Information page: Flood Risk Management Plans 2021 - 2027

Overview

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

What are FRMPs? They are strategic plans that have measures for the flood risk areas identified in 2017 for surface water flooding and in 2018 for main river and sea flooding. We have worked together with Lead Local Flood Authorities (LLFAs) and risk management authorities (RMAs) to produce them.

When? We ran a public consultation on the draft FRMPs from 22 October 2021 to 21 January 2022. 

We have now reviewed the comments and published:

• a summary of responses on 18 May 2022
• a ‘You said we did’ document on 12 December 2022, alongside the updated  flood risk management plans (FRMPs)  for 2021- 2027.

What is this information page for?

These pages are designed to give you an overview of what FRMPs are, how they have been developed, and how we prepared for consultation.

Preparing for consultation

We  worked together with LLFAs and other RMAs to produce draft FRMPs. During the consultation period we asked for views on the draft FRMPs. Your views have informed a final set of plans that will set out actions to manage flood risk between 2021-2027.

Image: Leasowe, Wirral, May 2021 (A. Measures)

New for FRMPs

1. 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.

2. Accessible: They aim to be more accessible and easier to use for our stakeholders and the public than the 2015-2021 FRMP, with greater use of online mapping.

3. 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. Flood plan explorer also formed part of the FRMP consultation.

4. 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.

Image: Chesham property flood resilience measures, July 2021 (Buckinghamshire Council/ Lakeside Flood Solutions)

Managing the flood and water environment

FRMPs are one of a number of plans which together set out how the flood and water environment is managed. These include:

The FCERM Strategy. Published in September 2020 - sets out a long term approach to resilience and adaptation.

River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs). How organisations, stakeholders and communities will work together to protect and improve the water environment. The 2015 RBMPs are also currently being updated.

Shoreline Management Plans. These assess the risks from coastal flooding and erosion and identify how to manage these risks over the short, medium and long term. Also currently being updated.

Local Flood Risk Management Strategies. All LLFAs have a duty under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 to prepare a local flood risk management strategy for their area. The strategy includes aims and actions to reduce the risk of all sources of local flooding to communities.

Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans. These are led by water and sewerage companies. They include actions needed to ensure wastewater systems and drainage networks are sustainable and resilient to future pressures such as growth and climate change.

Planning together and delivering in partnership

The FRMPs will also help to inform and drive existing programmes of work, such as the Programme of flood and coastal erosion risk management schemes. The plans will explore wider resilience measures like nature-based solutions for flood and water, and to set longer term adaptive approaches for taking action at the right time.

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.

Image: Brighton, East Sussex, May 2021 (B. George)

What happens next

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

Thank you for your responses to the draft FRMPs consultation. 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.

The consultation feedback was compiled in two documents:

• a summary of responses, published on 18 May 2022
• a ‘You said we did’ document, published on 12 December 2022.

The ‘You said, we did’ document explains how the feedback received from the consultation on the draft FRMPs was integrated into the final FRMPs. It builds on the summary of responses document published in May 2022 and describes the work that the Environment Agency and other risk management authorities are committing to undertake until 2027.