Maintain 98% of Flood and Coastal Defence Assets at Target Condition

Commitment: Maintain at least 98% of flood and coastal erosion risk management (FCERM) assets at or above their target condition grade.

Owner: Environment Agency

Target date: Ongoing annual performance standard

Metric: % of assets at or above target condition grade, reported in FCERM Annual Reports.

Status: active

Context

The EA maintains approximately 80,000 flood and coastal defence assets across England — flood walls, embankments, tidal barriers, pumping stations, and coastal defences. Maintaining these at target condition is a core performance indicator. An asset below target condition has reduced effectiveness in protecting properties.

Why 98%?

The 2% tolerance accommodates assets undergoing planned maintenance or capital replacement. The 98% threshold represents the minimum standard for a functioning national flood defence network.

Performance trend (from FCERM Annual Reports)

• 2022-23: ~97% at target condition (marginally below target)
• 2023-24: ~97-98% at target condition (near target)
• Capital maintenance funding pressures and rising infrastructure costs create ongoing risk to this target

Relationship to programme

Asset condition maintenance is funded separately from new defence construction. The FCERM Annual Reports track both the 52,000 properties protected target and the 98% asset condition target simultaneously — both are delivery indicators for the wider ea-10-5bn-flood-investment-2021-27 programme.