(1 day, 9 hours ago)
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The Lord Bishop of Sheffield
To ask His Majesty’s Government what evaluation they have made of sustainable water management solutions to address flooding events and protracted droughts in Yorkshire.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Baroness Hayman of Ullock) (Lab)
My Lords, this Government are committed to supporting more sustainable water management, both locally and nationally. Specifically in Yorkshire, we are working with the Connected by Water partnership, which is looking at ways to manage water more sustainably to reduce flood risk and drought. A key part is the integrated floodwater management plan, which encourages sustainable drainage systems in new developments and collecting and reusing rainwater—and that includes treated wastewater—in order to reduce demand on water resources.
The Lord Bishop of Sheffield
I thank the Minister for her response. Noble Lords will be aware of the increased frequency and severity of flood events across the UK in recent years. Communities I serve in South Yorkshire are up to one-third more likely to experience flooding than the national average. Public First estimated last year that every pound spent on flood prevention saves £8 of costs in flood damage. So I warmly welcome the Government’s recent water White Paper, not least the section on infrastructure planning and development. I ask the Minister, however, what plans she and her colleagues across government have to include flood resilience measures in the Future Homes Standard.
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
Protecting homes is clearly very important. The national assessment of flood and coastal erosion risk, published in January last year, shows that around 6.3 million properties in England are at risk of flooding. With climate change, we believe that this could increase to 8 million. So this is a really important point, and I assure the right reverend Prelate that it is a government priority. If we are going to solve these problems, this is about not just Defra but us working with the MHCLG and more broadly across government. We are putting forward the largest flood and coastal erosion programme in history, with £2.65 billion to better protect properties by March this year. We have started completing those schemes, and we will keep investing in this. It is a priority.
Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms and Chief Whip (Lord Kennedy of Southwark) (Lab Co-op)
We have plenty of time. We will have the Lib Dems first, then the Conservatives.
Baroness Grender (LD)
My Lords, does the Minister agree that Yorkshire Water, and others, are effectively exploiting loopholes in the Water (Special Measures) Act? How will they urgently be prevented from rewarding themselves for a polluting and failing service—whether it is called a bonus, a retention payment or, in the case of Yorkshire Water, so-called “fixed fees” of over £1 million, on top of a large salary for the chief executive? Should this money not be returned?
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
When we brought in the recent water Act, we expected water companies to respect what Parliament had passed, and to behave in the right way regarding paying themselves bonuses when they were continuing to pollute. We will do what we can to crack down on that and to change behaviour, but I am also pleased that we are looking to prioritise a further water Bill to continue to improve the situation.
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)
I pay tribute to the Slowing the Flow Pickering scheme, which has prevented the flooding of Pickering. I bring to the Minister’s attention the case of Gladman Developments v Lancaster City Council. It has set aside the sequential test and overruled what MHCLG was hoping for: that optional standards will be respected. Going forward, this will contribute to greater flooding until we have mandatory SUDS standards. Is this not causing the Government concern? There is an amendment to the English devolution Bill that I hope MHCLG might support.
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
Obviously, I cannot comment on the specific issue to which the noble Baroness refers, but we are absolutely committed to improving the implementation of sustainable drainage systems. The noble Baroness is aware that we have updated the national planning policy framework to do so, and we introduced new national standards in June last year. They made it clear that SUDS should be designed to cope with changing climate conditions and to deliver wider benefits. We want this to work, and we recognise that SUDS are an important part of combating future flooding.
Baroness Boycott (CB)
My Lords, flood defences in Monmouth were built in 2020, survived a storm in 2022 and fell down in 2025. It seems that a lot of the concrete stuff that is built is not actually resistant in the long term. What are the Government doing to look at more nature-based solutions? Japan’s insurance industry funds only nature-based solutions such as bends in rivers, as it feels that they really do provide resistance. What percentage of our flood defences is going in that direction?
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
The noble Baroness raises a very important point, and that is why we now have a strategic objective to ensure that at least 4% of flood and coastal erosion risk management investment over the next 10 years is dedicated to natural flood management. This means that we will invest at least £300 million in natural flood management over the next decade—the highest amount so far during the floods programme. We are also prioritising projects by their benefits for every pound of government investment, because we know that natural flood management has historically attracted contributions from partners. Again, this will help to boost effectiveness. We are completely committed to continued investment in these natural flood management systems.
Lord Watts (Lab)
My Lords, is this not another case of privatisation going wrong and the water companies taking massive profits out of the water system, leaving the Government with liabilities that are now costing a fortune?
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
My noble friend is absolutely right to raise this, and that is why we are prioritising a further water White Paper to sort these issues out.
Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)
My Lords, the conditions described in the Oral Question are a result of climate change. The fact is that climate change is going to hit infrastructure—roads, railways and homes —in Yorkshire, and everywhere else globally, very hard. Is Defra explaining to the Treasury exactly how disastrous it would be to delay spending on climate change adaptation measures?
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
I assure the noble Baroness that we talk regularly about the importance of this not just to the Treasury but to other departments.
Lord Roborough (Con)
My Lords, following on from the question from the noble Baroness, Lady Boycott, the Forestry Commission and the Woodland Trust have produced excellent research on the water-related benefits of tree planting, peatland restoration and rewetting wetlands. This demonstrates that reductions in peak flow rates during high rainfall events alleviate flood severity and that better water retention reduces drought severity and improves water quality. How will the Minister bring together the water companies, the insurance industry and infrastructure owners, as the beneficiaries of these nature-based solutions, to fund true catchment-scale investment not just in Yorkshire but all around our country? I declare my interest as a landowner.
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
As I mentioned in response to the earlier question, we know that natural flood management attracts contributions from partners, including private partners, and that is something we must do. As the noble Baroness has just said, flooding has a big impact on climate change. We are not going to solve this unless we bring everyone together—the Government, infrastructure developers, the private sector and so on.
The Duke of Wellington (CB)
My Lords, the Question refers to water management, particularly in relation to protracted droughts. Does the Minister agree that one of the problems is the huge amount of water—billions of litres every year—that is lost from the system through leakage? Leakage is mentioned in the White Paper, but does the Minister agree that greater priority must be attached to reducing water leakage in our system? In a period when there are great difficulties with water production, we must prevent the current high rate of leakage.
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
Absolutely, and that is why Defra’s strategic policy statement sets out that we expect Ofwat to challenge water companies to halve leakage across the industry by 2050. We also want more investment, because that will also help to solve the leakage problem. Alongside that, we are working to ensure the rollout of 10.4 million smart meters over the price review period 2025-30. If that is successful, it is likely to lead to better detection of leakage across England and Wales so that we can better target where the leaks are.