The Government has made no new significant provision for increased investment in flood infrastructure in the Budget – despite serious concerns expressed in January by its own official advisers on climate change about the need for additional funding.

Chancellor George Osborne announced that the Government would provide £140 million of new funding to repair flood defences that have suffered damage in the recent severe flooding and provide £200 million to establish a potholes challenge fund. However, the Budget contained no provision addressing longer-term flood investment requirements.

In January the Committee on Climate Change’s analysis of flood defence spending estimated that current spending is almost £750m below the amount needed to keep flood risk at current levels concluding:

“Not enough is being spent and we can expect the number of households at flood risk and damages from flood events to be on the increase.”

The House of Commons Select Committee on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has also repeatedly expressed its concerns about levels of investment in flood infrastructure.

The UK's leading civil engineeering body has also expressed disappointment at the Government's failure to address the long-term issue.

Commenting on the additional funding for flood defence repairs and road damage in the Budget, Nick Baveystock, Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) Director General said:

 “The additional £140m funding for flood defences repairs and £200m for road damage is welcome and signals a commitment to better protecting homes and businesses from flooding and building resilience into our transport networks.”

“ We are disappointed however that Government missed the opportunity to provide the longer term certainty needed to improve our flood resilience by committing to an investment programme for flood risk management which protects funding beyond the current 5 year cycle.  It is vital that Government now works closely with Local Lead Flood Authorities to target flood spending where it is needed most - and we urge Government to develop its long term plans swiftly.”

 Despite failure to address long-term funding, water and flood defences, together with Thames Water’s £4 billionTideway Tunnel, are nevertheless flagged up as among the Government's top 40 priority infrastructure investments in an update published alongside yesterday’s Budget on how projects in the National Infrastructure Plan over the coming years are expected to be financed.

However, the financial update states:

“The financial infrastructure pipeline is not a statement of need, or a commitment to undertake any of the projects shown. It provides a strategic and credible overview of the level of public and private infrastructure investment planned over the rest of this decade and beyond (though in some sectors the decision to go ahead with individual projects will be determined by the market).”