Session 2007 -08
7 May 2008
COUNTRY STILL UNDERPREPARED FOR
FLOODING, WARNS EFRA SELECT COMMITTEE
Flooding-Report published
There was a total lack of awareness
about the vulnerability of large parts of the country to
flooding until the heavy rainfall of last summer,
according to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Committee.
In a report published today (May 7),
Flooding, the Committee found areas which had been
considered at low risk of flooding were badly affected
by the surface water flooding in June and July last
year. It found flood defence measures focussed almost
exclusively on river and coastal flooding and that the
infrastructure to deal with floods caused by heavy
rainfall was in an “unclear and chaotic state”.
No organisation currently has
responsibility for surface water flooding at either the
national or local level. For example, during their
inquiry MPs heard how in Hull and parts of Sheffield,
when heavy rainfall was predicted, local authorities
lacked the information to know which areas were
vulnerable to flooding. When the heavy rains started no
body was responsible for issuing flood warnings to those
people whose properties may be affected. When drains
began to overflow it was difficult to determine who was
responsible for which drains.
MPs want the Environment Agency to have
an over-arching role to provide advice and guidance but
local authorities should have a statutory duty for
surface water drainage to ensure its area remains
effectively drained. However, a local authority could
sub-contract part of this responsibility where ownership
of the drainage system lies with another body.
The Committee recognises a first
necessary step to ensure local authorities can fulfil
these responsibilities is clarity about the ownership of
the different drainage systems in an area. It supports
the conclusion in the Review carried out by Sir Michael
Pitt that local authorities be required to compile a
register of all the main flood risk management and
drainage assets, including an assessment of their
condition and details of the responsible owners.
The Committee strongly supports greater
use of sustainable drainage systems (SUDS) and believes
that local authorities should be responsible for the
ownership and maintenance of SUDs, as happens elsewhere
in Europe.
Individuals also have an element of
responsibility and the Committee supports plans to ban
the paving over of front gardens with anything other
than porous material without planning permission and it
recommends that any new discharge of surface water by
drain or sewer to a watercourse should require the
consent of the Environment Agency.
Ministers have also got to stop
suggesting that all will be well because the Government
will by 2010/11 have increased spending on flood risk
management to £800 million. This settlement looks far
less impressive under close analysis and is not fully
adequate to cope with the risks the country faces. Nor
does it come fully into effect for another two years.
The Committee were surprised at the
precision with which Defra came to the figure of
£34.5million to implement Sir Michael Pitt’s report
recommendations. The Committee wants an explanation from
the Government about how it will fund Sir Michael’s
recommendations when his final fully costed report is
published, particularly as the total may well come to
more than this amount.
The Committee supports the Pitt Review
recommendation that all new buildings on the flood plain
are properly flood resistant and resilient.
However, it warns that the Pitt Review
recommendations may not be able to be implemented unless
the Government addresses a skills shortage among
engineers working in the flooding and drainage fields.
Local people should be consulted about
watercourse and river maintenance and, once a decision
on that has been made, the Environment Agency should
make this clear and publicly available.
Ofwat must ensure that the full cost to
utilities companies of making their facilities flood
resistant does not fall to the customer in the form of
raised water bills. However, its 2009 review must take
into account the need of these companies to improve the
resilience of their critical assets.
Householders who live in areas of high
flood risk must automatically receive flood-risk
warnings from the Environment Agency rather than simply
opting in to receive them.
The Chairman of the Committee, the Rt
Hon Michael Jack MP, said:
“The public will not forgive the
Government if it is not seen to be responding to the
lessons learnt from the floods of last summer.
“Our report has shown how confused
and chaotic was the infrastructure when it came to
preventing and dealing with surface water flooding.
The Government must bring clarity to this situation
so that the public, wherever they live, can have
peace of mind that every effort is being made to
avoid a repeat of the fiasco of last summer.
“The Government will not be easily
forgiven if their response to last summer’s events
are not seen as comprehensive and well funded.
“It is vital that the public can see
that policies to deal with surface water flooding
are well co-ordinated and managed by key players
such as local authorities, the Environment Agency
and utility providers.
“The appointment of Sir Michael Pitt
as the Environment Agency’s ‘flood supremo’ would be
a powerful first step to ensuring that the ‘lessons
learnt’ are implemented in reality.”
NOTES TO EDITORS:
Further details about this inquiry can
be found at:
http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/environment__food_and_rural_affairs/efraflooding.cfm
Media Enquiries: Laura Kibby: Tel: 020
7219 0718, Mob: 079174 88557, Email: kibbyl@parliament.uk
