Written Ministerial Statement by Hilary Benn on publication of the interim report on summer 2007 floods - 17 December 2007
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Hilary Benn)
1. I would like to report to the House that this morning Sir Michael Pitt published his interim independent report on the flooding that affected large areas of England in June and July this year.
2. Sir Michael’s final report will be published next Summer following a further period of consultation with the public and interested organisations. As a result of the good progress already made, the Government has agreed with him that the remit for his review should be formally extended to cover the recovery arrangements put in place following the floods.
3. The Government welcomes publication of this interim report and acknowledges the hard work that Sir Michael and his team have put into its publication to meet the timetable and terms of reference which we set. Sir Michael took evidence from a range of individuals and organisations, including people affected by the flooding, the emergency services, local MPs and councillors, local authorities, government departments and agencies, academics and the private sector. As well as many individual local reviews, separate national reviews have or are also being undertaken by, among others, the Environment Agency, the Local Government Association, the Association of British Insurers, the Fire and Rescue Service and the water industry. I also know, and welcome, the considerable interest that Members have taken in relation to the floods, including the current inquiry by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee.
4. The House knows of the severe impact on those people and businesses whose lives were turned upside down by this summer’s floods and the costs that have been borne by them, insurers and the Government. While many people have now been able to return to their homes, some are still living in temporary accommodation while repairs continue. They are bearing their ordeal with considerable fortitude and I know that the thoughts of Members will be with them this Christmas and into the New Year. Our particular sympathies are, of course, with the families of those who lost their lives during the floods.
5. The interim report confirms the extreme nature of the weather that gave rise to the floods and acknowledges the efforts that were made by everyone in responding. It identifies a number of urgent steps which it recommends should be taken straight away. These relate particularly to monitoring of specific flood risks, better information sharing and the practicalities of emergency response. The Government agrees with all of the urgent recommendations and will work with all organisations involved in taking them forward as quickly as possible.
6. The report also sets out 72 interim conclusions, on which Sir Michael is seeking views before he publishes his final report. The Government will carefully consider these and respond to him. However, we are already taking action to address a number of the key issues raised in the report, including:
- Defra officials have already met with Water UK and water companies in England to help ensure a wider take up of the more immediate and practical lessons from the water supply emergency in Gloucestershire. We will now follow up those discussions in the light of the specific recommendations in the Report, such as a review of the minimum supply requirement for water to be provided in the event of the loss of the piped supply.
- The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has asked electricity network operators to review the resilience of electricity substations to flooding. This work is underway under the leadership of the Energy Networks Association.
- Sir Ken Knight, the Government’s Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser, is in the final stages of a review looking at the operational response and role of the Fire and Rescue Service during national flooding incidents. His review will consider, amongst other issues, the need for inter-operability between Fire and Rescue Services training and equipment and that of other local responders.
- We have revised our flood emergency procedures to set out more clearly how Defra, as Lead Government Department, will manage serious flooding in conjunction with the Environment Agency and operational responders on the ground. These procedures were tested during the East coast tidal surge on 9 November and we have refined them further after that event.
- Developing proposals for better management of surface water, including resolving the current complex institutional arrangements and use of sustainable drainage systems, both of which we shall be considering early in the New Year as part of our new water strategy.
- Developing a strategic overview role for the Environment Agency for all sources of flooding and coastal erosion.
- Finalising national guidance on multi-agency flood planning, upon which we will shortly be consulting key organisations before it is made more widely available in the new year.
7. A broader range of other work is in progress, under our Making space for water strategy, to ensure that our long term approach to managing flood and coastal erosion risk is sustainable and takes full account of climate change. As part of this, a series of pilot studies is under way to investigate integrated approaches to urban drainage management and improved resilience of properties.
8. The House will know that the Government has committed to increasing investment in flood and coastal erosion risk management. It will rise from its current level of £600m to £650m in 2008-09, £700m in 2009-10 and £800 million in 2010-11. We are establishing new outcome measures to secure best value for investment and, through the Environment Agency, are considering whether a Long Term Investment Strategy for the next 20 years is appropriate for this policy area.
9. Successive Governments have invested substantially in improving flood defences over many years and there have also been significant advances in flood warning and emergency planning. It is worthwhile recording that the Environment Agency estimate that these defences protected 100,000 properties from flooding this summer. The Agency also state that, while some permanent defences were overwhelmed, in only nine locations was the defence structurally damaged, five of these after being overtopped, and that none of these failures made property flooding worse. Defences also protected many properties from flooding during last month’s East coast tidal surge.
10. I will report further to the House in due course.
Further information
Page published: 17 December 2007