Other agencies were also slammed for their failure to take any responsibility for the effects of the flooding as finger-pointing began in the aftermath of the summer deluge which cost insurers an estimated £3bn.
"Despite an increase in funding from £303M in 2001–02 to £550M in 2005-06, spending fell to £483M in 2006–07 (an increase in real terms of some 40% in five years), the state of flood defences in England has not improved markedly," said the Public Accounts Committee report on 'Building and maintaining river and coastal flood defences in England'.
Edward Leigh MP, Chairman of the Committee of Public Accounts, said "No system of flood defences can provide one hundred per cent protection against flooding. The problem is that the condition of flood defences in England and Wales has not greatly improved over five years despite an enormous increase in funding.
"Over half of the high risk systems, such as those protecting urban areas, are in a condition below the official target and some defences are in a poor condition."
Failure of the agencies to work together was seen as central to the apparent failure of flood defences, and the report sais that the Environment Agency was expected to provide leadership. "When it came to apportioning blame for failures to deal with the floods of 2007," said Leigh, "all the different bodies involved in water management were quick to reach a consensus: none of them was responsible.
"The Environment Agency must bang heads together by taking the lead on preparing and agreeing local drainage plans, making it clear who is responsible for what. It should seek new powers if the deadlock cannot be broken."
Sir Michael Pitt's interim report into the floods also suggested that a central agency should take responsibility for surface water. The Environment Agency itself made similar proposals earlier this month.
The Environment Agency's chief executive Barbara Young said: "Today's Public Accounts Committee report is a useful contribution to the debate on flood risk priorities. We have made substantial progress since the NAO report on which the Public Accounts Committee Report is based as the NAO report draws on information and data which is now a year old.
"In England last year we spent £377M building and maintaining flood defences as well as raising public awareness through greatly improved flood mapping and warning systems. Since April 2003, 325,000 people in 129,000 homes are protected by improved flood defences," she said.
Commenting on the report, shadow floods minister Anne McIntosh said, "The message has got to be the vision and the strategy, simplifying responsibilities and ensuring greater coordination, so ending the institutional chaos, as seen in the response to the summer floods.
"The Government must also be seen to send the existing monies for flood defences on better targeting of flood risk areas and those defences that are in a poor condition. Rural areas are losing out completely in the spending war on flood defences. Rural communities must not be forgotten."