Answer from Hansard

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Emma Hardy)

I am sure the whole House will join me in expressing sympathy with the communities of the Valencia region and across Spain following the dreadful flooding. This Government’s floods resilience taskforce marks a new approach by national, regional and local government, and by flood risk partners, to better co-ordinate flood preparedness. It met on 12 September, with 40 attendees from 27 organisations agreeing actions including sharing learning from recent floods. This Government will invest £2.4 billion over the next two years to improve flood resilience by maintaining, repairing and building flood defences. Yesterday, at the Association of Drainage Authorities conference, I announced that we will allocate a further £50 million to the internal drainage boards.