The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) has launched a new inquiry to examine flood resilience in England as homes and businesses recover from more flooding misery in recent weeks.
At the end of November, Storm Bert flooded in excess of 100 homes and over the weekend, Storm Darragh triggered over 200 flood warnings and flood alerts across England.
To get to the root of the issue and identify how to boost England’s flood resilience, MPs sitting on the EAC are hoping to understand how authorities are tackling flooding events, what measures are needed to future proof against flooding and what support is needed by householders and businesses to boost their own resilience.
The Committee will be examining the strengths of nature-based solutions versus hard infrastructure as resilience assets, whether current metrics for monitoring flooding events before they happen are working effectively, and what the Flood Resilience Taskforce should prioritise.
The committee wants to hear views and welcomes submissions from anyone with answers to the questions in the call for evidence. You can submit evidence until Monday 13 January 2025.
Photo credit: Kenneth Allen (cc-by-sa/2.0)
The main questions are
Strengthening flood resilience
- To what extent are current flood resilience assets and interventions fit-for-purpose and what are the strengths and weaknesses?
- How appropriate is the current balance between ‘green’ nature-based solutions and ‘grey’ hard infrastructure resilience assets, and what adjustments, if any, are needed to improve it?
- What changes to the planning system and building regulations are needed to ensure that buildings and infrastructure are resilient to flooding in the short, medium, and long-term?
Monitoring flood resilience
- To what extent are current metrics for monitoring the effectiveness of flood resilience fit for purpose, and what improvements could make them more effective?
Coordination of flood resilience
- How effectively and how frequently do flood risk management authorities work together to tackle flooding issues and do they have sufficient resources and skills available to carry out their work?
- What should the key priorities be for the Flood Resilience Taskforce, and how can it enhance coordination and improve flood resilience?
- Is there a backlog in maintenance of existing flooding adaptation/resilience assets and in identifying where new ones could be introduced?
Resources, funding and support for flood resilience
- What level of flood resilience is required to address the flood risks identified in the Climate Change Risk Assessment and is current funding adequate to meet these risks effectively?
- How can the Government encourage more long-term private investment in flooding defences and resilience measures?
- What support do property owners and neighbourhoods require to enhance their resilience to flooding?