Flood And Coastal Erosion Risk Management

Infrastructure and Construction

Record date: 31 March 2026

Whole-life cost: £4.8bn
Published schedule: 01/04/2020 – 31/03/2026
NISTA delivery confidence: GREEN
Senior responsible owner: John Russon

What the project is for

From 1 April 2021, Defra announced a new £5.2bn 6-year investment programme for flood & coastal erosion risk management- investing in 2,000 flood defence schemes to better protect 336,000 properties by 2027. Due to the impact of the covid 19 pandemic and a significant spike in inflation this was revised down to 200,000. The new government reduced to a 5 year programme to introduce new funding policy sooner which equated to 140,272 over 5 years with a particular focus on a £4.2bn 2 year programme with a target of 52,000.

Departmental delivery commentary

Compared to financial year 23/24-Q4, the Infrastructure Project Authority's Delivery Confidence Assessment rating at 24/25-Q4 remained amber. This is primarily due to concerns around work being conducted to manage the transition from the current programme to the next programme commencing on 1 April 2026

Schedule

Compared to financial year 24/25-Q4, the project's end-date at 25/26-Q4 remained the same

Cost

Compared to financial year 24/25-Q4, the project's departmentally agreed Whole Life Cost at 25/26-Q4 (measured in £m) remained at 4,613.000m

Benefits

Compared to financial year 24/25-Q4, the project's departmentally agreed Benefits at 25/26-Q4 (measured in £m) remained at 21,888.000m