A TORY MP who has campaigned for schemes to protect her constituency from flooding has questioned whether Government plans to bolster defences for 300,000 homes will be funded.

Thirsk and Malton MP Anne McIntosh said the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) had failed to identify which flood prevention policies and programmes would be reduced in future years, despite repeated requests for clarity.

Miss McIntosh, chairman of the House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee, said there had been the low levels of interest from private funders in Defra's plan to attract £600m of external funding for nationwide flooding schemes was a cause for concern.

Miss McIntosh said the Government had committed £2.3bn in capital funding for six years’ investment, but plan relied on external contributions.

She said: “The committee supports the principle that the private sector should help to fund new flood defence schemes, but we have repeatedly expressed concern about the relatively small amounts of private sector funding secured to date under the Partnership Funding approach, with only £40m of the £148m secured up to 2014-15 coming from sources beyond local government.

“It is unclear how the £600 million target can be met, and we want Defra to demonstrate how it intends to obtain that money and to explain the impact on its investment programme if the money does not come forward.”

A Defra spokesperson said: “We are working closely with the Environment Agency to attract more investment and are introducing tax relief for business contributions to flood risk management projects from 2015 onwards to encourage more investment.

“In addition, we are making record levels of capital investment, spending £2.3bn over six years in improving defences right up to 2021.”