I asked DEFRA about recent flood prevention work carried out in Worksop, Retford and Bassetlaw as a whole. The answer from the Minister is below
Question for Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Flood Control: Bassetlaw
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what remediation and flood prevention work his Department has carried out in (a) Worksop, (b) Retford and (c) the district of Bassetlaw in each of the last three years.
Asked 9 January 2024
The Environment Agency are committed to better protecting Bassetlaw and the area remains a high priority for them.
Environment Agency representatives will be meeting with the MP on 19 January 2024 to discuss flooding in his constituency and community drop-in events for constituents in Retford and Worksop are being planned for February. Updates will be sent to the MP once venues and dates have been decided.
Worksop
Since 2021 The Environment Agency have spent a total of £468,000 in Worksop on remediation and flood prevention work.
£257,000 has been spent on routine & intermittent maintenance, consisting of grass cutting, weed cutting & spraying, maintenance of outfalls & penstocks, clearance of debris screens, tree and bush clearance and desilting at Ryton Place and Bracebridge to improve conveyance.
Between 2023-2027, there is no current planned investment in capital schemes in Worksop itself.
Retford
Since 2021 The Environment Agency have spent a total of £603,000 in Retford on remediation and flood prevention work.
£368,000 has been spent on routine & intermittent maintenance in Retford consisting of grass cutting, weed cutting & spraying, maintenance of outfalls & penstocks, clearance of debris screens, tree and bush clearance and Intermittent Works to improve Retford Beck Debris Screen.
Between 2023-2027, £3.2m of Government Investment is currently planned for Retford.
Bassetlaw
Since 2021 The Environment Agency have spent a total of £1.6m in Bassetlaw (including the above figures) not including the routine & intermittent maintenance figures above.
Between 2023-2027, £13m of Government Investment is planned to be invested in schemes in Bassetlaw.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to support the Environment Agency to produce a flood prevention business plan for Bassetlaw constituency.
Asked 10 January 2024
Under the Flood and Water Management Act (2010) Nottinghamshire County Council (as the designated Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) for Bassetlaw District Council are required to produce a Local Flood Risk Management Strategy (LFRMS).
This includes a comprehensive Action Plan detailing the activities that will be undertaken to manage flood risk in the county. Following events such as Storm Babet and Henk, the LLFA is required to undertake investigations (referred to as Flood and Water Management Act (2010) Section 19 Investigations) into the causes and consequences of flooding and these should then be used to update the Nottinghamshire LFRMS with agreed actions which need to be undertaken to effectively manage the flood risk.
The Environment Agency is working closely with the County Council and other Risk Management Authority’s to ensure that the evidence of flooding which we have recently experienced is fully reflected in the Plan and the action Plan is revised accordingly. This, coupled with the National 6-Year Capital Programme of works approved by the Regional Flood and Coastal Committee and the Flood Response Planning of the Local Resilience Forum is the framework we use to deliver more resilient communities, as is required by the National Flood Risk Management Strategy.
