Written questions by Mishra.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to promote sustainable flood management practices in (a) flood-prone and (b) other areas.

Natural flood management (NFM) is a key part of our approach to mitigating flood risk and provides wider benefits for the environment and society, such as carbon reduction, environmental enhancement, improving water quality and water resources. The floods investment programme delivers a range of schemes, including NFM. In addition, the Government’s ongoing investment in the environment will also support NFM measures. The Government inherited an outdated funding formula for allocating money to proposed flood defences. Established in 2011, the existing formula slows down the delivery of new flood schemes through a complex application process and also neglects more innovative approaches to flood management such as NFM and sustainable drainage. A consultation will be launched this spring which will include a review of the existing formula.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to improve (a) public awareness and (b) accessibility of the flood warning service.

The Environment Agency (EA) provides the Check for flooding service, giving information on flood alerts and warnings as well as a 5-day forecast. It also uses it’s flood warning system to directly alert 1.6 million properties in England who are registered to receive flood warnings. Where there is danger to life there is also the ability to issue an Emergency Alert. The flood warning service is continuously enhanced to improve public awareness and accessibility. In 2023 it was extended to 110,000 additional homes and businesses, particularly those that were previously hard to reach. This expansion uses innovative monitoring solutions, including solar-powered devices which provide flood warnings in challenging locations. A new flood warning system is being developed and is expected to launch in late 2025. This system aims to be more secure, resilient, and user-friendly. Flood Action Week is the EA’s annual public awareness week, typically taking place in October. It aims to raise awareness amongst the public of their flood risk, actions they should take to respond, and work the EA does to prepare and respond during a flood. These efforts are part of a broader strategy to ensure that communities are better informed and prepared for flood risks.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of vegetable oils not included in the due diligence regulations under Schedule 17 of the Environment Act 2021 on deforestation and whether he plans to extend due diligence obligations to cover these oils.

The Global Environmental Impacts of Consumption Indicator, funded by Defra, estimates that UK-linked deforestation driven by soy and palm oil was 7-9 times and 15-20 times greater respectively than deforestation linked to sunflower and rapeseed oil in 2022. We recognise the need to take action to ensure that UK consumption of forest risk commodities is not driving deforestation and we will set out our approach to addressing this in due course.