Flooding (East Leeds)

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 6:20 pm on 26 July 2007.

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Photo of Phil Woolas Phil Woolas Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 6:20, 26 July 2007

The traditional congratulations are due to my hon. Friend Mr. Mudie on securing the debate, which is enormously important and timely. One would never have imagined that an Adjournment debate on flooding would follow the summer recess debate. That shows how pertinent the debate is. I assure him that the Government have not forgotten the June floods. Indeed, immediately before this debate, I attended a ministerial meeting on flood recovery following the June floods, and ministerial visits have been made this week to find out the situation for ourselves. I ask him to take that message back.

I will answer the specific points on Leeds, because that is what will be of most value to my hon. Friend in the time that I have available, but briefly to answer his questions on the insurance companies, I and ministerial colleagues met the Association of British Insurers two weeks ago to discuss that point and to reinforce the message that he and others have passed on. The Leader of the House announced arrangements for Members of Parliament with concerns to get in touch during the recess, and a letter will be sent to him from the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. The press statement that was issued after the meeting gave a full account of the points agreed at the meeting, where the statement of principles was reinforced and the assurances that were sought were given.

On drainage co-ordination, my hon. Friend kindly made the point that it has already been announced that that is a matter for the review. It is also fundamental, core business for my Department. Irrespective of the recent floods, that is an area of huge policy attention.

On my hon. Friend's specific point about the authorities' response, I concur that no civil resilience planning can substitute for the resilience of the public. It does not work without them and without individual acts of initiative and of people taking responsibility. However, the fact that the response this time was much better than three years ago is a tribute to my right hon. Friend Mr. Raynsford and the former Deputy Prime Minister my right hon. Friend Mr. Prescott, who put into place the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 precisely to ensure that, at local level, there is co-ordination under a single command and control structure—the gold command. I suspect that the better responses that my hon. Friend has had reflect that point.

We are aware of the problems in Leeds generally and of the Wyke beck situation in my hon. Friend's constituency. I am advised that there have been five flooding events in the past seven years, three of which were especially serious and affected up to 70 properties. The Environment Agency is undertaking a study using previous flood studies and hydraulic models to identify detailed flood risk areas and the constraints within the river channel. Some 20 possible options for flood alleviation have been identified, based on site visits, past flood events, flood studies and discussions with Leeds city council and Yorkshire Water. The Environment Agency will assess the options and evaluate their impact on reducing flood risk. That work will be completed in around three weeks' time. The next stage will be to assess the costs and financial benefits of the options, together with identifying any environmental improvements. It is likely that that element of work will be contracted to consulting engineers.

We have also been asked, through the agency, to assess whether a footbridge is causing a constriction to the river flow at the Dunhill Rise estate. A river gauge has been installed to provide a flood warning service based on empirical evidence. It will be available for operation in September 2007. As my hon. Friend will know, a flood warden network has also been established.

In terms of future development, there is the Leeds plan, and my hon. Friend mentioned the reinstatement by the agency of the money. The time factors are in part dependent on, and a function of, the funds available, but I assure my hon. Friend that we weigh the risk factors, including the population and economic importance of Leeds, in deciding such matters. I hope that he can take reassurance from that.

I hope that I can convince the House of the truth that it is entirely a coincidence that the pilot project money for resilience has been made available at the same time as my hon. Friend's Adjournment debate. The fact is that the robustness of the bid made it clear that it should be successful and I was simply acting on recommendations from experts and officials. I am grateful nevertheless for my hon. Friend's thanks. I hope that I have answered my hon. Friend's specific questions and given him some good news to take back up the M1, or on GNER, if he is looking after his carbon footprint.

The next major policy initiative in the area, which current events will feed into but which was happening anyway, is the thorough review of the flood risk management policy in the cross-Government "Making space for water" strategy. That looks at the issue in the round, including risk from all forms of flooding, such as rivers, sea, ground water, surface run-off and sewers. We are looking at a broad range of management measures and aiming to improve management of the risk nationally by giving the agency a strategic overview of all forms of flooding in close partnership with local authorities, the water companies and others. We have already announced the detailed form that that new role will take on the coast and we have invited initial views on the situation inland. The responsibilities and co-ordination concerning urban drainage are complex. Water and sewerage companies plan for future demands on the public sewerage network, and Ofwat has been working with them to develop 25-year sewerage supply and demand plans that will take account of our climate change expectations.

The Government have significantly increased funding, from £600 million to £800 million for the next spending review period—a considerable increase on earlier capital budgets. I emphasise again that the reduction forced on the Environment Agency owing to pressures in the financial year was on recurrent expenditure, not capital expenditure. However, my experience of the exceptional circumstances of the past few weeks suggests that no amount of funding could have prevented the disasters we have seen.

I send my good wishes to you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, to the House and, especially, to the victims of flooding in my hon. Friend's constituency and throughout the country. I assure them that the Government will not take their eye off the ball during the recess.

Question put and agreed to.

Adjourned accordingly at half-past Six o'clock till Monday 8 October, pursuant to Resolution [16 May].