To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of developments in the last decade have been on flood plains according to the Environment Agency's records. (153975)

The Environment Agency does not hold records on the proportion of developments built on flood plains. However, it does record planning permissions that are granted against its advice on flood risk grounds. These are reported annually in the Agency's High Level Target HLT5 reports.

In the last reporting period (April 2005 to March 2006), 95 per cent. of cases where the Environment Agency objected on flood risk grounds were determined in line with the Agency's advice, compared with 92 per cent. in 2004-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) when he expects to announce access to the full flood mapping data and flood defence information for existing and planned defences; and on what basis this will be provided to insurance companies; (154107)

The Environment Agency's flood maps provide information on flood risk from rivers and the sea. Full flood mapping data and flood defence information is already available in response to requests for access. A standardised set of information is available to insurance companies, among others, for re-use under licence, subject to the Environment Agency's standard licence terms and conditions.

The Environment Agency's Flood Map and National Flood Risk Assessment (NaFRA) data are also available, under licence, subject to the Environment Agency's standard licence terms and conditions. Both data sets show areas of land at risk of flooding.

The Environment Agency does not offer a product that differentiates between types of property because the requirements of different users vary, and because the chance of a property flooding is dependent on many factors including floor levels, construction methods and construction materials. Subject to the intended use of the resulting data, licensees may combine Environment Agency data with their own property type datasets to produce a dataset that meets their specific needs.

The latest National Flood Risk Assessment (NaFRA 2006) data are available to insurers in a format which contains both address point references and spatial and postcode formats.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of properties flooded during June and July 2007 which were built after 1945. (154392)

No estimate has been made to date on the number of properties flooded during June and July 2007 that were built after 1945. Local authorities have provided information about the number of residential properties and businesses affected by the summer floods, however this does not include an assessment of property age.

The Environment Agency is gathering data and information as part of its review of the summer 2007 floods and this will include the categorisation by age of properties affected by flooding from rivers. This information should be available by the end of November.

As we announced in July, a full review of the flooding, its causes and subsequent management to see if any lessons need to be learned about how to manage and respond to this type of event in the future is in progress. The review is being led by an independent Chair, Sir Michael Pitt.