MPs have today (24 January) criticised the Government for missing opportunities to act on its report on improving flood protection for communities at risk across England.
The Environment Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee's future flood prevention report published in November 2016 recommended action to tackle fragmented, inefficient and ineffective flood management.
MPs were disappointed with the Government's cursory response which failed to address fully its calls for improvement.
The Committee had called upon Defra to provide greater safeguards and assurance to local communities through stronger planning rules and improvements to flood insurance coverage.
It also found that the Government needs to develop robust long-term plans and to fundamentally overhaul governance and streamline delivery of flood risk management.
'People need to be reassured'
Jim Fitzpatrick MP, Acting Chair of the EFRA Committee, said people living in areas of flood risk 'need to be reassured' that the Government is acting to improve the 'disjointed' flood management system.
“Defra has failed to give sufficient justification for its rejection of our recommendations for important new measures to improve flood protection.
“Ministers must give us more detailed information on how the Government is using its £2.5 billion flood defence budget to slow the flow of water across river catchments so as to stop communities flooding in future.
“Ministers must also update us on their actions to ensure that the insurance, planning and building regulation regimes reduce flood risk and improve property resilience.”
'Quango'
Rural organisation CLA's President Ross Murray said: “At the root of this row between the Government and the Select Committee is a fundamental problem. The way we currently organise decision making on flooding at the local level is confusing, inaccessible and it is not working.
“We didn’t back the Committee’s call for a new national flooding authority. We don’t want to see yet another ‘quango’ created at a time when the real need is for better joined up thinking across a range of land use challenges.
“However, we do expect the Environment Agency to show leadership in delivering a big improvement in the co-ordination between the complex web of Internal Drainage Boards, Rivers Authorities and Water Management Boards.”
