Flood Defences: North Yorkshire

Miss McIntosh
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the implications are for flood defences in North Yorkshire of the recent changes to his Department's allocation of funds to the Environment Agency.

Ian Pearson
DEFRA funds most of the Environment Agency's (EA) flood-related work and grant aids individual capital improvement projects undertaken by local authorities and, in low-lying areas, internal drainage boards. The programme to manage risk is driven by these operating authorities; DEFRA does not build defences, or direct the authorities on what specific projects to undertake.

Local authority expenditure on flood risk management (including levies to the EA and internal drainage boards) is largely supported by the local government funding mechanisms operated by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).

The reduction in funding to the EA applies only to non-capital spend and it is re-prioritising its spend to minimise the impact on flood risk management. Local authorities are not affected and neither are projects to manage coastal erosion risk.

Within Yorkshire, the EA has undertaken significant works within the Ouse catchment area to repair and improve flood defences since the floods of autumn 2000. These include repairs to defences in York and Selby (including the Foss Barrier) totalling in excess of £1 million and improvements to flood defences in Selby, due to be completed in 2008 at a cost of some £14 million.