To ask the Minister for Infrastructure to outline any actions she is taking to improve her Department's performance on flood prevention and protection, following the Flood Risk Management in Northern Ireland report by the Northern Ireland Audit Office.

Ms Kimmins

I recognise that the Assembly process must complete before I comment in detail. However, it is important to recognise the real and sustained progress that my Department has made in recent years to strengthen flood risk management, including increased investment and continued improvement in the overall condition of flood defences. Alongside that, we are delivering a wide programme of measures through the flood risk management plan, with over half of planned actions already complete and others progressing, supported by enhanced data modelling and updated guidance to address climate change impacts. The Audit Office report will be considered carefully through the proper Assembly process. That consideration should also recognise the substantial programme of work that has already been delivered and the continued commitment of my officials to reduce risk where possible. Examples include more than £76 million of capital investment over the past four years in new fluvial and tidal flood alleviation projects, reducing flood risk to more than 5,000 properties and delivering benefits of a value approaching four times their cost. The Department also continues to progress a 10-year capital works programme of over 50 projects, update flood maps where necessary, prioritise inspection and maintenance of high-consequence assets and advance schemes and studies in areas such as Newry, Downpatrick, Drumahoe, Antrim and Eglinton.

Ms Kimmins

The Member will know that there is joint responsibility for coastal erosion and all of that. Officials have been engaging with those in the local area. I fully recognise that that presents challenges as time goes on. The work that I outlined in my previous answer shows that the picture is ever-changing, and we are trying to get ahead of it. We recognise that more and more areas that had never been impacted, have been or will be impacted in the not-so-distant future. That is why we have been doing significant work to be forewarned and proactive rather than reactive. Officials will continue to engage on the specific location raised by the Member. However, as she can see, the scale of the work is significant, and we are working to see how we can do things differently so that we can get ahead the issue.

Mrs Mason

Minister, you will be aware that flood alleviation schemes are assessed on a cost-benefit ratio which we know can be prohibitive and can prevent schemes from progressing. As we know only too well from flooding in our constituencies, in Newry and Downpatrick, such analysis does not always reflect the wider socio-economic impact that flooding has on people's homes. Do you have plans to change those criteria and make them more reflective of people's lived experience of flooding?

Ms Kimmins

Yes. As the Member mentioned, we have experienced the impact of flooding in both of our constituencies. That impact is not just from the damage to property or the effect on business; there is lasting impact on people, physically and emotionally, when their home or their business is flooded. There is always the anxiety — I hear it from people all the time — that flooding may happen again. We spoke about the cost-benefit ratio at an engagement in Downpatrick last year. My Department recognised the concern that the traditional appraisal method, particularly the focus on the cost-benefit ratio, may not always have fully reflected the lived experience of individuals and communities that have been impacted by flooding. In response, we recently developed and introduced new appraisal guidance, which represents a significant and deliberate shift in approach. Under the previous arrangements, schemes were largely determined by a monetised cost-benefit ratio threshold where, typically, projects that fell below a ratio of one did not progress. However, as we have found, the new approach moves away from that very rigid position and allows for a broader, more balanced assessment of value, including social, environmental and carbon benefits, alongside traditional economic damages. Schemes are no longer automatically ruled out where the monetised cost-benefit ratio is less than one, and appraisers can recommend investment where there is a strong case that is based on wider community impacts, including disruption, resilience and well-being. That change is intended to better reflect, as I mentioned, the real-world impacts of flooding on people's lives, which are not as easily captured through purely financial metrics. Although the Department will continue to keep its appraisal methodologies under review, the new approach represents an important step change, which will help to ensure that our investment decisions are more aligned with the experiences of those who have been affected by flooding and maintain robust and transparent value-for-money principles.

Mr Martin

Minister, the Northern Ireland Audit Office report is very critical of your Department on the topic of flood risk. You have just read out some interventions that your Department has made. The report's most substantial criticism is that your Department cannot show that its activities to build flood risk defences:

What specific changes have you made to demonstrate that you are not just throwing good money after bad?

Ms Kimmins

I have outlined some of the issues that we are working to address. In my response to my colleague, I said that we are looking at the assessment criteria to ensure that we are investing properly and reducing impacts on people. It is also important to say that we cannot build our way out of flooding. It is something that many people will have to live with, as a result of climate change. Flooding is becoming more frequent, and we have seen the evidence of that, particularly in the past few years. It is not always the case that physical interventions are required. That having been said, however, alongside the work that has been happening or is planned, we have invested over £76 million in capital in the past four years in new fluvial and tidal flood-alleviation projects, which have had an impact in reducing flood risk for more than 5,000 properties. We also look at how we build community resilience, and significant work has been done by community resilience groups, some of which have been really successful. That is about how we can be more prepared and work together in the event of flooding, particularly when it occurs at very short notice . There is work for everybody to do. It is not just a DFI problem; it is something that affects everyone. We are working across a number of Departments and with local councils in order to ensure that we are addressing all of the issues that have been outlined. We have been working really hard to be prepared as best we can for the future, as well as looking at the physical interventions we can continue to make that will help protect people, homes and businesses for as long as possible.

Mr McNulty

There is a bit of a flood on the other side of the Chamber. [Laughter.]

Minister, how does your Department plan to address the growing number of households that are unable to afford flood insurance or cover but are still exposed to flood risk due to delays in updating flood maps?

Ms Kimmins

Insurance is not within my gift to address. However, the Member will be aware that we have a grant scheme for flood protection measures for homes that have been flooded. The work on flood maps is significant. As I have said previously, it continues to evolve as we deal with the extreme weather that we have seen, including in the past week. Across the globe, we are seeing significant heatwaves. Such things are coming at us all the time. We are doing a number of things to address the situation. As the Member will know, insurance is a reserved matter, and we cannot deal with it locally, but we are certainly focused on anything that we can do to reduce the risk.