- Home
- Environment
- Flooding
- Flood legislation, policy and regulations
- Guidance for Operating Authorities
- Project appraisal guidance
ARCHIVE: Policy Statement: Appraisal of flood and coastal erosion risk management
Defra has published its Policy Statement on Appraisal of Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management (PDF 770 KB), which contains policies and outlines guidance for operating authorities and others involved in managing flood and coastal erosion risk. The intended benefits of the new policy statement include:
- A greater focus on early engagement with the community and social factors; including better assessment of impacts on health, community well-being and social justice. It seeks to support the development of options that attract other sources of funding, to leverage Government investment and increase local and regional benefit.
- A more thorough and balanced appraisal of a wider range of possible approaches including adaptation where it is not feasible to reduce the probability of flooding and erosion from occurring.
- A transparent framework for decision making to ensure that taxpayers’ investment represents good value for money.
- A greater emphasis on flexibility for the future, such as being able to adapt solutions over time as the climate changes. This supports Defra’s coastal change policy which is open to consultation.
Detailed Project Appraisal Guidance
Guidance on how to do appraisals in accordance with the Defra Policy Statement has been produced by the Environment Agency. The new Guidance (FCERM-AG) replaces the FCDPAG series previously published by Defra between 1999 and 2001. Details of how Operating Authorities in England and Wales should use this new guidance, the FCERM-AG, and any transitional arrangements for ongoing appraisals can be downloaded from the Environment Agency website:
Supplementary Guidance
- Treatment of agricultural land (PDF 104KB) provides an update on the valuation of agricultural land, May 2008
- Risk to people guidance (PDF 170KB) covers a method for the valuation of the risk to life associated with flood risks, May 2008
- Treatment of climate change impacts (PDF 70KB) and accompanying Q&A (PDF 30KB), October 2006
- Interim Guidance Note (PDF 161KB) which takes account of Defra's policy on socio-economic equity and appraisal of human-related intangible impacts of flooding, July 2004
- Interim Guidance Note (PDF 235KB) on how changes in HM Treasury guidance Appraisal and Evaluation in Central Government (the 'Green Book') should be applied to appraisal of flood and coastal erosion risk management projects, March 2003
NB: The FCDPAG series (manuals 1 to 5) has now been superseded. The current FCERM appraisal guidance (FCERM-AG) is available from the Environment Agency website. Electronic copies of the old guidance can be requested from Defra floodappraisal@defra.gsi.gov.uk until the end of the transitional period.
The Environment Agency's key documents for flood and coastal erosion risk management
The Environment Agency has published a number of key documents on flood and coastal erosion risk management, including its long term assessment of funding requirements:
- Long Term Investment Strategy: which presents an assessment of funding requirements for flood and coastal erosion risk management over the next 25 years (2010-2035) in the context of climate change assumptions.
- National Assessment of Flood Risk: which gives an assessment of the number of properties at risk of river and coastal flooding.
- External Contributions Policy: which clarifies the Environment Agency’s policy on seeking contributions toward its flood and coastal erosion management projects.
- Updated flood risk maps: where you can enter their postcode and find out if you are at flood risk.
Page last
modified: 18 March 2010
Page published: 1 March 2000