Defra Flood Management Reorganisation
Moving Delivery Responsibility to Environment Agency
We consider there will be benefit in terms of clarity and consistency from giving one organisation - the Environment Agency - overall strategic overview of flood and coastal erosion risk management nationally and plan to do so. This was supported in our consultation on Making space for water.
This will build upon previous measures such as the overall supervisory responsibility for flood risk the Agency has had for several years (in terms for example of maintaining the National Flood and Coastal Defence Database and inspecting the condition of local authority and internal drainage board watercourses creating significant flood risk) and the ongoing transfer of higher risk watercourses from local authorities and internal drainage boards to the Agency. Phil Woolas, Minister of State for the Environment, set out the Implementation Plan for the Environment Agency’s Strategic Overview for all sea flooding and coastal erosion risk management on in December 2007.
This approach is consistent with Defra's Delivery Policy and Strategy. As part of this, we also intend to transfer to the Environment Agency responsibility for operating the national capital investment prioritisation system across all operating authorities, approving the various authorities' capital improvement projects and distributing grant to them.
Restructuring Defra Flood Management Division
In parallel with these changes, we have re-structured Defra Flood Management Division for greater efficiency into three programmes:
- Governance of Delivery (GD) - assurance of delivery of Government objectives on flood and coastal erosion risk management, including by the operating authorities and others and specialist support to other divisions, eg on Thames Tideway.
- Resilience and Institutional Framework (RIF) - cross-Government planning for flood emergencies, increasing resilience, and management of the institutional and legislative aspects of flood and coastal erosion risk management delivery.
- Evidence and Innovation (EI) - development of evidence, research, analysis and evaluation for new policy development.
A Programme Support Office (PSO) will provide
cross-cutting co-ordination and administrative support. Please see our structure chart
for more information.
Please note our previous structure of regional offices (at York, Lincoln, Tunbridge Wells and Taunton) to process applications from operating authorities for grant for capital projects no longer exists. The letters below give contact details for local authorities and internal drainage boards for submission of grant applications for flood risk and coastal erosion projects.
Communication of Changes to Operating Authorities
- Letter to the flood and coastal erosion risk management operating authorities describing the practical implications of the delegation of the grant-aiding process for local authority and internal drainage board flood risk management capital improvement projects to the Environment Agency.
- Advice on the centralisation of the grant-aiding process for local authority coastal erosion risk management capital improvement projects within Defra's Governance of Delivery programme.
Page last
modified: 14 January 2008
Page published: 30 March 2006