Flooding

Baroness Humphreys Excerpts

Tuesday 7th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Roborough (Con)]

My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister in the other place for this Oral Statement. I start by paying tribute to the emergency services, local authorities and the Environment Agency for their efforts over the Christmas and new year period supporting those who have been affected by extreme weather. Our services sacrifice so much to help communities and businesses in challenging weather, and we are all most grateful for their work and commitment.

The recent extreme weather has caused flooding, road closures, school closures and widespread transport disruption on our railways and at our airports. As a result of the extreme weather, Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service has declared a major incident across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. I know that noble Lords from across the House will join me when I say that our thoughts are with all those whose homes and businesses have been damaged, and with all those who continue to be affected.

As I said when we discussed the Government’s response to Storm Bert last year, those affected by this extreme weather need support now, as well as reassurance that they will not be left to pick up the pieces alone, as they work to put right the damage caused by flooding. One of the key issues that people affected by flooding often face is the time taken for insurance claims to be processed. Can the Minister set out the engagement that the Government have had with the insurance sector to ensure that families affected by flooding can get on with rebuilding their lives as soon as possible?

In addition, the Minister in the other place said yesterday that the Government do not currently have plans to expand the scope of the flood reinsurance scheme that our previous Government introduced. We believe that this is something that the Government should look at, especially on the age of building eligibility and including businesses. Can the Minister say why the Government are not considering expanding the scope of the Flood Re scheme?

On school closures, the Government were asked yesterday in the other place about the steps they are taking to get schools open again. Can the Minister give us an update on the progress the Government are making on this to ensure that pupils do not suffer unnecessary disruptions to their studies?

As we have discussed in this House before, the previous Conservative Government established the farming recovery fund to support farmers recovering from uninsurable damage. Can the Minister give us an update on the progress that the Government are making to provide support to those farmers who have been affected by both the recent extreme weather and the storms we saw late last year? At a time when farmers feel that this Government are interested only in making farming more difficult, effective support for those farms that have been affected by flooding is the very least that the Government can do. I draw the House’s attention to my register of interests; in particular, as a dairy farmer in Devon—fortunately, not affected by this flooding.

We have discussed flood resilience at length in this House already in this Session, not least during the passage of the recent Water (Special Measures) Bill. Can the Minister tell the House whether the Environment Agency will allow the dredging of more clogged waterways to prevent future flooding?

Finally, the Secretary of State has set up the Floods Resilience Taskforce to improve flood preparedness. It has met only once. Can the Minister tell the House what work the task force did ahead of the latest bad weather? Does she feel that there is a case for it to meet more regularly?

I conclude, as I began, by thanking all those who have stepped up in the face of extreme weather, many of whom put themselves in danger to do so, and by wishing all those affected the very best as they put right the damage caused by this weather.

[Baroness Humphreys (LD)]

My Lords, I begin by adding my thanks to fire and rescue workers for their invaluable help over these last few days. Their commitment and expertise have been exemplary. I add to that list the council workers and volunteers throughout the country who have helped in these emergencies, and in particular the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales for their invaluable expertise.

Yesterday morning, as a result of a rapid thaw of lying snow and extremely heavy rain overnight, the Environment Agency in England had 167 flood warnings in place, where flooding was expected, and 312 flood alerts, where flooding was possible. Trains were cancelled and roads closed. Behind these facts are stories of people: people struggling to protect their homes and defend their businesses—all in the knowledge that their lives would be affected, sometimes for years—and people struggling to get to work. My commiserations go to them too.

I come from a valley that has always flooded, and I well know the misery that such events bring. In 2009, my area was badly flooded and a flood alleviation scheme was put in place by the Welsh Assembly Government, as it was then. My town now has demountable defences, flood walls and lowered spillways on the riverbanks. It is a massive scheme and our town is protected, but sometimes the floodwaters now travel down the valley and other places are badly affected. On New Year’s Day, although my town was fine, the A470 north to Llandudno was closed because of floods. This area had never flooded before, so we know what people are going through.

However, I welcome the Statement and in particular the extra £60 million for farmers in recognition of the battle that they have with flooding on their land. I also welcome the extra funds for internal drainage boards and the opportunity to review how flood relief money is distributed.

Plenty of notice was given of severe weather so that people could be prepared but, of course, some people were not. One could argue that, where storm and flood defences were overrun, a lack of funding over the past few years for maintenance or new defences contributed to some of the problems. The Chancellor has committed to £2.4 billion of funding for flood defences over 2024-25 and 2025-26 in the Autumn Budget. This is also to be welcomed, but experience has taught us that curing one problem can create another downriver: it is a never-ending battle against flood water. What plans do the Government have to commit substantial funding for flood defences past 2025-26?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Baroness Hayman of Ullock) (Lab)]

My Lords, I join the noble Lord, Lord Roborough, and the noble Baroness, Lady Humphreys, in thanking all the people who responded and supported local communities during these floods. There have been many volunteers from the communities, such as farmers—in my community, it was a farmer who came and helped out—as well as the emergency services, the Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales and so on. Without the extraordinary response that we always get from local communities and our emergency services, things would be so very much worse. Our thanks go out to them.

The Government recognise the terrible impact that flooding has on householders and businesses, and we absolutely sympathise with all those who have been affected over the last week or so. We know that flooding has a devastating effect, whether that is physical damage or disruptions to daily activities. There are also impacts on health, particularly mental health, for those who suffer from flooding.

The noble Lord, Lord Roborough, asked about insurance. This is always a difficult issue once you have been flooded. It is really important that Flood Re exists in the first place. It has made a huge difference over the past few years for those who have struggled to get insurance. As the noble Lord said, we do not currently have any plans to extend its scope, but it will be part of our review of all policies, because there are clearly concerns about those who do not come under Flood Re, whether multiple occupancy homes, businesses or properties built after 2009. If colleagues have examples where properties, particularly those built after 2009, have suffered, I would be very happy to take examples so that, as we review, we have clear evidence in front of us.

We need to consider how we best support households. When Flood Re came in, its scope for eligibility and its duration were agreed alongside government and industry. It is really important that industry supports what government is doing in this space. Any changes to the scope of the scheme have to be consistent with the original agreement and premises that came through with industry—but, clearly, we will keep this under review.

The impact of flooding on farming was mentioned. I thank the noble Baroness for her support for the £60 million that we have distributed to 13,000 farm businesses through the farming recovery fund. In the floods investment programme, the amount of funding a project can attract will depend on the damages that it will avoid and the benefits that it will then deliver. The impact of the project on agricultural land is also included as part of any funding calculator.

We are also looking at reviewing the existing funding formula, which is really important because it has not worked for lots of different people and communities. We will review it to ensure that the challenges businesses and rural and coastal communities face are adequately taken into account. We are looking to open the consultation on that very soon; noble Lords may wish to input into it.

The noble Lord, Lord Roborough, asked about dredging. On average, the Environment Agency spends between £30 million and £45 million a year on river maintenance, which enables it to dredge approximately 60 kilometres to 200 kilometres of main river watercourses every year. Where watercourse maintenance is the responsibility of the Environment Agency, it focuses its efforts on those activities that will achieve the greatest benefit in protecting people and property from flooding, therefore delivering the best value for money—that includes dredging. The assessment is undertaken by the Environment Agency, working in close consultation with local communities. It is important to remember that dredging is unlikely to be effective in isolation and is usually part of a wider approach because the silt can easily build up again.

The Floods Resilience Taskforce was mentioned. It met for the first time in September and is due to meet this year. There are 27 attending organisations, so it is comprehensive in its approach. At the first meeting there was a shared understanding of the weather and flood risk of the current winter to ensure we can be as prepared as we possibly can. It is important that we have a better awareness of EA flood asset conditions across England. There was also an agreement to share lessons from flood response from all tiers of government and with flood responders. Clearly, what we have just been through will be an important part of the next meeting of the Floods Resilience Taskforce.

The task force provides Ministers from Defra, MHCLG and the Cabinet Office with a combined overview of flood resilience, along with flood risk organisations and charities—flood insurance, for example. Although it is devolved, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are standing members. The idea is that it will learn from this instance so that next time we continue to build on how we can best prepare for the future.

The noble Baroness, Lady Humphreys, talked about flooding caused by displacement. That is a really difficult issue, which is why any response we provide is not just about building barriers but about looking at bigger, broader support mechanisms, whether that means bringing in balancing ponds, for example, or better surface water flooding assessments. We have to look at this in the round; building higher only pushes water out.