OVERVIEW

The government announced in November 2012 that £120m of new funding would be released to speed up the building of 50 flood defences. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is starting the project by prioritising schemes in Leeds city centre, Sheffield, Exeter, Derby and Ipswich. Defra is also leading surface water management plans and has provided £9.7m for 77 lead local flood authorities to prepare in their local area. In some cases, these plans will also serve as flood risk management plans under the regulations. Further funding has been allocated to developing early actions to tackle local flood risk. £5.3m has been set aside for individual works or studies with the purpose of achieving quick wins to manage and alleviate local flood risk. In the government spending review there was a further boost for new flood defences, with £370m allocated for 2015-16, and a further pledge to increase funding in line with inflation until 2021. However, despite such investment and initiatives, there remains concern that not enough is being done. In February 2013, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee urged the government to take urgent action to reduce the impact of flooding, criticising ministers for being 'too slow' in pushing through changes to improve protection. Is enough being done to prevent the devastation that flooding disasters cause?

Lead local flood authorities have responsibility for developing a local flood risk management strategy for their area, covering local sources of flooding. In order to meet the challenges of flood prevention and climate change, greater cohesion in public and private partnerships must be significantly developed. Understanding how flood-hit areas have developed their resilience and response strategies can help aid future recoveries, and help develop robust plans for managing adverse weather conditions. With the Statement of Principles due to expire at the end of July, thousands of homes and businesses could be without affordable insurance cover (the agreement obliges industry to offer flood insurance as part of standard policies at reasonable rates). To replace it, a new not-for-profit scheme called Flood Re has been proposed. What will this mean for areas at high risk for flooding, and how will the funding shortfall be met? With budgets stretched, how can we continue to provide the skills, resources and capacity to deal effectively with flooding and extreme weather conditions?

The Office of Science and Technology's Foresight Future Flooding report, which took a long-term view of national flooding and coastal erosion risks to 2100, estimated that there were £130bn of assets (homes, businesses, etc.) at risk of coastal flooding and also at least £10bn of assets at risk of coastal erosion. In comparison, the investment needed to secure the long-term future of our communities seems very small. Managing flood risks effectively can help to protect valuable assets, maintain a core infrastructure and, above all, ensure the safety of citizens and communities. The UK's first national adaptation plan sets out the risks and also the economic opportunities climate change and extreme weather may bring. The report states that the cost of expected annual damage to residential properties in England and Wales is projected to increase from £640m at present to over £1.1bn by the 2020s.

At Flood Risk Management: Managing Extreme Weather, the agenda will explore how to best prepare for the increasing frequency of floods and adverse weather conditions, and expert speakers will discuss options for investment and flood risk insurance after the Statement of Principles expires. This conference will offer practical advice and guidance to prepare, respond to and recover from future flood emergencies and extreme weather.