Fewer Properties Protected From Floods as Government Funds Hit by Inflation

The government must secure value-for-money spending when executing flood protection plans, according to a public spending watchdog.

Residents walk through flood water in Retford in Nottinghamshire, England, after Storm Babet battered the UK, on Oct. 22, 2023. Joe Giddens/PA Wire

The government will be able to better protect 40 percent fewer properties from flooding damages by 2027, a report by the National Audit Office (NAO) has warned.

The UK has been recently battered by storms Babet and Ciaran, which put people’s lives at risk and caused flooding and coastal erosion. Last year, the country experienced three storms in February—Dudley, Eunice and Franklin—that affected hundreds of properties.

A report by NAO, published on Wednesday, said that the number of properties that will be protected from damages by 2027 has been reduced from 336,000 to 200,000. The reduction is taking place despite a £5.2 billion capital funding in England by the government in its commitment to a six-year flood and coastal erosion programme.

The programme was launched in 2020, with projects commencing in East Riding of Yorkshire, North Norfolk, the Thames and Humber estuaries and the Severn Valley.

The programme included 2,000 flood defence projects, but according to NAO’s report, the Environment Agency (EA) will be removing 500 of them.

Impact of Inflation

This year, the EA said it faced a £34 million shortfall in funding, required to maintain 98 percent of its most important flood defence systems. As a result, the agency could only maintain 94-95 percent of assets in the required condition, leaving 203,000 properties at increased risk of flooding.

The EA has estimated that inflationary pressures account for between a half and two-thirds of the 40 percent reduction in the number of properties protected from flooding damages.

“The capital funding is forecast to better protect only 60 percent of properties that were promised when the programme was launched in 2020, while inflation and other programme risks mean the Environment Agency could deliver even fewer than that,” said NAO head Gareth Davies.

He called on DEFRA to work with the Treasury to secure the ability to “switch money quickly into maintenance, where this would provide value for money.”

His comments come after the government underspent £310 million in the first two years of the programme. The money has then been deferred for use in the later years of the programme. The EA is set to spend an average of almost £1 billion each year.

But Mr. Davies warned against accelerating projects or launching new ones too quickly. This can lead to cost overruns and delays, putting the value of money at risk, he said.

A DEFRA spokesperson said the department will take NAO’s recommendations under consideration.

“Inflationary pressures and delays brought about by the pandemic mean we must look again at the targets set out in our £5.2 billion programme,” the spokesperson said.

They added that the priority was to make “difficult but necessary long-term decisions for the country.”

The government’s vision for flood resilience stretches to the year 2100, and the EA has a number of strategic objectives for 2050, NAO’s report said.

An increase of more the 50 percent in winter rainfall could hit the UK by 2050, with sea level events becoming annual by 2100, the EA wrote in a blog. The agency stressed that partnerships with local authorities and businesses could help avoid risks brought by flooding and coastal change.

But NAO has argued that the government has “not mapped out any solid plans beyond 2026 to bridge the gap” between short-term and long-term goals.

“Government must decide what level of flood resilience it wants to achieve and how it can make long-term investment decisions that provide the best protection for citizens and businesses,” said Meg Hillier, chairwoman of the Public Accounts Committee.

Around 5.7 million properties in England were at risk from flooding in 2022-2023. This is an increase from 2021-2022 by around 500,000. The EA reported that the increase was due to improved information and understanding of flooding risks, rather than an increase in risk.

PA contributed to this report.