Speech by Phil Woolas MP to the New Civil Engineer Conference, Earls Court Conference Centre, 17 June 2008
As we approach the first anniversary of last summer’s floods I am acutely aware that these last twelve months have been extremely tough for many people in the flood affected areas of our country.
But I’m pretty sure that life would have been a lot tougher if it hadn’t been for the tireless work of the emergency services, the Environment Agency and other organisations at the time of the floods. The sterling effort of those agencies involved in the subsequent clean up. And the financial help and advice given to individuals and businesses alike by the insurance industry, surveyors and loss adjusters.
So if you would allow me - I’d like to start my speech today by extending my heartfelt thanks to everyone concerned in the flood prevention and recovery sector. Indeed the Government’s flood recovery group met again last week, and there I heard that the effects are still being felt by some businesses and individuals. You did and have done a fantastic job in response to these terrible events.
Events that I think bring into sharp focus the issue of climate change. Although one cannot attribute the flooding exclusively to global warming, we can say that that there will be more extreme climate events and that flood risk will increase. And with that the big choices and significant challenges that lay ahead for everyone involved in making sure that this country is as well prepared as it can be for any similar events in the future.
Climate change and global warming are going to become major forces in all our lives, in Governmental and organisational decision making, and in the way we organise and allocate our finances. Life in the future will not stay the same. We expect to see winter rainfall increase by up to a third by the end of this century. And with it an increased intensity of rainfall.
It’s already too late to stop some climate change from happening. The climatic changes we are seeing today are as a result of what we did 30 or 40 years ago.
We need to act now to minimise future problems. If we don’t, we’ll see changes that we won’t be able to cope with in the years to come.
And it won’t just be an environmental or geographical problem. Climate change will be something that has the potential to threaten our security, our prosperity and our development.
This view is further backed up by Nick Stern’s analysis on the economics of climate change a couple of years ago. He highlighted the fact that the long term costs of not doing anything far outweighed the costs of early action in the face of our changing climate.
So it’s now no longer a question of whether we need to act. We actually need to ask ourselves what do we need to do to deal with our changing climate.
And that is why we have made adapting to climate change – adaptation in the lingo - the linchpin for our water policy and runs throughout “Future Water” – the Government’s water strategy for England. And why it was at the heart of our strategy Making Space for Water back in 2004 when we laid out our vision for managing the risks of flooding and coastal erosion.
On the basis of this, I’m backing up the delivery of these strategies by looking to introduce a new legislative framework and a draft Floods and Water Bill next year. This Bill aims to consolidate – under a single unifying Act of Parliament - many strands of existing law. Some of which hark back to the 1930s. When the population stood at just over 45 million. And the number of houses in this country were significantly less than our current stock of over 25 million.
We need to make sure that our response to this problem is the right one. We can no longer concentrate purely on flood defence and control - as we have done in previous years. It’s important we now look to adopt a different mindset for the future. We must approach this issue from a more rounded view. We need to be able to tackle and deal with all forms of flooding; not just the more familiar type of river flooding, but surface water flooding too.
That’s why I can announce today, at your new civil engineer event, that the Environment Agency (EA) will be given the strategic overview for all flooding issues throughout England. As many of you know they already have this power for the coast – and not Natural England has been reported. It’s vital that this role for the EA is extended to cover all forms of inland flooding – if we are to tackle surface water flooding effectively, as well as river flooding and coastal erosion issues.
We also need to ensure that overall we have a flood risk management system that can respond quickly, efficiently and effectively. A system that is funded correctly, using a long-terms twenty-five year timeframe for investment. A system that maps out clear roles and responsibilities for the all the other agencies involved – from the relevant local authorities, to the Internal Drainage Boards and the water companies. Another objective is to ensure that reservoir safety legislation is, as they say, fit for purpose.
But as I said earlier this is a Floods AND Water Bill. And as such we’re looking use this Bill to update the legal framework covering our water resources too. The topics here range from simple and straightforward changes to old legislation, bringing it up to date. On to the more complex issues that might be needed as a result of the independent reviews of charging and metering. And of competition and innovation. Here it is the innovation aspect that I am really keen we investigate; although I recognise that some beneficial small changes could be made in terms of competition, I’m certainly not looking to introduce a Railtrack-like model for the water industry.
I am persuaded by the case that we need to have near universal metering, with a system of tariffs to make it as fair as it can be – we have passed the tipping point where those without a meter are currently subsidising those with them.
In tandem with this our recent Future Water strategy announced proposals to time limit all abstraction licences which I think will help in managing water resources as the impacts of climate change start to bite. Similarly, our desire to extend the scope of hosepipe bans to allow more activities to be stopped or limited by water companies during drought periods.
So as you can see there’s a huge amount going on at the moment, but, if I may, I would like to return to the events of last summer and highlight one point that I think needs further exploration. And certainly something Sir Michael Pitt highlighted in his interim report published just before Christmas last year. And that is the issue of surface water. It’s interesting to note that the Environment Agency estimated that two thirds of the 57,000 homes flooded last year were in fact flooded by surface water.
It’s also interesting to see from the Foresight Future Flooding report which it is estimated that 80,000 UK properties are at a very high risk of surface water flooding. Were this to happen, this could result in £270 million worth of damage each year, according to the report. Couple that with predicted changes in our climate, the continued demand for new homes, and our modern obsession with paving over our front gardens and you can see that we are storing up quite a bit of trouble for ourselves.
That’s why at the beginning of last year we set up 15 pilot areas to test out some different approaches to the management our urban drainage systems.
The pilots analysed a range of topics. Some looked at planning issues associated with drainage to new housing developments in green field sites. Others modelled and mapped combined flood risks from urban rivers, surface and sewer systems. Whilst other projects investigated the impact of urbanisation and climate change as well prioritising investment across different stakeholder groups.
One of the projects – the River Hogsmill pilot on the border between Kingston and Epsom and Ewell Council in Surrey – has calculated that producing a Surface Water Management Plan can reduce the flood risk to new development by half, as the new housing is built in areas with fewer surface water drainage problems.
We did in fact look at this issue in our Future Water policy document. For example, we announced that households would need planning permission to pave over their front garden, unless they use permeable gravel or paving. We went out to consultation to gauge opinion on how to improve surface water drainage. We’re now looking at the responses and I hope to publish a digest of these soon.
Today I can also reveal that under the Environment Agency’s overview, local authorities will take responsibility for surface water flooding in their communities. It seems to me that they are best placed to deal with this issue. They have the local knowledge and have a good handle on what could and what in fact should work in their area. To assist them we’re looking to the Environment Agency to offer support in helping them develop surface water management plans, that identify who has the responsibility within in their areas for the management of this issue. As part of this framework of support the Agency will be publishing guidance later this year.
The idea is these plans will help local authorities to make sure that the necessary maintenance is being carried out by the right land owner, in the right place, so that any potential flood area is better protected. But what we are also exploring is how we can properly enforce this. In the future if the work isn’t being carried out, one possible route we’re looking at is to provide local authorities with the power under statute to carry out the work themselves, then charge the landowner for the work they’ve done.
I’ve set aside about £34.5 million for any work that comes out of the final Pitt Review. Whatever action is taken will be done on the back of a fully costed and prioritised action plan.
Also with the Floods and Water Bill we will be looking tighten up and improve reservoir safety. As many of you know, currently reservoirs are only regulated and inspected if they are above a certain size.
We need to take a risked based approach to reservoir management which relates not primarily on how big they are but also what is at risk below them. We are expecting Sir Michael Pitt to have some clear recommendations for improving the 1975 Reservoirs Act and intend to include any necessary changes in the Draft Floods and Water Bill.
And how we prepare this country for the future impacts of our changing climate will have an impact on so many people’s everyday lives.
I for one want to make sure that we are as well prepared as we can be. I want to be able to stand here in front of you in years to come and tell you how well our plans worked in the wake of another unpredictable and serious flood.
I am very proud to be Minister for water and for the industry, especially as my family has a long history of association with water and engineering, and I am personally very committed to it. I look to you all to help us get our policies right – thank you.
Page published: 17 June 2008