Spending review special: Funds for flood defences

The government is planning to boost spending on flood defences in England

In 2015/16, £370 million of capital expenditure will be dedicated to protecting a further 300,000 properties from flooding.

This will be followed by annual rises in line with inflation until 2020/21. Under the previous spending review – covering 2011/12 to 2014/15 – annual capital expenditure on flood defences was set at £259 million, although an additional £120 million was made available in November 2012, which will be split over the final two years of the settlement.

The announcement of the 2015/16 funding for flood defences assisted the government and the insurance industry to agree a new settlement on flood insurance.

Defra is now consulting on its preferred approach to the future of flood insurance.

About 5.2 million properties in England are at risk of flooding and annual flood damage costs about £1.1 billion.