Benn welcomes Pitt report on summer floods
Secretary of State for the Environment Hilary Benn, has today accepted the urgent recommendations put forward in Sir Michael Pitt’s interim report into the summer floods, on behalf of Government.
The interim report confirms the extreme nature of the weather that gave rise to the floods and identifies a number of urgent steps recommended to be taken straight away. These relate to monitoring of specific flood risks, better information sharing and the practicalities of emergency response.
Mr Benn pledged to work with all of the organisations involved in responding to the summer floods, in order to take forward the report’s proposals. Welcoming the report, he said:
“The summer floods affected huge numbers of people across England, many of whom are still living with the devastating after affects, and are not able to get back into their homes. My particular sympathies are, of course, with the families of those who lost their lives during the floods.
“Earlier this year I announced a significant increase in funding for flood and coastal erosion risk management. This will rise from its current level of £600m, to £650m in 2008-09, £700m in 2009-10 and £800 million in 2010-11. These record levels of investment will be supported by the establishment of new outcome measures to secure best value for investment, through the Environment Agency, and considering whether a Long Term Investment Strategy for the next twenty years is appropriate for this policy area.”
The report also sets out a larger number of interim conclusions, on which Sir Michael Pitt is seeking views before he publishes his final report. The Government will carefully consider these and respond to him in due course.
Further information
- See the news release for more information including what action Defra, along with other government departments, is already taking to address a number of the key issues raised in the report.
- The Pitt Review interim report
- Hilary Benn’s written ministerial statement in response to the report
Page published: 17 December 2007