3.135 To ensure flood infrastructure can help protect more people from flood and coastal erosion risk:
• over the Spending Review period, the Government will spend over £2 billion through the Environment Agency in England managing flood and coastal risks, including the construction of new and improved defences, and the risk-based maintenance of existing asset systems;
• in particular, following a detailed assessment of options, the Thames Estuary 2100 plan sets out the strategic direction for managing floods across the estuary, and contains recommendations on what actions the Environment Agency and others will need to take in the short (next 25 years), medium (25 to 40 years) and long term (40 to 90 years). The associated investment comprises around £10 billion between now and 2050, with further actions suggested beyond this point that may be needed to protect some £200 billion of households and other property in and around the estuary. The Environment Agency expects by summer 2012 to seek a strategic partner to deliver flood risk management in the Thames Estuary region - including maintenance of the Thames Barrier and associated defences; and
• following the recommendations of the Pitt Review, the new Partnership Funding system introduced this year by the Government creates the opportunity for as many communities as possible to enjoy the benefits that flood and coastal risk management brings. The new approach encourages contributions and other sources of funding to come forward in line with the benefits that schemes deliver. Contributions that do come forward under the new approach will supplement Government funding and mean more households can be protected over time. The new system applies from now for projects seeking funding approval from the Environment Agency.
3.136 To ensure better awareness and preparedness for emergencies, the Government has published a Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management (FCERM) strategy, which contains a range of measures to:
• build public awareness of the risk that remains and engage with people at risk to encourage them to take action to manage the risks that they face;
• improve the detection, forecasting and issue of warnings; and
• improve the management of and recovery from emergencies.