Floods and Water Bill
Latest News
- 17 June 2008 – Phil Woolas announces broad outline of the proposed Floods and Water Bill during a speech at the New Civil Engineer “The Future of UK Water Resources” Conference in London
- 17 June 2008 – Defra launches Floods and Water Bill webpages and invites comments from stakeholders
Timeframe
14 May 2008 – Prime Minister announces proposed draft Floods and Water Bill in Legislative Green Paper
17 June 2008 – Phil Woolas announces broad outline of proposed Bill during speech at NCE
Spring 2009 – Government aim to produce Draft Floods and Water Bill
Background
As a direct result of the floods which affected large parts of the country last summer, Sir Michael Pitt was asked to lead an independent lessons learned review, examining both how to reduce the risk and impact of such flooding, and the emergency response itself. Sir Michael Pitt’s Interim Report, published in December 2007 stated that flooding legislation should be updated and streamlined under a single unifying Act of Parliament that amongst other outcomes addresses all sources of flooding, clarifies responsibilities and facilitates flood risk management. The Government agreed with that interim conclusion and awaits the final recommendation in Pitt’s full report (expected shortly).
As announced by the Prime Minister on 14 May in the Draft Legislative Programme, the Government intends to publish a draft Floods and Water Bill for consultation in 2009. This follows both the Pitt Review into the 2007 floods and the Government’s Water Strategy, Future Water, which launched a review of competition and innovation in the water industry and water charging and metering.
The current timetable is for a consultation Draft of the Bill to be published in Spring 2009 with the Bill then being available for introduction in a later Parliamentary Session. The detailed provisions of the Bill are currently being scoped, and there will be opportunity for stakeholder engagement throughout the process.
Any queries relating to the Floods and Water Bill, and any issues that you feel the team need to consider which the Bill could usefully cover, then please email us.
Useful Links
- Defra pages on:
- Pitt Review
Page last
modified: 17 June 2008
Page published: 17 June 2008