Asked by
Earl Russell
To ask His Majesty’s Government, following widespread flood
damage caused by both storm Babet and Ciarán, what action they
are taking to ensure all English flood defences are fit for
purpose.
The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs, and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office () (Con)
My Lords, the Government are working closely with the Environment
Agency and other relevant authorities to ensure that flood
defences impacted by recent flooding are repaired. Following
Storm Babet and Storm Ciarán, more than 14,000 inspections of
flood protection assets have been conducted, with action taken
wherever performance was compromised. We have allocated more than
£200 million a year for the maintenance of flood defences and aim
to achieve getting 94% to 95% of flood-risk assets to their
target condition.
Earl Russell (LD)
My Lords, extreme weather is now the new normal. When it comes to
flood events, I am not certain that we are ready for the future.
Although I recognise that the Government have doubled capital
funding, information from the National Audit Office just two
weeks ago revealed that the number of properties to be protected
from flooding by 2027 has been cut by 40%. In addition, Unearthed
has shown that 40,000 of England’s vital flood defences are so
damaged as to be almost useless. Why are there no longer-term
plans or concrete targets for flood defences beyond 2026-27? Is
it time for a full review of our flood defences?
(Con)
We constantly look over the horizon to make sure that we factor
in important phenomena such as climate change and the extreme
weather events we are seeing. The National Audit Office has
reduced that figure principally because of the inflationary
effect on the cost of building concrete and steel defences. Of
course, that is only part of it; nature-based solutions are now
becoming a key part of our defences. I really question the
Unearthed data. The Environment Agency puts all defences in a
category from 1 to 5. If it is a category 4, meaning that it is
not where you want it to be, it still functions in the main. When
we know that a flood is coming, a minor change can be made. That
was an unfair description by Unearthed; the figure of 94% to 95%
of our assets being in good condition is worthy of comment.
My Lords, more than half of Britain’s best farmland is on flood
plains. Farmers are providing a public service by protecting
towns and cities from flooding, but this means that they incur
costs. What are His Majesty’s Government doing to ensure that
farmers are adequately recompensed for this public service that
they provide for our nation?
(Con)
The right reverend Prelate is correct. Farmers can enter into
some agri-environment schemes, which, as we know, are now
targeted on public goods. One of those is protecting the public
from flooding so, if farmers are holding flood-water on their
land, they should be rewarded for it. They can also access the
farming recovery fund, which provides assistance to farmers whose
agricultural land has been damaged by flooding and declared a
natural disaster by the Government. We provide financial
assistance up to 100%, with a minimum grant level of £500 and a
maximum of £25,000; that has been accessed in some extreme
flooding conditions.
The (CB)
My Lords, thousands of homes are eligible for protection in the
UK under the Flood Re protection scheme, which is an insurance
scheme. With these two serious storms, can the Minister tell us a
bit about how the scheme has performed during this period and
whether there are any plans both to look at the scheme again and
to examine, in particular, the eligibility criteria and rating
levels within it?
(Con)
I was involved in the setting up of Flood Re more than a decade
ago. It has undoubtedly brought peace of mind to a huge number of
households that could not get flood insurance or could get it
only for an exorbitant amount. It needs looking at every so
often, as building costs and our understanding of flood risk
increase. The Government are working with the Flood Re in a
variety of ways to ensure that we are making it fit not for just
today but, as I said earlier, recognising that we could soon see
houses we did not previously think were a flood risk become a
flood risk. We want to make sure that this scheme covers them
too.
(Con)
My Lords, for Flood Re to work effectively, surely there should
be no building on functional flood plains. Does my noble friend
the Minister agree that there is a vital role for maintenance and
recognise the work of the drainage authorities? I have the honour
of being the vice-president of the Association of Drainage
Authorities. Will he also ensure that, where the Environment
Agency fails to do the work, farmers and others can do it through
the drainage boards and maintain these flood-banks?
(Con)
This is going to come as a shock to my noble friend but I am not
going to agree with her first point. If we say that we will not
build on flood plains, that means no new houses in Leeds, London
and many of our other major cities. What matters is not whether
you build on flood plains but how you build. I was in the
Netherlands last week, hearing about houses that are actually
flood defences. There is so much successful building on flood
plains around the world. There are also some fantastic examples
in this country from the last 50 years of how not to do it. I
urge caution when saying that we should not build on flood
plains. We have increased the funding for maintenance of defences
by £22 million per year, and are supporting farmers and others in
their work to keep our homes from flooding.
of Ullock (Lab)
My Lords, despite the Government doubling their capital funding
in England to combat flooding, we know that a quarter of new
flood defence projects will not be going ahead. The Environment
Agency has blamed inflation for these cuts, as the Minister
acknowledged earlier. A shortfall in the agency’s finances means
that it cannot keep flood protections to the required condition
to protect homes. Due to this inflation, the EA is now £34
million short of its expected budget. How will the Government
make up this shortfall?
(Con)
As the noble Baroness says, we have put record amounts into flood
protection through the Environment Agency—£5.2 billion from
2021-27, which is a doubling of the investment. Additionally,
there is an extra £200 million on maintenance, a £22 million
increase in the maintenance fund this year and the Environment
Agency is conducting a review, expecting around 69,200
high-consequence assets, of which 63,700 are at the required
condition. We are not complacent. We recognise that there is an
increased threat from flooding, as there is from a variety of
extreme weather conditions. We have made this a priority for
government and will continue to support the Environment Agency
with what it needs to keep our homes safe from flooding.
(LD)
My Lords, I will follow on the Minister’s answer to the question
from the noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh of Pickering. Given that
we already have houses built on flood plains and that there will
probably be more, what are the Government doing to mandate
resilient design—he hinted that other countries have done
that—and to retrofit houses that have already been built there?
Things can be done, such as laying concrete flooring and raising
the level of the electricity circuits. Will the Government ensure
that this sort of design is built in when it becomes necessary to
build new houses on flood plains?
(Con)
I totally agree. Through our conversations on housing design and
the incentives and financial support that we give to householders
to retrofit, we are seeing those householders protect their
houses themselves. In flood-risk areas, where you put the plug
sockets can make a difference if a house floods, so recovery
funding must also drive that. We must listen to the Environment
Agency when it says that developments should not take place, but
if the developer, working with the local authority, and the
Environment Agency, says that these mitigation measures have been
put in place, we will copy what goes on in places such as the
Mississippi basin and the Netherlands, where there is intelligent
building in flood-risk areas.
The (CB)
My Lords, are the Government satisfied that the public are
sufficiently aware of flood risk when they buy a house, aside
from what needs to be done legally in terms of a flood-risk
report?
(Con)
Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the purchaser of a house
to look at all the risks. There comes a point where government
cannot be involved in every transaction and action of a human
life. However, it is key that data on flood risk, of which there
can now be an enormous amount, is accessible through the
Environment Agency’s website and through local authorities. That
should be accessed by people buying a house and those advising
them.
