Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the membership of the Climate Action Implementation Committee; how many times it has met; and whether its minutes are published.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
It is a long-established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its Committees, and how often they have met, is not normally shared publicly.
Further details of the membership and terms of reference for Cabinet Sub-Committees are published on gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-cabinet-committees-system-and-list-of-cabinet-committees.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the membership of the Climate Action Strategy Committee; how many times it has met since October 2019; and whether its minutes are published.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
It is a long-established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its Committees, and how often they have met, is not normally shared publicly.
Further details of the membership and terms of reference for Cabinet Sub-Committees are published on gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-cabinet-committees-system-and-list-of-cabinet-committees.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to meet with the devolved Administrations to discuss initial proposals for devolved powers on environmental matters; what was the outcome of those meetings; and how frequently they plan to meet the devolved Administrations during the Brexit negotiations to discuss further proposals for devolution on environmental matters.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The UK Government is fully committed to working with the devolved administrations on environmental matters. Discussions are ongoing on a bilateral basis, as well as via the Joint Ministerial Committee EU Negotiations (JMC(EN)) across a range of issues.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the National Flood Resilience Review continues to meet following the publication of its report, and what is its current membership.
Answered by Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen
The National Flood Resilience Review Group, led by the then Rt Hon Oliver Letwin MP was constituted to oversee the development of the National Flood Resilience Review (NFRR). The review was published on 8 September 2016 and is now being implemented. The governance to oversee implementation is under consideration.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the National Flood Resilience Review is considering the findings of London Underground’s flood risk review which identifies 85 stations, tunnels and shafts as at high risk of flooding.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
As set out in evidence to the Environmental Audit Committee on 13 April, the National Flood Resilience Review is looking across infrastructure in a number of sectors to identify those assets which the Government thinks need to be more resilient against extreme river or tidal flooding
Separately to the national review, London Underground is in the process of reviewing their own vulnerability to all forms of flooding: this includes river and coastal but also the risk of burst water mains, which can be a much bigger threat in an urban area. This work is primarily for London Underground to agree with Transport for London and the Mayor, but Department for Transport and Cabinet Office officials will stay abreast of the London Underground work to ensure it is coherent with the National Flood Resilience Review.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many meetings of the National Flood Resilience Review have taken place, and when that review is expected to report.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
To protect the integrity of the policy making process, we do not comment on specific frequency or timings of ministerial meetings. The Review is set to be published this summer.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the future viability of the Thames Barrier will be considered as part of the National Flood Resilience Review.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
The viability of the Thames Barrier has been extensively reviewed, and conclusions were published in 2012. This Review will focus on updating our climate modelling and stress-testing the nation’s resilience to flood risk.
We will make appropriate decisions on next steps using any new evidence that comes out of that work.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the membership and terms of reference of the group established to carry out their national flood review.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
A National Flood Resilience Review will be led by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Oliver Letwin and include the Government’s Chief Scientist, Defra, DECC, DCLG, HMT and the Chief Executive of the Environment Agency and the Met Office.
We will look afresh at how we calculate flood risk, in light of recent events. This will see Government updating ‘worst case scenario’ planning, considering the future impacts of climate change.
Work is already underway and we are testing the resilience of our critical infrastructure, including electricity substations, water treatments plants and telecoms. We have committed to keeping the public informed of progress, and will be providing an update in the coming months, and will publish findings from the review in the summer.