Speech by Ian Pearson MP at the ABI Flood Resilience Workshop, Gresham Street, London, 15 May 2007
Good morning everyone, and let me begin by thanking the ABI for hosting this event, dealing with a subject that is rapidly rising up the flood management agenda.
The context that makes resilience especially relevant is, of course, climate change. Climate change is the world’s greatest long-term challenge, and addressing it both internationally and at home needs both political will and public support.
Tackling the problem means working on two fronts. We must continue to put great effort into Mitigation – reducing our emissions of greenhouse gases - both domestically and in partnership with the international community. But however successful that is, we still need a process of Adaptation, to deal with the expected serious consequences from climate change already in the pipeline.
The Stern Review on the economics of climate change highlighted that while the UK may perhaps enjoy some limited benefits from climate change (such as milder winters overall), the costs will be substantial and increasing.
And for the UK, it will be through changes in the water environment that the greatest costs are felt. The Environment Agency has estimated that 10 – 15% of increased reservoir capacity may be required to address potential water deficits over the next twenty years, at a cost of £3 billion.
The Government’s Foresight report calculated that the annual cost of flooding in the UK could increase from £1 billion today to £2 billion by the end of the century, if flood management activity is increased in line with the rising risk, and up to £27 billion if not.
And research by the ABI suggests that a 40cm rise in sea levels will put an extra 130,000 properties on the East Coast at risk of flooding. In total 400,000 properties will be at risk, up nearly 50% on the current number.
The Government takes these kinds of predictions seriously and is committed to responding robustly to the challenge of adaptation. Our Adaptation Policy Framework will embed adaptation into Government policies, and our draft Climate Change Bill includes a reporting requirement for adaptation.
We are currently preparing a new Water Strategy for England. This will set out a coherent and forward- looking policy framework, by focusing on climate change we underpin our commitments for water availability and quality. This framework will be focused through a climate change lens, ensuring that water policy is adapting to changing climatic conditions, whilst reducing the carbon footprint of the water sector.
The Government is committed to effective management of flood and coastal erosion risk. Total central and local government spend has risen from £307 million ten years ago to an estimated £598 million this year (2007-08) - a total of some £4.5 billion over the period. Our investment is making real improvements; we are currently discussing future funding requirements across Government, as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review.
The work from Foresight emphasises the importance of employing an integrated portfolio of approaches to manage flood risk sustainably, and in a way that provides a fair balance between national and local priorities.
That’s what our developing strategy for flood management, Making Space for Water, aims to do. It puts adaptation at the heart of our policies for managing rivers and the changing coastline. Later this year we aim to consult on revised policy guidance for operating authorities, to ensure decisions take full account of all economic, environmental and social impacts, including climate change.
Flood resistance and resilience at the property level – the subject of today’s workshop – have the potential to play an important part in ensuring that the country adapts well to the impacts of climate change. We need new approaches, including better information and advice on how to respond to flood risk. And we are funding a pilot study on resilience to look at the practical and administrative issues in more detail.
Flood resistance and resilience provide a route for managing risk to those properties which flood very frequently or isolating properties, often in rural areas, where it would be too costly or impractical to defend using conventional community schemes. Without such property-level measures, householders living with flood risk may have little option but to suffer the consequences of flooding again and again.
For those that have renovated their property with a resilient finish or who use flood protection products, the benefits can be real and tangible. For example, Norwich Union funded the retro-fit of a house in Lowestoft with resilient measures (tiled concrete floor, water proof plaster, raised electrics, appliances on plinths). The property flooded late last year. The householder only had to mop her floors and walls to return to normal, and was back in her property the following day. In contrast, some of her neighbours had to replace carpets and wooden flooring to make their homes habitable again, leading to prolonged stays in alternative accommodation, while their properties dry out properly and are repaired.
But a significant concern that I have is the uptake of resistance and resilience
measures is currently very low – even in areas where the benefits of installing
such measures clearly far outweigh the cost.
One of the goals of our work on flood resilience is to understand what the
barriers to uptake are, and how they can be overcome.
This is where we need to work closely with our stakeholders, to examine what levers we can use to increase uptake - and why I am pleased to see all of you here today.
We see three key elements to this work:
First, better information. Many householders do not know what resilience options are available to them, or what benefits they may bring.
So how do we best raise awareness about resilience amongst those at flood risk, particularly for those who have not experienced a flood before? As part of our Making Space for Water strategy, we are considering the role of the Environment Agency and others, such as local authorities, in raising flood awareness and providing general advice on flood resilience.
I am pleased to see the insurance industry guidance to customers – promoting resilient repair is something we would like to see used more widely, where repeat flooding is likely. We hope that the ABI, with the support of the industry, can start to document the extent to which this is now happening and can encourage its members to keep promoting resilient repair where this is an appropriate option.
It is also important to develop the evidence base. Information about the costs and benefits of flood resistance and resilience is still rather limited. But I am pleased to announce today the publication of a scoping report commissioned by Defra, to bring together the most up-to-date information on flood resilience. The report pulls together the latest studies on resistance and resilience, and draws on existing experiences of using such measures, for example local authority and Water Company grant schemes.
A second key element in promoting resilience is ensuring clear professional advice. Even when a householder recognises that they are at risk from flooding and want to do something about it, there are often few easy or affordable routes to finding out what is required. Flood resilience is technically more complex than fitting a simple smoke alarm or burglar alarm. It requires professional advice at the level of an individual property.
Today the Government is launching a new guidance document, prepared by Communities and Local Government, on the construction of properties that are more flood resilient. We recognise that the most sustainable option is to limit development in the floodplain, which we are committed to through a stronger and clearer planning policy, as set out recently in Planning Policy Statement 25. But in some cases, other factors may point to allowing such development, and in those cases, we should aim to minimise the potential damage. Often the construction costs are not substantially greater, but the benefits following a flood will be very significant.
Related to this, Defra has funded a project providing practical advice on how adaptation measures can be built in from the beginning of development, providing a developer’s checklist and accompanying case study guidance.
In parallel, we are starting work with the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors and other professional bodies to look at the capacity within the industry to provide the appropriate level of technical advice, along with its affordability and accessibility. I understand there will be an opportunity to discuss this in more detail in one of the groups this afternoon.
A third key element is the provision of financial incentives. In the UK, where flood insurance is becoming more risk-based, the insurance industry can play a key role in increasing the uptake of resistance and resilience – both by making their customers aware of their options for reducing risk at a property level and by offering financial incentives through the terms that they offer. I understand that the ABI is starting to look in more detail at how insurance could be used to drive positive behaviour. We look forward to seeing the results of this work, and to getting a better understanding of the extent to which insurers are already factoring in resilience when they offer flood cover.
In our consultation on Making Space for Water, we recognised that
increasing resilience is always primarily the responsibility of building owners.
However, with social justice considerations in mind, there could be a role
for assistance, probably from local authorities, for particularly vulnerable
households. In the Government’s first response to the results of the consultation, we said
we would carry out scoping work on the feasibility of a pilot scheme to support
grant assistance to households.
Today I am pleased to announce that we have identified £500,000 in the
current financial year to support a pilot scheme. The intention is that
this funding will cover the full costs of any professional advice required and
a proportion of the costs of the measures themselves, within an overall ceiling
of £5,000 per property.
We have been working with the Environment Agency to identify a first tranche of sites suitable for the pilot, covering a range of flooding situations. Areas on a short-list are currently working up their detailed proposals for delivering the scheme. We expect in most or all cases that this will be done through local authority partners. We hope that a variety of innovative approaches will result.
But we are also keen to hear from you. Today we are opening the call for additional areas to be considered. If you would like to work up a proposal to run a local scheme offering grant aid to a number of particularly vulnerable properties, we would like to hear from you. Please bear in mind that the number of schemes we can fund as part of the pilot is necessarily very limited!
In conclusion, it is clear that adaptation to climate change will continue to be a key feature of Government policy, particularly for the water sector. A range of flood management responses is likely to offer the most robust and holistic solution to preparing for the future. And increasing the resilience of properties is a key element of that solution. I’m sure your discussions today will help move us towards that goal.
Page last modified: 15
May 2007
Page published:
15 May 2007