Storm Bert

Debate between Alex Barros-Curtis and Steve Reed

Monday 25th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Steve Reed]

I share the hon. Lady’s concerns about the circumstances in Somerset. I agree with the points that she is making. We have increased the actions available through environmental land management schemes, including more actions around natural flood management of precisely the kind she describes. I look forward to seeing much more of that over the months and years to come.

[Mr Alex Barros-Curtis (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his statement and for reminding the House about the first-time funding for coal tips. I notice that the Plaid Cymru Member, the hon. Member for Ynys Môn (Llinos Medi), mentioned coal tips, but she could not leave the Chamber quickly enough—she could not wait for the end of the statement.

I pay tribute to the local authorities, emergency services, volunteers and all those affected by Storm Bert in Cardiff, in Rhondda Cynon Taf and across south Wales. May I ask my right hon. Friend to speak to colleagues in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology about looking carefully into the role of the Met Office? It is clear that its response was slow and that there was an underestimation of the impact of Storm Bert: it put out a yellow rather than an amber or red warning. Our constituents have been let down by this incompetence before. It cannot keep happening.