Written - Priorities for Future Flood Risk Investment

Last summer, I asked Tamsin Dunwoody AM to lead a task and finish group with Huw Lewis AM to consider the basis by which we assess funding for flood management schemes.  This followed concern that the existing approach favoured quantifiable property costs over impacts on people and was potentially regressive.

The Group has now concluded its work and has made three main recommendations to ensure that future scheme selection has a strong focus on the impacts on people.  The recommendations are as follows:

- the basis for assessing the priority to be given to schemes should be primarily the numbers of people affected and the degree of that impact;

- the present rule that schemes must meet a cost benefit ratio of one to one or better should be relaxed to allow for other qualitative factors to be taken into consideration where appropriate; and

- future schemes should be prioritised using a new multi-criteria analysis that reflects both monetarised and non-monetarised impacts.

I am very happy to accept these recommendations.  I am therefore asking Flood Risk Management Wales and Environment Agency Wales to implement the first two recommendations with immediate effect and have asked officials to commission work to produce as soon as possible a new simple but robust framework for the criteria by which future schemes should be prioritised.

This change reflects the new approach to flood risk management that we set out in the Wales Environment Strategy earlier this year and I am sure will be welcomed by the many people across Wales who live at risk of flooding.


Notes:

1.The task and finish group included representatives from the Welsh Assembly Government. Environment Agency Wales and Flood Risk Management Wales (the body charged with advising on investment priorities).

2. papers and minutes of the Group will be made available on the internet.

http://new.wales.gov.uk/topics/environmentcountryside/epq/water_flooding/flooding/?lang=en