A cross-party committee has highlighted concerns around the UK's flood resilience, warning that rural areas are 'losing out' due to a lack of flood protection provision.
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which examines the value for money of government projects, said that 203,000 properties are at increased risk of flooding due to deteriorating flood defences.
The NFU said it was 'pleased' to see that the PAC's report had highlighted some of the farming industry's concerns around flood resilience.
The committee's report was published in response to the flood defences inquiry the PAC opened last autumn.
It looked at current risk management arrangements, what has been achieved in flood protection between 2015 and 2021, and the government’s preparedness to manage and reduce flood risk in the future.
It found that poor maintenance was undermining progress on the capital programme, with Defra not establishing the appropriate balance between building new defences and maintaining existing ones.
And rural communities are 'losing out' due to a lack of flood protection provision for communities of fewer than 100 houses that can nevertheless be devastated by the impact of flooding.
NFU deputy president Tom Bradshaw said the union “agrees with many aspects of the report”, particularly around rural areas missing out on “vital funding” and a lack of investment into river maintenance and flood defences.
He said: “Over the past few months, we have seen hundreds of farms across the country face the devastation of flooding, vast areas of productive farmland under water, and the huge financial stress and misery that brings.
"It stems from a failure by successive governments to get to grips with the challenges of managing watercourses and improving and maintaining our flood defences.
“Tangible solutions that mitigate the impact of flooding of farmland will ensure our farmers and growers can continue producing food while protecting our farmland and local communities."
Following Storm Babet in 2023, the NFU sent an open letter, signed by more than 1,750 people, to the three main political parties, urging them to outline plans to protect farming businesses from flooding.
The PAC shared the NFU's concern that some parts of the country may be losing out on funding, as the current method for prioritising projects favours the more population-dense urban locations.
The union welcomed recommendations around the possibility to transfer funds between capital and maintenance spending, and for Defra to set out how it is following its own guidance on rural proofing so investment decisions do not disadvantage rural areas.
Defra updated its guidance for the government on rural proofing in 2022 to help departments ensure that rural areas receive fair and equitable policy outcomes.
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP, deputy chair of the committee, said: "The number of properties at risk of flooding from deteriorating defences eclipsing those benefitting from new ones is another case in point.
"This is emblematic both of the government’s failure to strike the right balance between maintenance and construction, and of not considering the net number of properties at risk.
"One of the first steps in delivering any successful policy is clearly defining what success looks like. We hope the recommendations in our report help the government to do so.”
