Committee Calls On Govt To Reassure Flood Risk Communities

A Parliamentary committee has called on the Government to provide better assurance for communities at risk of flooding across England.

Since the publication of the 'Environment Food and Rural Affairs Committee's future flood prevention report' in 2016, the House of Commons environment food and rural affairs committee said it was "disappointed" with the Government's "cursory response" to improvements highlighted in the report.

MPs stated stronger planning rules and improvements to flood insurance coverage would help reassure people living in flood risk areas.

In addition, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has been called upon to implement a number of key recommendations to tackle "fragmented, inefficient and ineffective flood management":

• Implement a statutory duty on developers to provide redress where development not meeting planning conditions causes increased flood risk


• Require local authorities to publish annual summaries of planning decisions approved against Environment Agency advice

• Give water and sewage companies a statutory role in consultation on planning applications to prevent new development adding to flood risk

• Commit to a timetable to amend building regulations, if a voluntary approach cannot be agreed, to ensure that homes in flood risk areas are more resistant to flood damage

• Give the Fire and Rescue Service a statutory duty to provide emergency flood response with guarantees of sufficient resources

• Appoint a new National Floods Commissioner for England to bring greater co-ordination between the Environment Agency and local and regional bodies

However, Defra has not committed to taking forward these recommendations.

Acting Chair of the Committee, Jim Fitzpatrick MP, said Ministers should provide the Committee with more information on how they will utilise its £2.5 billion flood defence budget to help slow the flow of water across river catchments to prevent flooding.

"People living in areas of flood risk need to be reassured that the Government is acting to improve our 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," he said.

"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."

(LM/MH)