Calls to increase spending on flood defences

More needs to be spent on flood defences so they provide homes and businesses with robust protection, a government watchdog has said.

The National Audit Office (NAO) warned half of the UK's flood defences were only running at "minimal level" and were likely to give way to heavy rainwater more quickly.

This put homes at risk and meant the taxpayer would have to foot the bill for more expensive emergency solutions to flood water, according to the NAO.

The Environment Agency (EA), which runs the flood defences, had failed to inform at risk communities that they could have their homes submerged this winter.

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The Government made an extra £270 million available following the winter storms last year, which saw widespread flooding during the wettest winter on record, including an additional £335 million in each of the next two years for maintaining defences.

But while the additional money restored funding for maintaining defences to 2010-11 levels in cash terms, in real terms - adjusted for inflation - it was a 6% decrease in spending for maintenance since the coalition took power, the NAO report said.

Without the extra cash from the Government following the winter floods, total funding for flood protection has declined by 10% since 2010.

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However, the EA had improved its efficiency, the NAO said, but budgets would still be under pressure as extreme weather became more frequent due to climate change.

Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, said:

However, a spokesman for the EA said they were "on track" to reduce the risk of flooding to 165,000 homes between 2011 and 2015.

The department was aiming to reduce the flood risk to "a further 300,000 properties" on top of that, the spokesman added.