The Government’s announcement of a record £7.9 billion investment in flood defences over the next ten years marks a significant milestone in the UK’s national resilience strategy.
As the largest flooding programme in the country’s history, it sends a strong signal that protecting homes, businesses and infrastructure from the impacts of climate change is a national priority.
This long-term commitment will rightly support a range of interventions delivering both meaningful protection and peace of mind to communities across the country.
At IPFRA, we welcome this clarity of ambition, however as the Government’s own consultation on flood funding acknowledges, lasting resilience must extend beyond infrastructure alone. With one in four homes at future flood risk, there is a need to enable household-level action through quality-assured Property Flood Resilience (PFR) measures.
Standardising PFR across the supply chain and ensuring consistent levels of service will therefore be essential, if this investment is to deliver on its promise.
Through our ongoing conversations with Professor Peter Bonfield, as part of the forthcoming Flood Resilience Review, we continue to champion for a multi-layered approach to resilience, with PFR being a fundamental part of the UK’s climate adaptation strategy.
IPFRA, on behalf of its growing membership, looks forward to working with government, industry and local authorities to ensure this funding delivers both long-term resilience and real value to the households most at risk.
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