Flooding and Flood Management Inquiry

The Freshwater Taskforce warmly welcomes the remit of this inquiry and we hope that the evidence we provide will be helpful in informing the future flooding policies. This written evidence focuses on key issues in relation to the new Flooding Bill and sustainable flood management; and the role of natural flood management in that process.

This document highlights our 5 asks in relation to the new Flooding Bill:

• Review, streamline and where necessary amend the existing legislation on flooding
• Clarify and where necessary strengthen the responsibilities for flood management and ensure better co-ordination between ‘responsible’ authorities
• Transpose the requirements of the EU Directive on the Management of Flood Risk
• Ensure close links with river basin management planning under the WFD including public participation, with regional and national advisory flood groups
• Put in place a more flexible, integrated funding for hard and soft-engineering measures linked with the delivery of catchment flood management plans.

See also Letter to the Committee and Annexes