To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many buildings have been constructed on floodplains since May 1997. (107949)

I have been asked to reply.

Information on the numbers of buildings constructed on floodplains is not available centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Flood risk is a major factor in the location of new development. The Government published a new Planning Policy Statement (PPS25) in December 2006 to strengthen and clarify earlier policy on this issue. Flood risk must be taken into account at all stages of the planning process. Development that would not be safe in the higher flood risk areas should be directed to areas of lower risk wherever this is practicable. Where new development is necessary in higher risk areas because no viable alternative is available, steps must be taken at site level to make it safe if it is to be permitted. In those areas close to rivers where water must be allowed to flow in times of flood—the ‘functional floodplain’—only a very restricted range of development associated with essential infrastructure should be permitted.