Ministers have been warned that they will face severe retribution from voters due to the alarming decline of vital flood defences across England. According to analysis, the proportion of critical assets in disrepair has almost trebled in the West Midlands and the east of England since 2018, putting thousands of homes and businesses at risk.
The east of England, a Conservative stronghold, has seen a disproportionate number of flood defences fall into disrepair, with nearly one in 11 – more than 850 assets – considered “poor” or “very poor” by Environment Agency inspectors. This is a stark increase from 2018, when the region fared relatively well.
Shadow environment secretary Steve Reed slammed the Conservative government’s approach to flooding, stating that it has left communities devastated and cost the economy billions of pounds. Reed emphasized that the government’s failure to address the issue will have severe consequences.
Using data obtained by Greenpeace’s investigative arm, Unearthed, the we tracked the state of England’s vital flood defences from 2018 to 2022. The analysis revealed a sharp rise in the proportion of critical assets in disrepair across many parts of the country.
In the east Midlands, which suffered from Storm Babet in October, the proportion of flood defences in the worst conditions has almost doubled in the last five years. The north-west has the highest rate of flood defences so damaged they are almost useless, with one in 11 defences considered in disrepair in 2022.
UK Flood AftermathThe West Midlands has seen a significant increase in the rate of ruined assets, from one in 44 in 2018 to one in 14 last year. The number of damaged flood defences has increased across all regions in the last five years, but the analysis examined the proportion of flood defences in disrepair rather than the number.
Experts warned that the picture of disrepair is likely to worsen due to higher costs and budget shortfalls forcing the Environment Agency to axe a quarter of its new flood defence projects. Greenpeace UK’s climate campaigner, Georgia Whitaker, stated that the analysis paints a “grim and desperate picture” and emphasized that there is “absolutely no excuse for this lack of preparation” from the government.
Whitaker added that if politicians fail to commit to crucial climate action, they risk being punished at the ballot box. The government’s environment department (Defra) claimed that more than 61,500 flood defences meet the required condition and that 2,400 do not, but the we have not been able to verify this data.
Defra stated that mitigation measures, such as increased inspections, will be put in place when assets are not found to be in the right standard. Meanwhile, the Environment Agency has slashed its expectations for homes protected from flooding, reducing the number from 336,000 to 200,000 over the next five years.
The National Audit Office report last month revealed that the agency had removed 500 of the 2,000 new flood defence projects originally included in its six-year flood and coastal erosion programme. With the government’s failure to address the issue, voters are likely to hold them accountable come election time.