Oral Ministerial Statement by Hilary Benn: Sir Michael Pitt's report on the summer 2007 floods — 25 June 2008

The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Hilary Benn)

Sir Michael Pitt has today published his final report on last summer’s flooding. I want to thank Sir Michael and his team for the professional way in which they have gone about their work of identifying the lessons to be learned. I also welcome the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee Report to which Government is responding today.

This month marks the first anniversary of the start of the floods. The lives of many people and businesses were turned upside down and the costs - human and financial – were considerable. Our thoughts will - above all - be with the families of those who lost loved ones, as well as with communities still trying to recover. I am sure the House will wish to thank all those who have worked so hard to help those affected over the last 12 months, and I would like to pay tribute to the contribution of my Honorable Friend as Floods Recovery Minister.

As Sir Michael says “Last summer’s flooding was exceptional”. And while we recognise both the huge emergency effort at the time and the investment over many years in flood defences - without which the effects would have been much worse - I said to the House last year that we would learn the lessons.

Sir Michael’s Report sets out over 90 Recommendations, including: establishing the right legislative framework to tackle flooding; clarifying who is responsible for what; ensuring that the public have all the information and guidance they need; working with essential services to assess risk and protect critical infrastructure; and having a clear recovery plan right from the start of any major emergency.

I welcome Sir Michael’s report and the direction it sets. We will prepare a detailed response - with a prioritised action plan - in the Autumn. We have already taken a number of steps - which respond to Sir Michael’s findings – and I wish to report these to the House.

The Government has made available up to £88 million – with a further £31 million to come – to help local authorities assist those in greatest need, as well repair infrastructure and help schools and businesses to get going again. A lot has been achieved - most of those affected are now back in their homes – and we will continue to work with local authorities and the insurance industry to help the rest to return as soon as possible.

Flood warnings save lives. Since last June, over 73,000 more people have registered with the Environment Agency flood warning system, and the Agency will now automatically register properties to receive flood warnings where telephone numbers are publicly available. The Agency has also improved its advice to the public, run Flood Awareness campaigns, and is working with the Met Office to improve the quality of flood warnings.

The Environment Agency has spent £5 million on repairing defences damaged last summer. Current improvement schemes include a £5.9 million project refurbishing the Hull barrier and remedial works to culverts in Gloucester.

As I informed the House last week, I have decided that the Environment Agency will now take on a new strategic overview role in England for managing flood risk, from whatever source, and that local authorities will take responsibility for surface water management, including Surface Water Management Plans, under the Agency’s overview. We will now sort out the detailed arrangements for this, drawing on responses to the Future Water consultation and the results of the 15 pilot projects on urban drainage, the results of which we are publishing today.

On critical infrastructure, electricity and water providers are responsible for ensuring continuity of supply. The electricity industry has identified just over 1,000 grid and primary sites which are in flood zones, and is working with the Environment Agency to see which of these might need additional protection. Every water company is reviewing how its critical assets may be at risk from flooding in order to prioritise investment plans. This information will be used as the basis of a planned nationwide programme to improve the resilience of critical infrastructure which Government will produce later this year.

Most Local Resilience Forums have now been briefed on critical infrastructure in their area, and the remainder will be done by the end of August.

On reservoir safety, we will now go ahead to prepare flood maps for reservoirs coming under the Reservoirs Act and to ensure that, where they are not already available, they are provided to local emergency planners before the end of 2009. They will decide the best way to ensure that communities are informed. We will also modernise reservoir safety legislation.

The Government will produce an outline for the National Flood Emergency Framework by the end of July, with a draft for consultation by the end of the year. This will be part of a major programme to improve preparedness for severe flooding.

And we will bring forward a draft Floods and Water Bill in the next session. This will enable us to respond to many of Sir Michael’s recommendations.

The Government is increasing investment in flood risk management from £650 million this year to £800 million in 2010-11. The Environment Agency’s defences protected 100,000 properties from flooding last year, and this new investment will protect a further 145,000 homes across the country. We are developing with the Environment Agency a Long Term Investment Strategy for flood defence.

We have set aside £34.5 million for priorities identified in Sir Michael’s report. We will, of course, need to consider the detailed recommendations and their funding with local authorities and other partners before making a final allocation but, in order to make progress, I am announcing today that at least £5 million will be made available to develop Surface Water Management Plans in the highest priority areas, and at least £1 million to improve reservoir safety, specifically for inundation mapping. I have also set aside an initial £250,000 to plan a major national floods exercise to test the new structures and arrangements being put in place to ensure that we are better prepared in future.

Mr Speaker, we must recognise that we can never eliminate the risk of flooding, particularly as climate change takes hold. But all of us - Government, water and electricity providers, local communities, and individuals – must take flood risk seriously and be as prepared as we can be to deal with it. Sir Michael’s report will help us all to do this. I know that he will be taking a close interest in its implementation and I will invite him to attend Cabinet Committee discussions on progress. I will report further to the House in the Autumn with a detailed action plan.

Further information

Page last modified: 25 June 2008
Page published: 25 June 2008