Eastern Region Flood Defences
Environment Food and Rural Affairs
Keith Simpson (Shadow Minister, Foreign Affairs; Mid Norfolk, Conservative)
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the reasons are for the reductions in the budget of the Eastern Region Flood Defences from 2006-07 to 2007-08.
Ian Pearson (Minister of State (Climate Change and the Environment), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Dudley South, Labour)
Defra will provide £435.7 million to the Environment Agency in 2007-08 for Flood Risk Management, almost £23 million more than was available in 2006-07.
The agency allocates funding to Regional Flood Defence Committees both for new capital schemes and to maintain existing defences on the basis of national priorities to ensure that the funding is spent to optimum effect. This inevitably means that the allocation to each Regional Flood Defence Committee is likely to change year on year, particularly as capital schemes are completed.
During the current year, major schemes in the Anglian Eastern area have completed, notably Canvey and Tilbury. A wide range of capital schemes—such as Broadlands and Eastern Broad—will be taken forward in the agency's Anglian Eastern area in 2007-08.