To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) how many households are deemed to be at high risk of flooding in England and Wales; and of these (a) to how many households the Floodline Warnings Direct system is available and (b) how many are registered with it; (207515)

The Environment Agency’s 2006 National Flood Risk Assessment divides properties into three probability bands as follows:

Significant Probability (1 in 75): 517,000 properties

Moderate Probability (1 in 200): 567,000 properties

Low Probability (1 in 1,000): 1,191,000 properties

As of 1 August 2007, the Environment Agency reported that the Floodline Warnings Direct Service was available to 794,000 properties and, of these, 240,000 were registered.

The Environment Agency has informed me that the Floodline Warnings Direct system cost £14.2 million over four years to develop and implement. The breakdown of these costs are as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what steps he is taking to increase the number of people in England and Wales at high risk of flooding to whom Floodline Warnings Direct is available; (207516)

DEFRA and the Environment Agency have agreed upon an annual programme of expansion, improvement and recruitment to the flood warning service. This is documented in the Environment Agency’s Flood Warning Investment Strategy.

The aim of the strategy is to make the Flood Warnings available to 80 per cent. of those identified as being at risk of flooding within the Environment Agency’s Flood Map, by March 2013. The Environment Agency is on course to meet this target.