To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much and what proportion of the flood and coastal erosion risk management budget has been (a) allocated and (b) spent in each of the last four years.

In March 2020, the Government doubled its investment in flood defences to a record £5.2 billion between 2021 and 2027 to better protect communities across England from flooding and coastal erosion. We are in the third year of this Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management investment programme. Since April 2021, approximately £1.5 billion of this funding has been invested in over 200 flood protection schemes, better protecting over 71,000 properties.

The table summarises the amount of flood and coastal erosion risk management budget that has been spent in each of the last 4 years:

Defra publishes central government expenditure figures for Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management (FCERM) annually on gov.uk. Funding for flood and coastal erosion risk management in England - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). This publication shows both resource and capital spend on FCERM for each financial year since 2005/06, as well as indicative allocations for the following financial year.