy.

Avoiding economic damages and benefitting wider infrastructure

Damages caused by flooding can have significant impacts on the economy, this programme has helped to avoid some of those costs through providing better protection to homes, businesses, infrastructure and the environment.

Each flood scheme is made up of a collection of larger and smaller scale benefits. In 2014 we estimated that this programme could avoid in the region of £30 billion in economic damages. It is not cost effective to calculate and record every smaller scale wider benefit a flood scheme brings when appraising a scheme. However overall early analysis suggests that the programme saved the economy more than £28 billion in damages over the lifetime of defence assets. It is likely the full benefits are higher than this, for the reason given above.

Other wider benefits of the investment programme have also included:

• 580,000 acres of agricultural land in areas that benefitted from improvement schemes
• 350 miles of railway in areas that benefitted from improvement schemes
• more than 5,000 miles of roads that benefitted from improvement schemes

Providing value for money

Overall, the 2015 to 2021 programme represents excellent value for money, with every £1 invested in new flood schemes resulting in around £8 of return benefits.

Case study: Boston Barrier flood gate, part of the Boston Barrier Flood Scheme

Boston in Lincolnshire lies entirely within a floodplain and the town is at risk from multiple flood risk sources including tidal surges. It was flooded in 1953, 1978 and December 2013 when more than 800 properties were flooded.

The image shows the Boston Barrier gate. It can be raised in just 20 minutes, increasing the level of flood protection to over 13,000 homes and businesses in the town.

The Boston Barrier flood gate was completed in 2020. As the centrepiece of the Boston Barrier Flood Scheme, the barrier gate can be raised in just 20 minutes, responding quickly to threats of North Sea tidal surges. It was closed against high tides for the first time on 7 November 2021 and it reduced the risk of flooding to more than 13,000 homes and 800 businesses in the area.

The scheme provides the best standards of defence outside London, generating an estimated £1 billion of economic benefits to Boston town and the surrounding area by encouraging investment and improving resilience and well-being.

Partnership Funding contributions also enabled government investment to go even further. Defra undertook a major independent evaluation of the Partnership Funding policy in 2018, which was published in May 2019. The evaluation found that the Partnership Funding approach was generally successful in meeting its policy objectives, having enabled more schemes to be delivered than would have been possible under the previous approach of government only funding. By the end of the 2015 to 2021 programme, over £600 million of additional public and private sector contributions had been secured, allowing more schemes to be delivered.

The investment programme also realised £296.5 million of efficiency savings, exceeding the programme target of at least 10% (£268.7 million). These savings were reinvested back into the programme, allowing more schemes to progress and more communities to be better protected. Areas of efficiencies included:

• innovation and ensuring costs provide the best value for money (for example, Great Yarmouth Flood Defences used a new method to target and replace only corroded sections of sheet piling. Morecambe Wave Reflection Wall Replacement scheme used precast concrete elements which reduced construction time and carbon)
• packaging schemes together (for example, batching several individual projects together in a single contract where they are situated close together and involve similar types of work to reduce project cost)
• bulk buying to enable cost savings
• generating efficiencies through the contracting approach (by using different contract methods to gain greater value and risk sharing from the supply chain)

One of the key drivers that enabled these considerable efficiency savings was the long-term nature of the 2015 to 2021 investment programme. The investment programme was delivered over a 6 year period, and this allowed for a step change in project delivery efficiencies through increased certainty and transparency in the future pipeline of flood and coastal defence projects.

Environmental benefits and harnessing the power of nature

Many of the schemes across the programme looked to enhance or provide additional environmental benefits including improving access to rivers, wildlife sites and the creation of new green spaces. Between 2015 and 2021, approximately 5000 hectares of natural habitat was created or improved and approximately 700 kilometres of rivers enhanced.

Case study: Port Clarence and Greatham South Flood Alleviation Scheme, a sustainable future for the Tees Estuary

The Port Clarence and Greatham South project has increased flood protection to Port Clarence residents from the River Tees and Greatham Creek, whilst also creating new habitat the size of over 90 football pitches for local wildlife. The port is the third largest in the UK, contributing £2.5 billion to the UK economy.

The Environment Agency joined forces with local industry to build the scheme with multinational company SABIC UK contributing some of the funding and INOVYN ChlorVinyls offering land to allow the creation of the new habitat. The scheme received a total of £11.6 million Grant in Aid funding and more than £3.8 million of partnership funding contributions.

Throughout the project the Environment Agency worked closely with the RSPB and Natural England to create a scheme which maximised benefits for the internationally designated habitat which includes rare birds as well as seals. The new habitats feature a new bird hide and seal hide that give a close-up view of these stunning local species.

Combined with flood defences that were completed at Port Clarence in 2015, the project reduces the risk of flooding to 350 homes and 32 businesses in Port Clarence and the Seal Sands Industrial Complex.

In 2017, the government announced £15 million for a natural flood management programme. The aim of this pilot programme was to help us to better understand the role that natural flood management can play in complementing conventional flood or sea defences to enhance flood and coastal resilience.

The funding was split between a £14 million natural flood management programme of catchment-wide interventions and a £1 million government funded open competition resulting in 34 community led projects.

The programme funded 24 catchment scale projects led by flood RMAs and 32 community scale projects led by community groups, environmental NGOs and charities. In November 2021, the Environment Agency published a report explaining the benefits provided by the Natural Flood Management programme and they will publish a full peer reviewed evaluation report in 2022.

Continuous improvement

The 2015 to 2021 flood and coastal erosion capital investment programme was the largest and most ambitious programme of its kind in England. It exceeded its headline target by better protecting more than 314,000 homes, infrastructure (including 350 miles of railway and more than 5,000 miles of roads) and 580,000 acres of agricultural land providing excellent value for money.

In 2021 government increased its investment to a record £5.2 billion for a new six year investment programme. This presents new challenges, and we will continue to seek ways to improve how the programme operates and to make sure we are targeting resources effectively, including reviewing how we calculate net flood risk reduction to further enhance assessing the impact of investment.

The Partnership Funding approach demonstrated that more schemes could be delivered through securing more than £600 million in additional public and private sector investments. We are reviewing and refining this approach even further to ensure it is as effective as it can be. New amendments (summarised in the section ‘Continuous improvement’) have been applied to the Partnership Funding rules from April 2021.

Moving forward, government is currently exploring whether any specific changes should be made to strengthen the assessment of local circumstances in the new investment programme. A call for evidence launched in 2021 explored a range of factors including a specific focus on communities that have been frequently flooded in the past, communities that are more economically vulnerable, smaller communities, and communities in need of greater property-level measures to resist flood water. Defra is also engaging with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) to ensure future developments are mindful of their impact on floods.

The government is considering changes to provide further protection for communities that have been flooded frequently in the past. Any changes that arise from this will be applied to and shape the 2021 to 2027 investment programme.

April 2020 amendments to the partnership funding rules.

1. Updated payment rates to account for inflation and impacts of flooding including on mental health and wellbeing.
2. Increased payments for environmental benefits to capture more fully the wider environmental benefits delivered by flood and coastal defence projects and to help support nature-based solutions.
3. More funding for flood schemes which also better protect properties that will later become at risk of flooding due to climate change.
4. Amended flood risk bands for qualifying schemes to add a new intermediate risk band between high and medium risk. This will mean more schemes that reduce surface water flood risk are likely to receive government funding in the future.

We have developed a suite of internal Key Performance Indicators to monitor delivery of the 2021 to 2027 capital infrastructure programme. The KPIs will track the programme’s outcomes and benefits, expenditure, asset condition, asset maintenance and programme delivery risks. The Environment Agency will report on the number of properties better protected and Environment Agency asset condition targets through its published annual reports and accounts. See Environment Agency annual reports and accounts.

We are also looking to enhance environmental benefits and increase the number of schemes that incorporate natural flood management by protecting, restoring and emulating the natural processes of catchments, rivers, floodplains and coasts. Harnessing the power of nature is part of the solution to addressing flood and coastal erosion risk and has an important link to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change. We have committed to doubling the number of government funded projects which include nature-based solutions to reduce flood and coastal erosion risk. Metrics focussed on the environmental benefits of the programme include:

• the number of schemes involving natural flood management
• value of Grant in Aid investment on natural flood management elements within schemes
• the hectares of habitat created or improved
• the kilometres of river enhanced or improved by flood scheme

Conclusion

Risk Management Authorities (RMAs) including the Environment Agency and supply partners have successfully better protected more than 314,000 properties from flooding and coastal erosion, exceeding the 300,000 headline target of this investment programme, which was delivered on time and to budget. The programme was an excellent example of partnership working between RMAs, and the Environment Agency, with RMAs responsible for delivering schemes that better protected over 100,000 homes.

Alongside delivering on its headline target, the £2.6 billion programme delivered wider benefits to the environment, enhanced local areas to benefit local communities, better protected nationally important infrastructure and contributed to economic recovery, particularly important as we continue to recover from the impact of COVID-19.

This achievement was made possible by the Environment Agency working in partnership with other RMAs to complete around 850 flood defence schemes. RMAs include Lead Local Flood Authorities and led on 33% of the flood defence projects in the 6 year programme.

Regional Flood and Coastal Committees include representatives from Lead Local Flood Authorities and independent members with relevant local experience such as farmers and landowners. They also played a vital role helping the Environment Agency and partners better understand local flood risk issues, balance local priorities and consent to the local programme of flood defence and coastal erosion schemes each year.

Moving forward to build on the success of the 2015 to 2021 investment programme, government has doubled the investment from 2021 to £5.2 billion. This record investment will better protect 336,000 properties, drive down flood risk and help to avoid £32 billion of wider economic damages along with a range of other benefits for local communities and the environment.

1. Note that whilst PFR can benefit households and businesses, grant in aid is limited to PFR measures in households. ↩

2. This breakdown excludes the additional £346 million of funding outlined in table 1. ↩