To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department has taken since 2008 to raise awareness among vulnerable residents in flood risk areas.

In 2008-09 the Environment Agency set up ‘Floodwise’, a national project that aimed to raise the awareness of flood risk among vulnerable residents in flood risk areas.

Between April 2009 and September 2012, the Environment Agency informed over 875,000 people about their flood risk. The Floodwise project specifically targeted the elderly, those with young children and those on low incomes. Of the 875,000 people that were informed about their flood risk 148,000 were elderly, 78,000 were parents with young children and 227,000 were people on low incomes.

As a result of the Floodwise project:

Around 75,000 people checked their flood risk;

Around 34,000 people signed up to the free flood warning service;

Around 8,500 people completed personal flood plans; and

Over 670 communities developed community flood plans (helping to reduce the risk of flooding to over 300,000 people).

Since the project ended in 2012, the Environment Agency has continued to engage with priority at-risk communities. It has also run two national flood action campaigns promoting individual and community flood action.