Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ben Bradshaw and Dan Rogerson

Thursday 12th March 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

If the Government’s record in tackling lethal air pollution is as good as the Under-Secretary, the hon. Member for North Cornwall (Dan Rogerson), claimed earlier, why is Britain facing unprecedented fines and legal action in the European courts for failing on every single air quality measure?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Dan Rogerson)]

I am happy that the right hon. Gentleman is focusing attention on this. As he will no doubt be aware, one of the key factors is transport fuels, especially diesel, and the failure of vehicles to meet in real-world conditions what was shown by testing when they were approved for use. We must make improvements at the European level on vehicles standards and testing. We also make funds available to local authorities to help them take measures locally to deal with air quality. It is a crucial issue.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ben Bradshaw and Dan Rogerson

Thursday 27th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

Will the Government please have another look at the exclusion of 70,000 leaseholders from their new flood insurance scheme? Most of those people are on modest or low incomes, and a number of them live in my constituency. As a result of their exclusion from the scheme, they either face massively increased premiums or cannot obtain insurance at all.

[Dan Rogerson]

We are examining the various leasehold options with the aim of ensuring that Flood Re deals with the problems of the least commercial leaseholders. Some large commercial landlords have leasehold properties, and we want to make certain that flood relief is focused on domestic policies. Of course, it will be possible for the contents insurance policies of leaseholders of all types to be ceded to Flood Re should that be necessary.

Weather Events (South West England)

Debate between Ben Bradshaw and Dan Rogerson

Wednesday 26th February 2014 Westminster Hall

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Dan Rogerson)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hood. I echo what other hon. Members have said in welcoming the debate. I congratulate the right hon. Member for Exeter (Mr Bradshaw) on securing it and on re-examining several issues that he has raised before, including the importance of connections to the south-west. The debate also ensures that we take account of recent events and reflect on them, so that we can do a better job after any subsequent similar event.

I represent a constituency in the south-west, which has experienced significant flooding in the past and been affected by the recent events, and I appreciate the severity of the impact of flooding and storms on communities in our part of the world. I sympathise with residents who face serious difficulties. As we have heard, businesses, farms and fishing have been severely affected, and so, crucially, have transport links. As the country starts to recover from a lengthy onslaught of stormy weather, I express my condolences to those who have lost family members in the extreme events, and to those who have been affected in other ways.

Since the start of December 2013, the UK has experienced a prolonged period of very bad weather. In England and Wales it was the wettest January since 1766. Met Office statistics suggest that for the south of England it has been one of the most exceptional periods for winter rainfall—if not the most exceptional—in at least 248 years. The latest estimates suggest that more than 6,800 properties have been flooded in England since the beginning of December 2013, including more than 2,000 since the most recent event began in early February. In addition, more than 48,000 hectares of farmland are thought to have been affected.

In the south-west, about 550 properties flooded and, in particular, there is continued flooding on the Somerset levels and significant damage to vital railway infrastructure. Investment by Government and improvements to the way in which we respond to incidents, however, mean that we have been able to protect about 1.3 million properties since the start of December, of which 93,000 are in the south-west. That reinforces the importance of continuing our investment in flood defence schemes and forecasting capability.

I want to pick up on some of the points made by the right hon. Member for Exeter in his introductory remarks. Network Rail’s review of options for improving resilience is taking into account advice from organisations such as the Flood Forecasting Centre and the Met Office. The review is a wide one. The money for the resilience projects to which he and the hon. Member for Brent North (Barry Gardiner) referred has been announced and confirmed by the Department.

Several hon. Members raised their concerns on maintenance.

[Mr Bradshaw]

The money may have been announced, but has it been delivered?

[Dan Rogerson]

The money is in place to make the urgent repairs, and that work is ongoing. We then need a scheme that we will fund. That could be smaller elements such as protection, or a bigger scheme if we want an alternative route. It is crucial to ensure that we get the repairs done and reopen the line to emphasise that the region is open for business.

The right hon. Gentleman made an important point on capital investment. As a Liberal Democrat, I am supportive of the coalition Government’s investment in infrastructure across a whole range of areas, including rail investment. I am a supporter of High Speed 2, as well as of the investment we are getting on the sleeper service in the south-west, among other things—I am always a fan of more investment of the south-west. The Government have invested huge amounts of capital in infrastructure. The right hon. Member for Edinburgh South West (Mr Darling), who led on such matters as Chancellor going into the previous general election, set out what would have happened if a Labour Government had been re-elected. He spoke of 50% reductions in capital investment in the following years. Therefore, as my hon. Friend the Member for South West Devon (Mr Streeter) said, we should not set against what this Government have done any idea that there would have been a huge increase in spending under Labour—there simply would not have been.

On maintenance, there is an idea that the efficiencies implemented by the Environment Agency might have affected the readiness of the defences. Those defences, in which we and all Governments have invested over many years, were in a condition that enabled them to defend those properties, but obviously we need to look at where further flood defences could provide protection on a cost-benefit basis so that we can get the best value for such investment. That is why I am pleased we could announce £344 million in the coming financial year in investment in new defences, as well as the £130 million announced to ensure that we get our existing defences back up to where they need to be following recent events.