Flood Risk Management Plans 2021 - 2027

Overview

Background FRMP information

We worked together with Lead Local Flood Authorities (LLFAs) and other Risk Management Authorities (RMAs) to produce draft Flood Risk Management Plans (FRMPs) for public consultation.

FRMPs are strategic plans that set out how to manage flood risk in nationally identified flood risk areas (FRAs) for the period 2021-2027, and are statutory plans required by the Flood Risk Regulations 2009.

The location of the 10 FRMPs, one for each river basin district, can be seen on the map below.

A strategic environmental assessment (SEA) was undertaken for each FRMP to ensure that environmental effects were considered during the development of the plans. We are also consulting on the 10 SEA reports and their non-technical summaries. The reports set out the findings of the SEA.

There are a number of new features for FRMPs 2021 to 2027:

• Strategic. They are strategic and focus on areas where the risk of flooding has been identified as nationally significant. These areas are FRAs, where there is the potential for significant risk or impacts should major flooding occur from surface water, main rivers and the sea. We continue to work with other RMAs to manage flood risk outside of FRAs for other communities.
• Accessible. They aim to be more accessible and easier to use for our stakeholders and the public than the 2015-2021 FRMPs, with greater use of online mapping.
• Flood plan explorer. The measures will be displayed on an online map-based tool called flood plan explorer. This will show what flood risk management measures are proposed at a national and local scale and how they are progressing. 
• National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy for England. They aim to support and contribute to the delivery of the ambitions in the National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy for England (FCERM Strategy), such as nature-based solutions, and longer term adaptive approaches for taking action at the right time.

Why your views matter

Flood risk management plans will help to contribute to creating a better place for people and wildlife. There are over 5.2 million homes and businesses in England at risk of flooding and coastal erosion.

With a rapidly changing climate, the need to plan together to improve the overall resilience of our local places is more important than ever before. The more we plan together and deliver in partnership, the more we can deliver together for local people, places and our environment.

The plans will also help to inform and drive existing programmes of work, such as the Programme of flood and coastal erosion risk management schemes, and work with local communities to improve resilience.

The plans will explore wider resilience measures like nature-based solutions for flood and water, and to set out longer term adaptive approaches for taking action at the right time.

They will also help us implement the ambitions of the government’s 25 year environment plan and flood and coastal erosion risk management policy statement (2020).

Draft river basin management plans

River basin management plans (RBMPs) will summarise the billions of pounds that will be invested in the water environment to 2027.

A 6-month public consultation on the draft RBMPs ran from 22 October 2021 to 22 April 2022 to co-ordinate with the 3 month consultation on draft FRMPs. 

A summary of the RBMP responses has now been published, and the final plans are due to be published shortly.

What happens next

Thank you for your responses to the draft Flood Risk Management Plans consultation.

On 12 December 2022 the Environment Agency published updated  flood risk management plans (FRMPs)  for England to cover the period from 2021- 2027.

Responses received were analysed to identify actions to take as result of the consultation, and implement any changes needed in the FRMPs and to the associated Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA).

We have also published the Habitats Regulations Assessment and the SEA Statement of Environmental Particulars.