Memorandum submitted by HM Treasury
Letter to the Chairman of the Committee
from Paul Boateng MP, Chief Secretary to the Treasury 17 June
2004
I would like to reassure you that the Government
takes the issue of flooding and coastal erosion very seriously,
and is committed to investment in preventative solutions. As such,
in the 2002 Spending Review, Defra was allocated £443 million
for flood and coastal defence. Other expenditure awarded to ODPM
amounted to over £1 billion, giving a total UK expenditure
of £1.47 billion over the Spending Review period.
In your letter, you raised the Government's
policy of setting spending plans over three years. Spending Reviews
give Departments medium-term certainty over their budgets, enabling
them to plan their spending programmes effectively. Biennial Spending
Reviews offer the opportunity to reconsider Departments spending
requirements in the light of developments since the previous Spending
Review, and are consistent with expenditure programmes that last
longer than a single Spending Review cycle. This arrangement,
therefore, allows the Government to continually assess areas in
which sustained investment is required, such as in the management
of flooding and coastal erosion.
I hope that you have found this reply helpful.
Paul Boateng MP
Chief Secretary to the Treasury
June 2004
|
