Flood and coastal erosion risk management report: 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024

Question 1

1. Executive summary

Accepted Answer

This year (April 2023 to March 2024) has seen wet, windy and stormy weather across the country. The country has experienced 13 named storms, compared to just 1 in 2022 to 2023 and 7 in 2021 to 2022.

Overall, England has experienced in wettest 18-month period since records began in 1836. Met office figures show that just under 1,700 mm of rain fell from October 2022 to March 2024.

While flood defences across the country have protected nearly 250,000 properties, this weather has unfortunately resulted in more than 5,000 properties flooding. This flooding was mainly due to storms Babet, Ciaran, Henk and Gerrit.

Throughout the year, we have continued working with partners to better protect a further 29,000 properties from flooding and coastal erosion. This means that since April 2021 over 88,000 properties have benefited from better protection.

We have also continued to carry out the practical actions set out in the flood and coastal erosion risk management (FCERM) strategy roadmap. These actions will help us achieve the ambitions in the FCERM strategy. They recognise the importance of resilience, adaptation to flooding and working with natural processes to reduce risk.

Natural flood management (NFM) reduces local flood risk while at the same time improving habitats and biodiversity. The £25 million NFM programme that we launched in September is our single biggest investment in NFM. What we learn from this programme will help us mainstream NFM.

We have refreshed all the Shoreline Management Plans (SMPs) around England, in collaboration with coastal groups. These set out a range of management approaches for our coastline looking out to the end of century and beyond.

We have also developed the SMP Explorer, a new map-based digital tool. This makes SMPs easier to access, understand and use for policy makers and practitioners.

We are also taking a more active strategic leadership role to help support and enable others to plan for and adapt to surface water flood risks. We recognise that we are uniquely placed to bring together those working surface water flood risk management to share good practice and promote innovation.

This year’s storms have also had significant impacts on farmers and agricultural land around the country. We have worked with government to provide expert advice to help inform several initiatives this year, including:

sustainable farming incentive
countryside stewardship
landscape recovery
catchment sensitive farming programme

Many of these initiatives work with natural processes to benefit farmers and land managers. They also help to enhance the flood resilience of rural communities.

Question 2

2. The year in context

Accepted Answer

This section describes:

significant flooding and coastal events
progress against strategic plans
government policy announcements

2.1 Flooding between April 2023 and March 2024

2.1.1 Storm Babet – 18 to 21 October 2023

Storm Babet caused severe and widespread disruption across much of the country. Heavy, persistent and widespread rain affected much of the country, with 100mm falling fairly widely. Overall, this was the third-wettest independent 3-day period for England and Wales since 1891.

The extensive flooding resulted in more than 750 flood warnings and alerts being issued. This included 5 severe warnings in the areas at highest risk.

We also deployed:

more than a kilometre of demountable barriers
700m of temporary barriers
high volume pumps and smaller pumps to remove water from flooded areas

Over 5,000 properties flooded from Storm Babet while flood defences protected around 97,000. Sadly, 7 people were reported to have died because of the storm.

Our flood digital services recorded some of their busiest periods ever:

the Flood Warning System (FWS) recorded its busiest day ever - more than 5,500 new users registered for warnings and almost 400,000 messages were sent in a single day
overall the FWS sent almost 800,000 messages over the course of the storm
Floodline received over 1800 calls on one day – the highest daily number since December 2015
check for flooding logged over 2 million visitors

2.1.2 Storm Ciarán – 1 to 3 November 2023

Storm Ciarán was an exceptionally severe storm for the time of year, with very high winds and significant rainfall. This rainfall made existing flooding problems worse and caused many rivers to overtop their banks. Plymouth recorded the lowest atmospheric pressure for November on record, at 953.3 hPa.

Storm Ciarán caused major disruption across the south of England:

the port of Dover was temporarily closed
ferry services were cancelled
flights and rail services were cancelled
hundreds of schools were shut
almost 150,000 homes were left without power

Large waves affected the South Coast and a major incident was declared in Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight.

Around 300 properties flooded because of Storm Ciarán. Nearly 43,000 properties were protected by existing flood defences.

We carried out a range of activities to reduce the impact of the storm, including:

installing temporary flood barriers in Exeter as part of the Exeter flood defence scheme
operating flood gates
replacing demountable barrier beams at Bewdley, Worcestershire
using specialist equipment to check flow rates of the River Wey in Surrey

2.1.3 Storm Gerrit (27 to 28 December 2023) and Storm Henk (2 January 2024)

Storms Gerrit and Henk were the 7th and 8th named storms of the 2023 to 2024 season. Together, they brought heavy rainfall and high winds to most parts of England. Parts of the country had a month’s worth of rain in the first 4 days of January. Several river systems saw record levels or close to record levels, including:

Trent
Thames
Severn
Avon

This rainfall fell on already saturated catchments causing flooding which affected around 2,500 properties. Flood defences protected around 102,000 properties across the country.

Several major incidents were declared including in Nottingham due to flooding on the River Trent. The River Trent recorded some of its highest levels in over 20 years.

We carried out a range of activities to manage the impacts of the flooding including:

pumping water away from affected areas in Nottinghamshire and Berkshire
deploying demountable defences along the River Severn in Bewdley

These winter storms caused significant impacts to farmland and farming business across the country. As a result, the farming recovery fund was activated for eligible areas.

The number of properties flooded reflects the latest information as of April 2024. The numbers may change as we gather more data.

2.1.3 Recovery activities

Following flooding incidents, we carry out a range of recovery activities. These include:

reviews of flood forecasting and warning
inspecting assets
gathering learning from events
reviewing health, safety and wellbeing

The information we collect helps us improve how we respond to flood events in the future.

As of May 2024, we have completed over 68,000 inspections of assets affected by this year’s storms. These inspections have identified around 1,800 damaged assets. Of these 1,400 are in Environment Agency high consequence systems. There were at least 13 breaches to flood embankments directly impacting farmland and nearby infrastructure.

We closely monitor any damaged defences and put in place mitigation measures. We also carry out any necessary urgent or emergency repairs.

2.1.4 Record of past flood events

Table 1: previous flood events, properties flooded and properties protected since 2020.

Date	Flood event	Properties flooded	Properties protected
February 2020	Storm Ciara	1,350	23,000
February 2020	Storm Dennis	1,570	25,000
February 2020	Late February	520	36,000
December 2020	Storm Bella and heavy rain in Buckingham, Newport Pagnell, Northampton, Rugby	400	9,000
January 2021	Storm Christoph	680	49,000
February 2022	Storm Dudley, Eunice, Franklin	370	35,000
January 2023	Midlands and South West	170	5,500
October and November 2023	Storm Babet & Ciaran	5,600	140,000
January 2024	Storms Henk and Gerrick	2,500	102,000

2.2 National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy for England

The FWMA states that we must develop, apply, maintain, and monitor a strategy for FCERM in England. The current FCERM Strategy was adopted by Parliament and published on 25 September 2020.

The FCERM Strategy:

contributes to our strategic overview role of all FCERM activities
is a statutory framework to guide those involved in FCERM to achieve its ambitions on the ground

All RMAs have a duty to act consistently with the FCERM Strategy when carrying out their FCERM roles.

The FCERM Strategy’s long-term vision is for a nation ready for, and resilient to, flooding and coastal change – today, tomorrow and to the year 2100.

It has 3 ambitions:

climate resilient places
today’s growth and infrastructure resilient in tomorrow’s climate
a nation ready to respond and adapt to flooding and coastal change

The 3 ambitions consist of 21 strategic objectives covering the next 10 to 30 years. The FCERM Strategy also contains 56 shorter term measures. These explain the immediate activities RMAs will take to achieve each objective.

2.2.1 Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy Roadmap to 2026

On 7 June 2022, we published the FCERM strategy roadmap to 2026. This sets out the practical actions we will take to achieve the ambitions in the FCERM Strategy.

These actions will:

help us tackle the growing threat of flooding from rivers, the sea, and surface water as well as coastal erosion
provide a range of benefits, including local nature recovery, carbon reduction, improved water quality and more integrated water management – this will help with both flood and drought resilience

We developed the Roadmap in collaboration with 31 partners across multiple sectors.

This year we have completed several important actions that contribute towards achieving the FCERM Strategy ambitions. These achievements are described in more detail later in this report.

Climate resilient places

This year, we have:

worked with coastal groups to refresh the SMPs, as well as reviewing the associated action plans and priorities
published the SMP Explorer, which is an online map-based tool for SMP information
invested £25 million in 40 natural flood management projects which use nature to increase the nation’s flood resilience
expanded the Coastal Transition Accelerator Programme to include projects in Bude, Charmouth and Swanage – these help vulnerable communities explore innovative approaches to adapt to the effects of coastal erosion
reviewed and updated the Thames Estuary 2100 Plan – this ensures that the Thames estuary remains resilient to a changing climate

Today’s growth and infrastructure resilient in tomorrow’s climate

This year, we have:

supported the development of skills and capabilities of local planners – this will make sure new developments are resilient to flooding and coastal change and encourages environmental net gain
published a streamlined approach to developing and funding business cases for Property Flood Resilience (PFR) projects which will enable more PFR projects to be completed
launched a new framework of suppliers for PFR which will result in a higher standard of PFR product and installation
launched new biodiversity net gain guidance for capital projects which will help projects achieve biodiversity net gain and encourage other environmental benefits

A nation ready to respond and adapt to flooding and coastal change.

This year we:

worked with partners and the insurance industry to review the recovery phase from a broad selection of historic major flood events and learn from other major civil emergencies
led conversations with local resilience forums (LRFs) on the role of the third sector in responding to significant flood incidents across the country

LRFs are multi-agency partnerships made up of representatives from the emergency services, local authorities, NHS, Environment Agency and others.

2.3 Changes to government policy and announcements

The FCERM Strategy calls for the nation to embrace a broad range of resilience actions to better protect and prepare against flooding and coastal change.

Several important actions were achieved this year.

Property flood resilience repair grant scheme

The PFR repair grant scheme was activated twice this year for both Storm Babet and Storm Henk. The scheme lets eligible flood-hit property owners apply for up to £5,000 to help make their homes and businesses more resilient to future flooding.

Farming recovery fund

The farming recovery fund allows farmers who have suffered uninsurable damage to their land to apply for grants of up to £25,000. This money helps farmers with repair and reinstatement costs to return their land to the condition it was in before exceptional flooding. The fund was activated this year for eligible areas affected by Storm Henk.

These areas included:

Gloucestershire
Leicestershire
Lincolnshire
Nottinghamshire
Somerset
Warwickshire
West Northamptonshire
Wiltshire
Worcestershire

Frequently flooded allowance

In April 2023, the first 53 communities in England to benefit from the £100 million frequently flooded allowance were announced. These communities have been allocated a total of £48 million, better protecting more than 2,300 households and businesses.

Coastal transition accelerator programme

In September 2023, 3 further communities joined the Coastal Transition Accelerator Programme. These are:

Bude
Charmouth
Swanage

Together, they will share £6 million to support adaptation to coastal erosion. This is in addition to North Norfolk and East Riding of Yorkshire previously announced.

The programme is exploring how best to support communities most affected by coastal erosion to plan for the long term. This includes through interventions such as improving and replacing damaged community infrastructure like beach access or coastal transport links.

We will share lessons from this programme to help other coastal communities and risk management authorities to prepare for a changing coastline.

National Audit Office and Public Accounts Committee reports

The National Audit Office (NAO) report on value for money in FCRM was published on 15 November 2023.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) met on 27 November 2023 to discuss the findings from the NAO report and other issues related to flood risk.

On 17 January 2024 the PAC published their report on the inquiry into resilience to flooding.

The previous government’s response to the Committee’s report was published on 31 March 2024.

Defra are working with the Environment Agency to develop a methodology for measuring and reporting ‘net’ change in flood risk at a national level. The new National Flood Risk Assessment (NaFRA2) will introduce this capability. It will establish a new risk baseline against which change can be measured. The Environment Agency expects to be able to report “net” change in risk from 2025 onwards. This is in line with the timescales agreed with the National Audit Office following their 2020 report Managing Flood Risk.

Natural flood management programme

In February 2024 the Environment Agency announced the 40 projects that will benefit from the £25 million Natural Flood Management Programme. These projects will use natural processes such as planting trees and creating wetlands to slow and store water and dissipate wave energy. This helps reduce the risk of flooding.

Flood risk indicators

The Environment Agency will report on a national set of indicators to monitor long term trends over time in tackling flood and coastal erosion in England.

These indicators cover all sources of flood risk and will provide an improved understanding of progress to create a more resilient nation.

The indicators are:

properties better protected from flooding through defences
asset condition
planning applications granted against flood risk advice
availability and take up of flood warnings

The Environment Agency will report against these indicators annually through this report.

Question 3

3. Current risk and investment

Accepted Answer

This section provides information on flood risk, investment and partnership working.

3.1 Properties in areas at risk of flooding

Overall, around 5.5 million homes and businesses in England are at risk from flooding. That risk can be from one or a combination of sources including:

rivers
the sea
rising groundwater
surface water
overwhelmed drains and sewers

Some properties are at risk from more than one source of flooding.

Table 2: properties in areas at risk of flooding from rivers and the sea (as of December 2023), and from surface water as of (as of January 2024).

Level of risk	Annual likelihood of flooding (percentage)	Total number of properties in areas at risk of flooding from rivers and the sea	Number of residential properties in areas at risk of flooding from rivers and the sea	Total number of properties in areas at risk of flooding from surface water	Number of residential properties in areas at risk of flooding from surface water
High	Greater than 3.3%	196,100	122,700	344,100	272,300
Medium	3.3% – 1%	623,800	454,900	504000	416,900
Low	1% – 0.1%	1,069,500	851,700	2,370,700	1,985,500
Very low	Less than 0.1%	717,300	612,800	Not assessed	Not assessed
Total		2,606,600	2,042,000	3,218,900	2,674,600

We have paused the updating of our national modelled flood risk products at present. This is because we are developing a new National Flood Risk Assessment (NaFRA2), which is a significant update to our approach to mapping and modelling of flood risk.

Due to the complexity and nature of groundwater flooding, we are not able to assign a likelihood to it.

3.1.1 Changes in properties in areas at risk from flooding and coastal erosion

The numbers of properties in areas at risk from flooding and coastal erosion change over time. This is shown in table 3.

This is due to factors including:

changes in land use
changes to the natural environment
the increasing impacts of climate change
investment in building and maintaining flood and sea defences
ageing defences that require maintenance or replacement

All these factors will influence the total number of properties at risk of flooding in any given year and in any given location.

Table 3: properties in areas at risk of flooding by source each year from 1 April to 31 March from 2019 to 2024

Source of flooding	Number of properties in areas at risk 2019 to 2020	Number of properties in areas at risk 2020 to 2021	Number of properties in areas at risk 2021 to 2022	Number of properties in areas at risk 2022 to 2023	Number of properties in areas at risk 2023 to 2024
Rivers and the sea	2.5 million	2.5 million	2.5 million	2.8 million	2.6 million
Rivers and the sea at high or medium risk	852,000	846,000	822,000	900,000	819,900
Surface water	3.2 million	3.2 million	3.2 million	3.4 million	3.2 million
Groundwater	122,000 – 290,000	122,000 – 290,000	122,000 – 290,000	122,000 – 290,000	122,000 – 290,000

We continue to update our underlying property information. We updated and improved our national receptor dataset (NRD) in August 2023.

These improvements include:

better identification of ancillary buildings, for example outbuildings - these were previously counted as separate properties but are now included with main buildings where appropriate
better identification of properties in shared buildings, for example residential flats
a large reduction in properties which we previously couldn’t classify and which when classified are not relevant to flood risk, for example covered walkways

This improved information means that overall, the number of properties identified as being at risk has decreased since last year.

This does not reflect a decrease in risk, but rather a better understanding of the level of risk. This change can be seen in the 2023 to 2024 risk values in table 3.

Table 3 shows that:

2.6m properties are at risk of flooding from rivers and the sea
3.2m properties are in areas at risk of surface water flooding

Some properties are at risk from flooding from multiple sources. For example, around 642,000 properties are at risk from flooding from rivers, the sea, and surface water.

In addition, between 122,000 and 290,000 properties are estimated to be in areas at risk of groundwater flooding. This may include properties also in areas at risk of surface water flooding.

Overall, this means around 5.5 million homes and businesses in England are at risk from flooding.

We assess risk using flood modelling and mapping to understand the likelihood of flooding at national and local levels. We developed our current National Flood Risk Assessment (NaFRA) in the early 2000s. It provides risk information on flooding from rivers and the sea.

We are developing a new National Flood Risk Assessment (NaFRA2).

We will publish a ‘National assessment of flood and coastal erosion risk in England 2024’ report in December 2024. This will use our new NaFRA2 data and our updated National Coastal Erosion Risk Map (NCERM).

Following this we expect to publish the new NaFRA2 data in early 2025.

3.2 Investment in FCERM

The finance figures included in this report may change subject to the completion of the NAO audit of the Environment Agency’s Annual Report and Accounts. This is due in October 2024. We will update the report once the audit has finished.

The current 6-year programme of FCERM projects runs from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2027. April 2023 to March 2024 is the third year of this programme.

This year 28,920 properties have benefited from better protection from flooding and coastal erosion. Within this total, other RMAs have carried out works that better protect 10,650 properties.

Over 88,000 properties have benefited from better protection since April 2021.

Between April 2023 and March 2024, government invested £864 million of capital funding in FCERM.

This includes spend on:

projects in 2023 to 2024 that better protect properties
the development of future projects
the flood and coastal resilience innovation programme

This means you should not directly compare overall spend with the number of properties protected in the same year.

Of this £864 million, £119 million was spent by other RMAs on FCERM projects. Other RMAs have also spent £11 million of local levy funding. Local levy funding is spent on local priority flood and coastal erosion projects. It is managed by RFCCs.

Funding for FCERM projects is allocated through the application of government’s partnership funding policy.

We review the programme of FCERM projects each year to make sure that we:

get the best value for money
better protect as many properties as possible
invest in priority areas where the risk is highest

Table 4: FCERM capital investment from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024

Type of funding	Investment (£ millions)
Central government	864
Local levy (EA & other RMA)	31
Funding from other sources	23

Government funding is used to reduce flood and coastal erosion risk across all regions of the country. We do not have any regional investment targets. All schemes are carefully assessed to make sure they benefit the most people and property.

Table 5: government investment and properties protected in FCERM by Environment Agency area from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 in £ millions

EA Area	2023 to 2024 (£ millions)	Properties better protected
East Midlands	26	140
West Midlands	37	3,220
Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire	73	3,290
East Anglia	93	830
Northeast	25	400
Yorkshire	70	1,880
Greater Manchester, Merseyside, and Cheshire	26	1,190
Cumbria and Lancashire	71	2,080
Devon, Cornwall, and the Isles of Scilly	46	380
Wessex	86	2,400
Solent and South Downs	73	5,370
Kent, South London and East Sussex	85	7,450
Thames	37	110
Hertfordshire and North London	17	180
Nationally led capital	99	-
TOTAL	864	28,920

Government funding has helped benefit areas of higher socio-economic deprivation across the country. Areas of deprivation are measured using the indices of multiple deprivation.

Between April 2023 and March 2024 FCERM work better protected:

6,940 (24% of the 2023 to 2024 total) properties in the highest socio-economically deprived areas in England (0 to 20% index of multiple deprivation)
9,830 (34% of the 2023 to 2024 total) properties in the next highest socio-economically deprived areas (20 to 40% index of multiple deprivation)

3.2.1 Other benefits of FCERM investment

The focus of our current investment programme is to better protect properties from flooding and coastal change.

However, our investment programme will also provide other benefits to support local businesses, communities and economic growth.

Table 6 shows the flood risk reduction benefits our work provides to:

agricultural land
roads
rail

Table 6: other benefits of FCERM investment from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2024

Type of benefit	2021 to 2022	2022 to 2023	2023 to 2024
Agricultural land (ha)	28,000	127,000	7,000
Roads (km)	1,500	700	500
Rail (km)	90	130	75

3.2.2 Significant projects completed

Between April 2023 and March 2024, we worked with other RMAs to better protect 28,921 properties from flooding and coastal erosion through around 135 FCERM capital projects.

These projects better protected people and properties from:

sea and tidal flooding (15,719 properties from 29 projects)
river flooding (7,575 properties from 60 projects)
surface water flooding (927 properties from 39 projects)
coastal erosion (4,700 properties from 7 projects)

A project can provide improved protection from more than one source of flooding. The number of properties protected by a project depends on the size of the project and the type of flooding it is providing protection from. For example, surface water projects are often lower cost and provide protection to fewer properties.

Case Study 1 - Perry Barr and Witton and Bromford and Castle Vale schemes

The Perry Barr and Witton and the Bromford and Castle Vale areas are in north and north-east parts of central Birmingham. Both areas have a history of flooding from the River Tame. Both were badly affected by flooding in 2007.

The 2 projects together better protect nearly 2,500 properties:

Perry Barr and Witton – 1,790 properties
Bromford and Castle Vale – 703 properties

Perry Barr and Witton is a £50 million scheme that was completed in the summer of 2023. The work included the construction of a new flood storage reservoir at Forge Mill in the Sandwell Valley Country Park. This site is upstream of Perry Barr and Witton communities. It works by capturing excess water from the River Tame during times of heavy rainfall.

The new reservoir can store 1.7 million cubic metres of water, the equivalent of 680 Olympic swimming pools.

The scheme also includes:

new flood walls
flood gates
flow conveyance improvements from Brookvale Road in Witton, down to Gravelly Park Industrial Estate in Aston

The project is supported by Birmingham City Council and Sandwell Council.

The Bromford and Castle Vale project cost around £17 million and was also completed in 2023. It reduces the risk of flooding to residential and commercial properties and infrastructure.

The scheme includes:

a series of earth embankments
a low-level flood wall along the left bank of the River Tame

Each section of flood wall was made using a type of lower carbon concrete which reduced the carbon footprint of each wall section by 35%.

3.2.3 Partnership funding

Funding for FCERM projects is allocated in line with government partnership funding policy. The amount of funding a project is allocated depends on the damages avoided because of the project plus the benefits it will provide.

This is based on 4 measures:

the overall benefits provided by a project less those valued under the other measures listed below – this could include damages avoided to hospitals, farms or transport infrastructure
households moved from one category of flood risk to a lower category
households better protected against coastal erosion
environmental benefits provided through FCERM activities

Some projects will be fully funded by FCERM GIA, while others will need partnership funding contributions to go ahead. These contributions usually come from those benefiting from the project, including:

local partners
the local community
other organisations or businesses

Partnership funding contributions allow more communities to benefit from local FCERM measures than could be funded directly by central government alone.

Table 7: Partnership funding spent between April 2021 and March 2024 on projects better protecting properties in 2021 to 2027 programme

	2021 to 2022	2022 to 2023	2023 to 2024	Total
Partnership funding spent	£52 million	£53 million	£85 million	£190 million

3.2.4 Asset management

There are around 245,000 assets that have a FCERM purpose in England. Just over 240,000 manage risk from flooding. The remainder manage coastal erosion risk.

Of the flood risk management assets:

around 160,000 are third party assets maintained by riparian owners who own the land next to the river – 96,000 of these are in high consequence systems
around 80,000 are managed by the Environment Agency – 38,000 of these are in high consequence systems

High consequence systems are those where the assets protect a high concentration of properties. A system is where several different types of flood defences work together to reduce risk and better protect an area.

We allocated £197.4 million towards maintaining FCERM assets between April 2023 and March 2024.

This investment includes:

inspecting assets and checking that they are operational
clearing weeds and debris from assets to help ensure the free flow of water
protecting embankments from erosion
maintaining assets that support the free movement of eels and fish along watercourses
clearing assets of invasive non-native species (INNS) which can harm other species, damage habitats and increase flood risk

The Environment Agency inspects and reports on 195,000 flood risk management assets. This includes our own and third-party assets. We inspect all flood risk assets that work together to protect people and property.

We do not maintain third party assets. However many are part of our schemes and connected to assets we do maintain. It is important we inspect and monitor these to understand their condition. This makes sure of the performance of the overall flood risk management system. We work with the third parties to make sure they are maintained and operated when required.

Inspection frequency is based on risk and varies from 6 months to 5 years. This means not all assets are inspected each year. At the start of 2023 we planned to carry out 107,000 inspections. Since the October 2023 storms we have carried out an extra 68,000 inspections to check the condition of our assets.

On 31st March 2024, 92.6% of our flood risk assets in high consequence systems were in the required condition.

Our long-term aim, with the appropriate level of investment, is for 98% of our high consequence assets to be at their required condition.

We publish details of planned maintenance activities in the river and coastal maintenance programme.

3.3 Public sector cooperation agreements

The FWMA requires RMAs to cooperate with each other when carrying out FCERM activities. RMAs should work together to provide flood risk maintenance and other activities.

One example of partnership working is through public sector cooperation agreements (PSCAs). These allow 2 public sector bodies to set out how they will work together to achieve public tasks of mutual benefit. The benefits of partnership working are well established.

We use PSCAs for a wide variety of work including:

routine maintenance
small improvement works
incident response

Table 8: summary of Environment Agency PSCAs on 31 March 2024

Risk Management Authority	Number of PSCAs in place
Internal drainage boards	36
Lead local flood authorities	3
Navigation authorities	3
Total	42

3.4 Efficiency savings

We report to government about the efficiencies achieved through our FCERM investment programme. This is so that we achieve the best possible value for the investment of government funds.

We can achieve efficiencies through:

national initiatives that allow operational improvements
project specific activities

Savings are achieved through:

innovation
value engineering
longer-term planning and packaging of work

We aim to achieve 10% efficiencies in the current investment programme. These efficiencies are then reinvested in our investment programme.

Between April 2023 and March 2024, we achieved £46 million in efficiency savings. We have done this mainly by using different contract methods to gain greater value and risk sharing from our supply chain.

Efficiencies vary from year to year.

They depend on:

the FCERM funding allocation for that year
individual project completion dates

Case Study 2: Southsea Coastal Scheme

The Southsea Coastal Scheme is a flood defence project across 4.5 km of Southsea seafront in Portsmouth. The aim of the scheme is to:

better protect households, business and other buildings from flooding for the next 100 years
take into account climate change
improve urban public spaces

Southsea Castle is approximately 700m of coastal frontage located in the centre of the scheme. This is one of the most exposed peninsulas.

The original design included a steep rock revetment laid directly over the existing sea defences. However, a project review identified the opportunity to refine the design which significantly reduced the overall rock volume needed.

This resulted in an efficiency saving of £4.2 million.

Question 4

4. 
FCERM strategy ambition 1 - climate resilient places

Accepted Answer

This section explains how RMAs are working together to increase resilience to flooding and coastal change, both now and in the future.

4.1 Climate change

Our climate is changing, sea levels are rising, and we are experiencing more extreme weather. We are already seeing these changes.

Long term records show that in the UK:

temperatures are rising
more rainfall in winter is falling in intense rainfall events
sea levels are rising more rapidly than in the past

The scale of potential future flooding and coastal change is significant. 1 in 6 people are already at risk of flooding from rivers and the sea. The risks will only increase with rising sea levels, more frequent and severe floods and storm surges.

There are 2 main ways we can tackle climate change:

mitigation – reducing or limiting the effects of greenhouse gases to reduce the impacts of a changing climate
adaptation – changing lifestyles, economy, and infrastructure to adapt to the unavoidable impacts of climate change

We need to prepare for the changes that are already happening. We need to take greater action to both mitigate and adapt to minimise risks from climate change.

The climate of the future depends on the actions we take now.

4.1.1 Mitigation

In May 2021 the Environment Agency set out our plan to achieve net zero by reducing emissions by 45% and offsetting the remaining 55%.

Since then, net zero science has continued to mature. This has led to a revised net zero definition by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

Therefore, in January 2024, we published an update to our net zero goal. In this, we have committed to increase our emissions reduction target to 90% between 2045 and 2050.

In FCERM, we remain committed to our pledge to reduce emissions by 45% by 2030. We have continued our work to achieve this, including:

cross-sector collaboration to reduce carbon in our infrastructure - for example, we have made low carbon concrete a minimum requirement and business cases for any new flood schemes must contain a carbon assessment
working on new innovations – for example low carbon steel reinforcement bar alternatives and using modelling to minimise the embedded carbon of our infrastructure schemes by design

We have also reduced our direct operational emissions by more than a third since 2019 by:

switching a significant portion of our fleet to electric
reducing the amount we travel
investing in more efficient infrastructure

We have an action plan to support our net zero road map. This contains 92 actions which we track and report progress on every quarter.

In 2019 our work on FCERM projects accounted for around 54% of our corporate carbon emissions. This was the equivalent of around 148,000t CO2e.

Investment in FCERM projects has doubled since the last programme (2015 to 2021). This increase comes with an increased potential for more emissions. Currently we estimate that our emissions from our construction are greater than 70% of our overall carbon footprint.

However, our flood risk management projects also avoid using carbon. We estimate that 268,000t CO2e of carbon will be avoided through the operational life of FCERM projects completed between April 2021 and March 2023. This is through properties not flooding and livelihoods being protected.

We continue to prioritise reducing carbon during the construction of our flood risk management projects. The choices we make about the construction materials we use are very important.

For example, over 80% of our carbon emissions from construction are contained in materials we use such as concrete and steel. To reduce this, we have changed our technical requirements for suppliers. We now specify low carbon concrete by default where suitable.

Case study 3: Bridgewater Tidal Barrier Scheme

The Bridgwater Tidal Barrier (BTB) Scheme is a £100 million Environment Agency project to protect 13,000 homes and businesses from tidal flooding. The scheme design company was awarded funding from our net zero carbon innovation pathway fund 2022 to 2023.

This allowed them to trial their ‘Building Information Modelling (BIM) Analytics – Carbon’ workflow on the tidal barrier design.

This technology:

integrates sustainability into BIM
connects people, data and technology to support decision-making
minimises the embodied carbon

We’re on track to achieve a 50% reduction in embodied carbon for the tidal barrier structure on the BTB Scheme. This is around 8,000 tCO2e.

Integrating sustainability with BIM provides a range of additional benefits including:

encouraging carbon management behaviours through its regular use in carbon workshops
analysing and accurately reporting embodied carbon with real-time carbon visualisations through data
providing an audit trail of carbon changes through comments log
providing learning and testing for the integration of carbon data within our Data Requirements Library and Carbon Calculator tool

Following this trial, we have provided more innovation funding to expand the use of the tool to the whole BTB project to the end of detailed design.

4.1.2 Adaptation and resilience

We are planning for a 2˚C global temperature increase by 2100 in our FCERM Strategy. However, it is also important that we prepare for more extreme scenarios of climate change and assess a range of climate impacts. This will make sure our approach to FCERM can adapt to a range of climate futures.

We’re doing this in both our planning advice for new developments and for the design of new FCERM projects, schemes and strategies. Our guidance reflects the latest climate science.

Guidance for RMAs on how to account for climate change in FCERM projects, schemes and strategies fits with our partnership funding and appraisal guidance.

Flood and coastal innovation programmes (FCIP)

We manage the Flood and coastal innovation programmes funded by Defra. This encourages innovation in flood and coastal resilience and adaptation to a changing climate. We’re investing £200 million to test and develop new ways to create a nation resilient to flooding and coastal change.

We’re doing this across three programmes:

Flood and coastal resilience innovation programme
Adaptive pathways programme
Coastal transition accelerator programme

Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme (FCRIP)

£150 million of the FCIP funding is being used to develop 25 projects. In March 2021, government announced the 25 projects selected. These projects are led by local authorities with support from us.

Each project will show how practical innovative actions can help to improve resilience to flooding and coastal erosion. They will do this by developing, testing, and implementing resilience actions that are outside the scope of what central government usually funds.

The 25 projects include:

projects piloting property flood resilience (PFR) to reduce the impacts of groundwater flooding
developing nature-based solutions with rural land managers to improve resilience to floods and drought
developing surface water flood warnings for remote communities
creating new habitat to increase shoreline resilience and better protect local coastal economies
trialling new and innovative financing to improve flood and coastal resilience and adaptation to coastal change

The programme will share evidence and learning to inform future approaches to, and investments in FCERM.

We are working with Defra on an evaluation of the 25 projects.

Case study 4: Reclaim the Rain

The Reclaim the Rain project is led by Suffolk and Norfolk County Councils. It is investigating creative solutions for capturing floodwater which can then be reused for agriculture when there is too little water. The project will reduce flood risk and also benefit agriculture by improving water security for food production.

The project team are working with large scale food producers to identify where flood water can be stored upstream to reduce flood risk to downstream communities.

The learning from this innovation project will be used to identify:

what works
what doesn’t work
how the approach could be replicated in future

Adaptive Pathways Programme (APP)

£8 million of the FCIP funding is being used to develop adaptation pathway plans for managing flooding and coastal change to 2100 and beyond.

The plans cover strategic locations including the:

Thames Estuary
Humber Estuary
River Severn

They also include 2 locations in Yorkshire:

a catchment scale project in South Yorkshire
a community scale surface water project in West Yorkshire

We will work with partners to develop and explore:

different resilience actions – these could help to better plan for, protect, respond to, and recover from flooding and coastal change over pathways to 2100 and beyond
local land use and development choices – these could allow for more flood and climate resilient places
better coordination of planning and investment cycles with infrastructure and utilities – these could unlock investment in flood resilient infrastructure and services
integrated water level management – which could improve flood and coastal resilience whilst also enhancing water quality and the natural environment

These will help us achieve:

the maximum benefit for people and places at the right time
strategic objectives and measures in the FCERM Strategy

We have developed an adaptation pathway knowledge hub which contains information and tools to help RMAs develop adaptation pathways.

4.1.2.3 Coastal Transition Accelerator Programme

£36 million of the FCIP funding is being used for the Coastal Transition Accelerator Programme. This will:

trial opportunities to transition and adapt to the impacts of coastal erosion
cover 5 coastal areas at significant risk of coastal erosion
cover the coastal areas with property most at risk of significant coastal erosion in the next 20 years
produce an adaptation plan
created practical actions that will support the long-term resilience of coastal communities and transition away from areas of coastal change

North Norfolk District Council and East Riding of Yorkshire Council were selected to receive £30 million of the funding to progress phase 1 of the project. This is because data shows up to 80% of the homes at risk in the next 20 years are within those 2 areas.

The £6 million of additional funding for phase 2 of the project will help support communities at risk of coastal erosion in the South West to transition and adapt to climate change. This is for projects in Bude in Cornwall and Charmouth and Swanage in Dorset.

The councils will work with residents, businesses and asset owners to prepare for the long term through:

rolling back property and facilities at short term risk of coastal erosion
improving and replacing damaged community infrastructure such as steps and ramps to the beach
repurposing land where property has been removed for community and nature benefit
trialling innovative moveable buildings
working with planners and the financial sector to develop mechanisms and tools to support future adaptation and prevent inappropriate development in places at risk

The programme will run from 2022 to 2027 in East Riding of Yorkshire and North Norfolk and from 2024 to 2027 in Bude, Charmouth and Swanage.

We will share lessons from the programme with other coastal RMAs through existing groups, networks and workshops as required.

4.2 Coastal change

The NCERM shows that about 2,000 properties are at risk of being lost to coastal erosion by 2060. This assumes all current SMP approaches and actions are carried out.

We are currently updating our national coastal erosion predictions.

During 2023 to 2024 we have:

used new climate change research to model the impacts of climate change on erosion
completed extensive data checks and draft output reviews with over 80 local authorities along the English coast

Coast protection authorities (CPAs) lead on coastal erosion management. They have permissive powers, which allow them to carry out FCERM works.

Some CPAs in England use NCERM to develop local planning mechanisms. These include coastal change management area (CCMAs).

These mechanisms:

ensure new development takes account of the changing coast
support the transition of communities and infrastructure away from areas at risk of coastal erosion

We will be publishing the updated NCERM in December 2024. This will be included in the ‘National assessment of flood and coastal erosion risk in England 2024’ report alongside the new national flood risk assessment (NaFRA2).

4.2.1 Shoreline management plans

SMPs set out the local approach to managing coastal flood and erosion risk into the next century. They identify the most sustainable management approach for each stretch of coastline in England.

The management approaches cover the:

short-term (0 to 20 years)
medium term (20 to 50 years)
long-term (50 to 100 years)

CPAs and other important stakeholders have led the development of SMPs. This was done in 7 regional coastal groups across England, producing 20 SMPs.

We have worked with coastal authorities to refresh and update SMPs. This work has made sure SMPs are fit for purpose and continue to steer planning and investment decisions at the coast.

Through 2024 and beyond, coastal groups and SMP groups will be focusing on implementing the updated action plans.

4.2.1.1 Shoreline Management Plan Explorer

On 30 January 2024, we launched the SMP Explorer. This new map-based digital tool makes plans for coastal management:

easier to find, access and understand
more useful for coastal practitioners and the public

SMP Explorer will also improve our ability to monitor and assure SMPs and the actions being taken to manage our changing coast.

We will add new content regularly so the tool is up-to-date. This will include an improved NCERM in December 2024.

We also commissioned an independent peer review to assess the state of SMPs and identify where further improvements can be made. The peer review panel was made up of 6 coastal experts including representatives from local government and academia.

The peer review report provides an objective view of how the updated SMPs contribute to the National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy.

4.2.2 Coastal habitats

We work with other RMAs to find opportunities to reduce flood and coastal erosion risk through nature-based solutions. These are solutions that also create or enhance coastal habitats.

This can include:

working with natural processes
natural flood management, for example saltmarshes
making space for wildlife by incorporating appropriate features into the design of FCRM projects

FCERM activities can also contribute to the loss of or reduction in the quality of protected coastal habitat. Most losses happen due to coastal squeeze. This is where flood and coastal erosion defences prevent the natural landward migration of intertidal habitats in response to sea level rise.

To meet our legal obligations, we create new habitat to replace what is lost due to coastal squeeze. We do this through the Habitat Compensation and Restoration Programme (HCRP). This carries out large-scale habitat creation projects, for example Steart Marshes in Somerset.

Overall, compensatory habitat created by the HCRP since the early 2000’s has successfully kept pace with losses. The HCRP creates:

intertidal saltmarsh and mudflats
freshwater and other coastal habitats

4.2.3 Intertidal saltmarsh and mudflats

Intertidal habitat includes saltmarsh and mudflats. Our knowledge of saltmarsh restoration and the benefits that this brings has improved significantly over time.

Saltmarshes can:

reduce coastal flood and erosion risk
store carbon
filter out excess nutrients
support fisheries
provide health and well-being benefits

In total, the HCRP has created 1,601 hectares of intertidal habitat.

4.2.4 Freshwater and other coastal habitats

Other protected habitats may be lost due to coastal change and FCERM activities. These habitats include:

reed beds
coastal grazing marsh
saline lagoons
vegetated shingle

The loss of these habitats can also be caused by coastal squeeze. Where this happens, we replace the habitat that is lost.

Since the early 2000’s, the HCRP has created:

468 hectares of freshwater habitats
292 hectares of other coastal habitats

Most of these coastal habitats have been created on the east and south-east coasts.

4.3 Natural flood management

Nature-based solutions have an important contribution to play in achieving climate resilient places.

NFM describes interventions that reduce flood risk by using natural techniques. NFM can manage flood and coastal erosion risk by protecting, restoring and emulating the natural processes of:

catchments
rivers
floodplains
coasts

NFM also provides a range of wider benefits, including:

carbon capture
increasing and improving habitats and biodiversity
increasing water quality
improving water resources
improving health and wellbeing

There are 14 different NFM measures described in the working with natural processes evidence directory that was published in 2017.

These measures include:

river and floodplain restoration
leaky barriers
offline storage areas
targeted woodland planting
soil and land management

We can better manage flood risk for communities by using a combination of nature-based solutions and engineered flood and coastal defences.

NFM Programme

The new £25 million NFM Programme launched in September 2023.

It aims to:

reduce local flood risk using NFM
provide wider benefits to the environment, nature, and society
accelerate new and existing opportunities for NFM delivery and financing
further improve evidence of NFM by filling knowledge gaps

The 40 successful packages of work were announced by ministers in February 2024. They will be carried out by a range of stakeholders including:

landowners
farmers
risk management authorities
non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
other community organisations

The projects will carry out a mixture of NFM measures at a range of scales and across a variety of communities and landscapes.

These projects have now started the project development stage to write full business cases by September 2024.

During this time, they will:

refine their designs
strengthen partnerships
progress landowner agreements
define their cost estimates

They will also install monitoring equipment. This will help collect baseline data to meet the NFM monitoring requirements. We will analyse this data centrally.

We are also responsible for managing aspects of the NFM Programme and supporting projects through the development phase. What we learn from the NFM Programme will help us to mainstream NFM.

The programme will build on and embed learning from the £15 million NFM Pilot Programme. This programme, managed by the Environment Agency, supported 60 projects between 2017 and 2021.

Mainstream the use of natural flood management

We want people and places to make greater use of nature-based solutions to enhance flood and coast resilience and nature recovery.

This ambition is reflected in the aims of the:

National FCERM Strategy for England
FCERM Strategy Roadmap to 2026

At present there are:

94 projects in the 40 NFM programme packages of work
15 FCIP projects that include NFM measures
around 70 NFM projects in the £5.6 billion flood and coastal defence programme, which use NFM in combination with traditional civil engineering approaches to reduce flood risk

We are also carrying out a range of work to develop support NFM projects including:

streamlining business cases
a new grant mechanism for non-RMAs
work on a nationally consistent NFM benefits tool
the development of a heat map to help target future investment
an update to the Working with Natural Processes Evidence Directory
improvements to the NFM hub in collaboration with the Rivers Trust

4.4 Improving the environment

We work with other RMAs to look for opportunities to create and improve habitat as part of our FCERM work. We also form partnerships with groups such as wildlife and rivers trusts.

Between April 2021 and March 2024 we have:

created or enhanced 2,530 hectares of habitat
enhanced 189 kilometres of rivers

Examples of these improvements include:

removing or modifying weirs to make it easier for fish to migrate upstream
implementing nature-based flood solutions that create and/or restore habitat and reduce flood risk downstream

Case Study 5: Tamar estuary habitat creation program (South Hooe)

The Tamar Valley is an area of outstanding natural beauty. It is a rare valley and water landscape that provides a unique wildlife resource.

South Hooe is a small peninsula in Devon, within a bend of the River Tamar. It is next to and includes part of the Tamar Tavy Estuaries Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and other environmental designations.

The Tamar estuary habitat creation programme (South Hooe) aims to restore the natural landscape of the area. We have worked closely with stakeholders including:

the landowner
Tamar Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)
Natural England

The project cost £1.7 million and was completed in October 2023. The work has created 14 hectares of intertidal habitat and 4 hectares of wetlands. These will provide habitat for many notable bird species including:

little egret
kingfisher
snipe
teal
green sandpiper
reed bunting
avocet
water rail

It will also provide suitable habitat for invertebrates and notable plant species.

4.5 Strategic planning: flood risk management plans

Flood risk management plans (FRMPs) set out how organisations, stakeholders and communities will work together to manage flood risk in England. They cover flooding from rivers, sea and surface water.

They also help achieve the ambitions of the National FCERM Strategy.

Future requirements to develop Flood Risk Management Plans no longer apply because of the Retained EU Law (Reform and Revocation) Act 2023.

It has been just over a year since we published FRMP plans. We have made good progress carrying out the action in the FRMPs this year. Around half of all our measures have started and are ongoing. There are over 1,100 projects currently in progress. This number will continue to increase in 2024.

Over the last year we have completed over 20 projects.

Some of our successes include:

working with partners to install property resilience measures to reduce flood risk to over 400 homes that lie in the Thames Flood Risk Area
working with the community in Rewe to install a new flood warning gauge to raise awareness of flood risk and increase community flood resilience in the East Devon Management Catchment
improving the waterbody and its amenity value between Northampton and Peterborough in the Nene Catchment through The Nene Backwater Restoration project – this work also provided flood risk benefit
working with Mid Devon District Council to establish a Critical Drainage Area in Cullompton – this will make sure development proposals increase community flood resilience and allow sustainable growth in the area
carrying out a flood action campaign in Smallfield, Surrey to raise awareness of flooding and encourage residents to take action in the Thames Flood Risk Area

4.6 Agriculture and land management

Farming businesses in England were impacted by the prolonged wet weather over winter 2023 to 2024. There was exceptionally high rainfall across most parts of England with a particular concentration in mid and southern regions.

These exceptionally high rainfall totals have been associated with 11 named storms including Storms Babet (October 2023) and Henk (January 2024). Catchments in eastern parts of England were particularly impacted.

We are working with Defra on the design and launch of 3 Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes. This work will help to maximise the benefits for FCERM.

The FCERM Strategy recognises the importance of agriculture and land management. It makes it clear farmers have a role in mitigating flood risk whilst increasing the resilience of their own farms.

Between April 2023 and March 2024 we better protected around 7,000 hectares of Grade 1, 2 and 3 agricultural land from flooding. This work was carried out through the FCERM investment programme.

4.6.1 Catchment Sensitive Farming (CSF)

Catchment Sensitive Farming (CSF) is a partnership programme. It was expanded in April 2022 to include providing advice on NFM practices.

In 2023, the Forestry Commission joined the partnership along with the existing organisations;

Natural England
Environment Agency
Defra

This advice provided by Catchment Sensitive Farming Advisers (CSFAs) includes both established and expanded CSF practices. These include:

soil management to improve infiltration
buffer strips to slow flow
run-off attenuation features to store and slowly release water

CSFAs provide broad NFM advice as well as focused support in partnership to projects which are likely to have the greatest impact. These projects are prioritised using a catchment-based, nationally guided and locally determined approach.

We have worked with Natural England and the Forestry Commission to provide CSFAs with guidance and training courses. We have also carried out webinars to raise awareness of this work and encourage collaboration.

We have developed an evaluation strategy to assess the uptake and impact of NFM advice. The strategy builds on the established approach used in CSF Water Quality evaluation report. It will collect information on:

outreach
implementation
barriers to uptake
farmer attitudes toward NFM and flood risk

In total, CSFAs have contributed to more than 50 NFM projects across England. They have worked with more than 50 partner organisations, including:

the Environment Agency
local flood authorities
environmental non-governmental organisations (eNGOs)
universities

Contributions vary across the projects but include:

providing targeted farm advice
joint farm visits
support for catchment sensitive specific options to benefit flood risk management
engagement events
contributing to project steering groups

This includes CSF NFM advice to 3 FCIP projects:

Between April 2023 and March 2024, CSFAs have provided one-to-one NFM advice more than 1,500 times to over 800 holdings.

Since CSF expanded its scope to include NFM advice in April 2022, it has provided this advice one-to-one more than 3,000 times to more than 1,500 holdings.

Question 5

5. Ambition 2 – today’s growth and infrastructure resilient in tomorrow’s climate

Accepted Answer

This ambition is about making the right investment and planning decisions to secure sustainable growth and environmental improvements. It also supports infrastructure resilient to flooding and coastal change.

5.1 Promoting safe development resilient to flooding and coastal change

Our long term investment scenarios predict that the number of homes in the floodplain will almost double over the next 50 years.

Climate change will also increase the:

size of flood risk areas
frequency and severity of flooding
complexity of the flood risk issues needing to be tackled

Spatial planning helps us minimise the flood damages that these trends could cause. The NPPF makes it clear that we should avoid inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding.

Development that takes place in flood risk areas should:

be designed to be safe throughout its lifetime
not increase flood risk elsewhere

Development design should be flood resistant and resilient. This will minimise flood damage and speed up recovery in the event of flooding.

We have an important role as a statutory planning advisor to local planning authorities (LPAs). We support sustainable development by engaging with, and advising, developers and planners. By doing this, we help to support sustainable growth in the right places.

Investing in flood risk planning advice makes good economic sense. For every £1 we spend providing advice, around £12 of future flood damages are avoided.

We comment on development proposals:

in areas that are currently at medium or high risk of flooding from rivers and the sea
in areas with critical drainage problems
within 20 metres of a main river

We are not a statutory consultee:

on development in flood zone 1 which we expect to be at risk of flooding from rivers or the sea in the future
when proposed development could be at risk from other sources of flooding such as groundwater or surface water

LLFAs are a statutory consultee on major development with surface water drainage.

We respond to approximately 9,000 planning applications each year. We provide detailed flood risk advice for around 6,000 planning applications. We know our flood risk planning advice this year has helped to avoid at least 60,000 homes from being permitted in potentially unsafe ways or locations.

Between April 2023 and March 2024:

over 96% of all planning decisions were in line with our advice on flood risk
over 99% of new homes proposed in planning applications complied with our advice on flood risk
we are aware of planning permissions for 89 homes that were granted against our advice on flood risk

We record a sample of planning application outcomes. This:

gives us an overview of how effective our advice is
helps us focus our efforts on positively influencing development proposals

We recorded decisions for 2,391 planning applications where we lodged flood risk objections. These cases totalled 67,553 homes overall. Between 1 April 2016 and 31 March 2024, we recorded the LPA’s final decision for around 64% of the applications we objected to on flood risk grounds.

We publish a list of all applications where we’ve lodged initial objections on flood risk grounds. Often, the issues are resolved before a final decision is made.

Table 9: planning applications reviewed by the Environment Agency between 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024

Type of Action	Total
Planning applications responded to	9,436
Planning applications which required detailed flood risk advice	5,741
Number of planning decisions recorded that related to flood risk objections	2,391
Number of homes granted planning permission contrary to our flood risk advice	89
Number of planning decisions recorded in line with our advice	2,312
Number of planning decisions made contrary to our flood risk advice	79
% of planning applications determined in line with our advice	Over 96%
% of residential properties in planning applications in line with our advice	Over 99%

5.1.1 Planning policy, guidance and research

This year, we have continued our work with the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) to provide training for local authority planners.

This includes:

piloting face-to-face training for planning policy officers in the Winchester area in July 2023
providing two training webinars to an audience of over 1,100 local planning authority officers in October 2023 - these sessions explained application of the sequential and exception tests to individual planning applications and set out best practice for undertaking site-specific flood risk assessment

We have also contributed to several CIRIA projects to support practitioners to provide sustainable drainage systems.

These projects include:

getting sustainable urban drainage systems (SuDS) right from the start – this aims to encourage consideration of SuDS at the earliest stage of land acquisition or assessment for inclusion in the local plan
producing a SuDS strategy template – this aims to help developers know what SuDS information should be included with planning applications
updates to the SuDS Manual – this will update the guidance to reflect the latest evidence and best practice and make it more accessible

We remain a member of CIRIA Susdrain - a community that provides a range of resources for those involved in SuDS.

These resources include:

tools such as the Benefits Estimation Tool (B£ST)
guidance such as the SuDS Manual
training
case studies

We published new guidance on using modelling for flood risk assessments in December 2023. This guidance helps developers understand when to use hydrological and hydraulic modelling as part of a flood risk assessment. It also explains the expected standards.

We supported the response to the Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) crisis. We provided flood risk advice on its guidance for the installation of temporary buildings on affected school sites.

We responded to several public consultations related to flood risk and coastal change. These included:

5.2 Property Flood Resilience

Just under 700 properties were better protected by PFR measures between April 2023 and March 2024.

Between May and October 2023, we ran a joint PFR public awareness campaign alongside Flood Re. The aim of the Be Flood Smart campaign was to explain:

what PFR measures are
how they can help to reduce flood damage to homes

The campaign included:

an online web portal
PFR case studies
social media

It reached over 10 million people.

We launched new guidance in September 2023 to help RMAs develop and appraise PFR projects. We developed this guidance in response to feedback on PFR projects.

The guidance will help to:

streamline PFR projects
save time
avoid disproportionate project development costs
enable more PFR projects to be completed
improve the resilience of hundreds more properties to flooding

It is available to all RMAs including:

local councils
water companies
internal drainage boards

In December 2023, we launched a new supplier framework for PFR schemes. The framework can be accessed by RMAs in England. It will be used to provide survey and installation services for PFR projects for the next 4 years. This framework introduces new requirements for the quality of products used and installation following the industry led PFR Code of Practice.

5.3 Reservoir safety

We regulate large raised reservoirs (LRRs) in England. In April 2024, there were 2136 registered LRRs.

This regulation is a requirement of the Reservoirs Act 1975, which aims to ensure that dams and reservoirs are safe. Flooding from reservoir dam failure, although rare, can be very serious, putting lives at risk. Responsibility for the safety of reservoirs lies with their undertakers who are the owners or operators of the reservoir. 

As the enforcement authority, we must make sure undertakers follow the legal safety requirements. We report on our enforcement action in our biennial report.  

Owners and operators must report incidents at LRRs. Reservoir owners have 12 months following an incident to provide a full and comprehensive post incident report. 

Seventeen incidents were reported to us between April 2023 and March 2024, an increase from 7 last year.

one incident was a Level 2 (serious) incident, which is where emergency measures are required - we did not need to intervene in our regulatory role
fifteen level 3 incidents occurred, which is when the undertaker takes precautionary measures
one was recorded as a non-reportable incident, where the definition of a formal incident was not met but the undertaker reported the incident to help share some of the learning from the event to the industry

We are working on several reservoir safety reforms to strengthen and modernise reservoir safety management. We provide regular updates on our progress online. We have already made some changes including:

introducing emergency flood plans
updating and publishing flood maps for over 2000 large raised reservoirs

This year we updated our guidance for:

inspecting engineers on inspections of high risk reservoirs
undertakers (owners and operators of reservoirs) on making sure they appoint different people for each of their reservoir engineer appointments.

We will continue to introduce non-legislative changes in 2024 and 2025.

5.4 Surface water management

Currently around 3.2 million properties in England are in areas at risk of surface water flooding. We know that this risk will increase over time due to climate change and population growth unless we act.

LLFAs have the principal role in managing flood risk from local sources such as surface water, ground water and ordinary watercourses.

The Environment Agency has a strategic overview role for all sources of flooding, which includes surface water. We show strategic leadership by playing an active role in supporting local authorities and other partners. We help them plan and adapt to current and future surface water flood risk.

This year, we reaffirmed our commitment to actively and boldly working in this strategic leadership space. We are uniquely placed to take a convening role, working with government, local authorities and water companies to share best practice and to promote innovation.

Between 2023 and 2024, we have:

produced a suite of tools and guidance to help local authorities and partners deliver surface water projects more easily - this includes simplifying and speeding up business case approvals and bespoke guidance on small projects such as PFR measures
co-hosted with the Met Office a national surface water risk roundtable on incident response – this brought together partners from national and local government and academia to discuss how we can be better prepared for this type of flooding
convened a surface water flood forecasting and real-time communication symposium – this brought together the surface water flood forecasting community to identify priorities and new opportunities for delivering high quality research, innovative and practical solutions in this challenging space
provided expert advice to inform the government response to the Infrastructure Commission’s 2022 reducing the risk of surface water flooding study
worked with water companies, Ofwat and government to publish non-statutory Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans

5.5 Flood risk activities – environmental permitting

We regulate work on or near main rivers using environmental permits.

Our aim is to ensure our customer’s journey is positive and they get their permits in a timely and organised manner. We issue permits within a statutory two-month determination period. Between April 2023 and March 2024, we issued 1,403 bespoke permits and 34 standard rules permits. There were also 1,171 registered exemptions.

We continue to monitor and take enforcement action against unauthorised activity in rivers and floodplains. This can include illegal ground filling in the floodplain or taking material from within the river without the necessary permissions.

We continue to improve our service, to ensure our customers and partners receive value for money. During this reporting period we:

reviewed the current demand for different types of activities within our rivers
worked on refining our risk based regulatory approach

We continue to invest in digital and IT solutions to improve the service we provide to customers.

5.6 Water companies’ contribution to reducing risk

Water and sewerage companies are risk management authorities. Water companies:

have a duty to maintain the water supply and sewer network
must make sure public sewers effectively drain the areas they serve - this includes draining surface water
manage the risk of flooding from their water main and sewer networks

Between April 2023 and March 2024, water and sewerage companies have:

responded to flood incidents, including participating in multi-agency responses
worked with partners to reduce flood risk and deliver wider benefits for communities, including water quality and amenity benefits
used strategic partnerships, including with RFCCs, to align investment planning and funding
finalised their Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans (DWMPs) and submitted their draft business plans to Ofwat in October 2023
engaged with local communities, including local flood action groups, schools, farmers and others

Between April 2023 and March 2024, water companies invested:

£87.8 million to reduce the risk of sewer flooding to properties
£167.8 million to maintain the public sewer system to prevent blockages and flooding
£12.9 million in property-level protection and mitigation measures to reduce the likelihood of customers’ homes experiencing sewer flooding

Winter 2023 to 2024 was one of the wettest on record for many areas of the country. Several water companies worked with other RMAs to mitigate flooding from multiple sources. They also improved their approach to incident management. Managing surface water flooding can mean fewer storm sewer overflows, which improves water quality.

Water companies published their first DWMPs in May 2023. These plans help build a resilient drainage system. This is one way to manage surface water and reduce the chances of surface water flooding. Through the DWMP process, water companies have worked with stakeholders and developed collaborative approaches to align with other flood alleviation projects. They have also worked with Defra on the next cycle of DWMPs.

There have been some good examples of partnership and integrated working this year. For example:

Wessex Water partnered with Somerset Council and Somerset Rivers Authority to produce an integrated catchment model of Minehead – this includes surface water, sewers and drainage channels, as well as watercourses and tide levels, and has resulted in a pipeline of integrated flood management projects
United Utilities worked with Bolton Council to install rain gardens and permeable surfaces at a new park in Bolton town centre – this will reduce surface water entering the sewer system

Other innovative approaches this year include:

Southern Water installed additional sewer level monitors and temperature sensors to monitor infiltration and understand the relationship between groundwater and sewage, then used artificial intelligence to identify key points of infiltration
Yorkshire Water have engaged with communities using an interactive digital game that allows residents to design streets with SuDS – this helps to understand their preferences and concerns
South West Water have developed an ‘introductory course in catchment science and water quality’ for adult learners

Question 6

6. Ambition 3 - a nation ready to respond and adapt to flooding and coastal change

Accepted Answer

This ambition is about ensuring local people understand:

their risk of flooding and coastal change
their responsibilities
how to take action

6.1 Skills and capacity in LLFAs

Other Risk Management Authorities (RMAs) are delivering a large part of the £5.6 billion FCERM investment programme. It is important that they (and their suppliers) have the capacity and capability to lead the projects that achieve this ambition.

We are supporting them by:

streamlining processes
improving access to guidance, tools and training

This means that projects are approved more quickly and can access grant-in-aid funding more easily.

In April 2023 we launched the Supporting flood and coast projects SharePoint site. This is for all practitioners as a ‘one-stop-shop’ for:

guidance
support
training
access to a community of practice

This site has over 1,000 subscribers from over 300 different organisations.

In June 2023 we launched improvements to simplify and strengthen project delivery, summarised in this short video.

([Streamlining processes to secure government grants to build flood resilience projects (youtube.com)[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vW3RJ97jYUI].

This focused on support for smaller projects, which make up most projects in the overall programme.

It includes:

6.2 Using digital technology to warn and inform

The way we use digital technology continues to evolve. We have developed and improved our services in several ways, including:

how we warn the public about expected flooding through our flood warning service
our flood risk information services on GOV.UK
making our flood information available as open data

6.2.1 Flood warning service

We have continued to improve our flood warning service based on user feedback. We focus on user-centred design and accessibility and have made several enhancements made during 2023.

These have:

made the registration process easier
improved usability
made sure the service is accessible to all

We’ve received positive feedback from users which shows the success of these improvements. Government now recognises sign up for Flood Warnings as a ‘Great’ service. This means it reaches a high, measurable standard of both efficiency and usability.

We have completed the tender for the next warning service. This is to find a supplier to replace the current flood warning system by late 2025. We awarded the contact to Leidos, and their partners Intersec and Cogworx. Work started in early 2024.

The new service will be a direct replacement of the legacy flood warning system when initially launched. Improvements will continue to be made for up to eight years.

The next warning service will be:

user-centred
designed to inspire action
build resilience to flooding in a changing climate
a net zero digital solution

Emergency Alerts, which is a central government-led capability, has been operationally live since March 2023. It warns of risk to life from severe flooding from the rivers and sea.

The pilot phase ended in March 2024 and the outcomes are now being evaluated. We will continue to benefit from access to this capability in the short term.

6.2.2 Flood warnings issued and number of properties registered for them

Being prepared helps reduce the impacts of flooding and enables faster recovery. We encourage people to register for our free flood warning service. Alerts and warnings enable the public to take action to protect themselves and their possessions.

Our flood warning service covers:

flooding from rivers and the sea
some properties in areas at risk of groundwater flooding

The flood warning service does not cover surface water flooding. This is because it can be difficult to predict:

where sudden rainstorms will occur
their intensity and duration
the effect the rain has on the ground

Our surface water management action plan includes an action to work with the Met Office to develop short range rapid forecasting. This would cover the type of rainfall that causes surface water flooding.

As of March 2024, there were over 1.58 million properties registered to receive free flood warnings. This includes phone numbers registered in areas at risk from flooding that are automatically opted-in.

6.2.3 Flood alerts, flood warnings and severe flood warnings issued

Between April 2023 to March 2024, we issued:

5,126 flood alerts
2,613 flood warnings
7 severe flood warnings

Find out what to do in a flood and what the different types of warnings mean.

Table 10: number of flood alerts, flood warnings and severe flood warnings for the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024

Month and Year	Number of Flood Alerts	Number of Flood Warnings	Number of Severe Flood Warnings
April 2023	121	28	0
May 2023	57	11	0
June 2023	91	14	0
July 2023	94	20	0
August 2023	161	21	0
September 2023	194	63	0
October 2023	682	654	5
November 2023	585	194	0
December 2023	972	335	0
January 2024	552	653	2
February 2024	1047	491	0
March 2024	570	129	0

Table 11: comparison of flood alerts, flood warnings and severe flood warnings issued 1 April to 31 March each year between 2018 and 2024

Years	Number of flood alerts	Number of flood warnings	Number of severe flood warnings
2018 to 2019	1,844	366	0
2019 to 2020	4,834	2,455	27
2020 to 2021	2,843	1,176	10
2021 to 2022	2,129	653	14
2022 to 2023	2,473	547	0
2023 to 2024	5,126	2,613	7

6.2.4 Messages sent

Between April 2023 and March 2024 we sent over 12.5 million messages to the public, partners and the media. These messages informed them of flooding in their area and the flood warning service they can receive.

This includes messages sent via text, email and automated telephone call.

Table 12: number of messages sent for the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024

Month and year	Total number of messages sent and attempts to send
April 2023	303,376
May 2023	149,782
June 2023	194,424
July 2023	301,406
August 2023	451,202
September 2023	616,107
October 2023	1,895,935
November 2023	1,200,581
December 2023	1,944,180
January 2024	2,000,140
February 2024	2,193,370
March 2024	1,288,715

Table 13: comparison of messages sent 1 April to 31 March each year between 2018 and 2024

Year	Number of messages sent
2018 to 2019	2,987,759
2019 to 2020	10,713,780
2020 to 2021	6,882,140
2021 to 2022	4,935,396
2022 to 2023	4,741,047
2023 to 2024	12,539,218

6.3 Flood risk information service

Between April 2023 and March 2024, we continued to improve the 3 main flood risk information services on GOV.UK.

These are:

Table 14: Check for flooding service user totals each year from 1 January to 31 December between 2018 and 2023

Year	Total number of users	Total page views
2018	1.6 million	18 million
2019	5.0 million	48 million
2020	6.2 million	65 million
2021	3.2 million	37.3 million
2022	794,000	8.7 million
2023	1.2 million	33 million

In March 2024 we launched a trial of our Floodline webchat service. This new service connects our digital front-end Check for flooding service to our existing assisted digital support team at Floodline.

The purpose of this trial is to understand the current need and potential demand from users for a webchat. This will help define our future service offering. We will review user feedback to improve the service. We will also carry out operational reviews to define our future digital and assisted digital support channels.

6.4 FCERM Research and Development Programme

The FCERM Research and Development Programme is a collaborative partnership between:

the Environment Agency
Defra
Welsh Government
Natural Resources Wales

The research is used to:

understand and assess coastal and flood risks now and in the future
manage flood and coastal erosion risk management assets in an efficient and sustainable way
prepare for and manage flood events effectively
increase resilience to flooding and coastal erosion
meet policy and practical needs

This means that research is created and used to understand and manage flooding and coastal risks effectively in England and Wales.

The FCERM research and development programme:

works with FCERM stakeholders to understand their needs and ensure research has a pathway to impact
works with research funders, research institutes and leading academics to explore our greatest challenges
carries out research and brings together evidence using our own expertise or by commissioning others 
translates research into practical advice for risk management authorities in England and Wales
communicates research through the programme webpages FCERM research and development programme, conference papers seminars, webinars and scientific journals

The research provides the evidence to support policy and practice in the partner organisations and flood and coastal risk management authorities. This supports the FCRM Strategy Ambition 3. It also supports the Strategy Roadmap which says that world leading research and international best practice will underpin flood and coastal risk management.

6.5 Research publication highlights

6.5.1 Published areas of research interest

We work with universities, research councils and other partners to produce and access world leading research for the benefit of flood and coastal risk management.

We committed to publishing a research plan by Spring 2024 to provide focus for our future research programmes and academic partnerships.

On 8 May, we published our areas of research interest which will guide our research work until 2028. This lists the pressing research issues and outcomes we need to achieve. They are used as a consistent way across government to express to others where we want to collate existing research in certain topics.

We will use the areas of research interest to:

concentrate our effort where research is needed most
determine the research activity we do
engage with the research community, industry partners and government
connect people who have the operational problems with researchers who have solutions

6.5.2 Estimating flood peaks and hydrographs in small catchments

In March 2023, we published research describing our review of methods for estimating flood peaks and hydrographs in small catchments.

This work will help minimise uncertainties estimating the frequency of flooding, flood peaks, and hydrographs in small catchments.

We worked with the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and research partners to:

build an expanded data set of small catchments peak flow data
developed improved methods to model flood flows in small ungauged catchments and plots of land

This information will be used by flood risk management authorities and developers when they design:

flood risk management assets
drainage systems
flood mitigation in new development

6.5.3 Planning for the risk of widespread flooding

In March 2023, we published the Multivariate Event Modeller (MEM) tool code on GitHub. This is an update to research undertaken in 2017 on planning for the risk of widespread flooding.

This work developed methods and guidance to address the need for realistic planning scenarios that account for the:

risk of widespread flooding across England and Wales
flooding from multiple sources (river, surface water and sea)
potential impacts of this flooding

It enables central government, emergency planners and responders to review their:

planning assumptions
emergency response
mutual aid capabilities

This will help to increase the England and Wales preparedness for widespread flooding.

The MEM tool update allows others to contribute to developing the code via the GitHub repository.

6.6 International learning

We continue to have strong links and good relationships with several international organisations and agencies:

These include the:

Dutch flood agency, Rijkswaterstaat (RWS)
Dutch regional water authority, Hoogheemraadschap Hollands Noorderkwartier
United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Australian Bureau of Meteorology

We have worked with these organisations for many years, exchanging knowledge, research, innovations and technical expertise in flood and coastal risk management.

The topics and issues covered include:

flood assets
nature-based solutions
coastal processes
incident management and response
sustainability

International Engagement

Our work with international partners includes development of early career engineers through the I-Storm Next Generation group.

In April 2023 early career engineers from RWS joined our graduate engineers in the Lake District to share knowledge and experience. This was followed by a joint visit to the Maeslant barrier’s annual test closure in September 2023. This was part of the RWS 225th Anniversary events schedule.

In 2023 we hosted a member of USACE on a 12-month technical exchange programme as part of our work with the Levee Safety Partnership. In July 2024 the second part of this exchange will begin. An Environment Agency technical lead will start a 12-month placement with USACE in the USA.

We hosted international partners, including a keynote speaker from the New South Wales State Emergency Service (Australia), at the annual Flood and Coast conference in June 2023.

In November 2023 a delegation of senior Environment Agency leaders attended the Rijkswaterstaat 225th Anniversary celebrations in the Netherlands. They gave a keynote speech and participated in workshops.

Several international delegations visited the Thames Flood Barrier in 2023 and early 2024. These included:

a delegation from Hong Kong in October 2023 - to share flood risk management knowledge and explore opportunities for future collaboration
an MSc student group from Sciences Po - Urban School, France in February 2024 - to find out more about our work towards climate adaptation in the Greater London Area

We have participated in numerous international events between March 2023 and April 2024.

We are continuing to develop our international network of contacts and strengthening relationships with our partners. Broadening the reach of our knowledge, experience, research, and innovations, will help us all better prepare, respond, and adapt to future flood and coastal risks.

The Environment Agency has worked with leading international partners on an International Handbook on Emergency Responses for Flood Defences. This shares best practices to manage risks during extreme flood events. These include during:

preparedness
response
recovery

Question 7

7. Looking ahead

Accepted Answer

This section lists some of the activities that we, government and other RMAs will be carrying out beyond March 2024.

National Flood Risk Assessment (NaFRA2)

The Environment Agency is developing a new National Flood Risk Assessment (NaFRA2).

We will publish a “National assessment of flood and coastal erosion risk in England 2024’ report in December 2024. The report will identify national trends in terms of the source and characteristics of flood risk, the distribution of risk across England, and the potential for these to change in the future.

Nafra2 will:

provide significant improvements including detail not currently available such as flood depth and climate change scenario information
form a new baseline assessment of flood risk in England including updated estimates of properties at risk and average anticipated economic impacts of flooding

The NaFRA2 data will be published in early 2025.

Following that, we plan regular updates and will use the capabilities of NaFRA2 to help determine how flood risk is changing, including the impact of investment in flood resilience.

NCERM2

We are currently updating the full National Coastal Erosion Risk Map (NCERM) dataset based on a further 10 years of coastal monitoring data and the latest climate change evidence.

The updated NCERM will provide the best available information on coastal erosion risk. It will be used by coastal risk management authorities and the Environment Agency to inform coastal management investment and local planning decisions.

We plan to:

publish a summary of the updated NCERM data in the “National assessment of flood and coastal erosion risk in England 2024” report in December 2024.
at the same time, we will also publish the updated NCERM on SMP Explorer in December 2024

Section 19 Guidance

The 2020 Jenkins review outlined differences in:

LLFA flood investigation (section 19) report content
thresholds for triggering investigations
type of evidence being collated

Defra is co-developing guidance, with users and LLFA, to bring more consistency to these reports, whilst preserving flexibility. The project will report in Autumn 2024.

Review of Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Assets

The review of statutory powers and responsibilities to map, monitor, inspect and maintain all assets will be published in 2024. It covered coastal, fluvial, and surface water assets and examined riparian ownership. The aim was to make sure that responsibilities are clear and that there are effective powers in place.

It covers challenges and opportunities. Defra will consider the findings and act where necessary.

Rapid flood guidance service

The Rapid Flood Guidance service is provided by the Flood Forecasting Centre.

Rapid flooding is defined as any flooding:

that starts within 6 hours of rain
is caused by water getting trapped in urban low spots, overflowing drains, and flow from small streams and rivers

The service will give short notice updates for England and Wales to supplement the Flood Guidance Statement (FGS). It is aimed at responders who need to make decisions at a timescale of 0 to 6 hours.

It will initially run as a trial service from 14 May 2024 to 30 September 2024.

*TCPA]: Town and Country Planning Association *[USACE]: United States Army Corps of Engineers

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