Storm Babet: Flooding

Debate between Brendan Clarke-Smith and Rebecca Pow

Monday 23rd October 2023 Commons Chamber

[Rebecca Pow]

I am pleased to hear that all those organisations did such a grand job locally. We understand the huge benefit brought by the Canal & River Trust and the great work that it does, but that £300 million figure is something of a bone of contention. The trust has adjusted the figure for inflation, and the Government do not normally do that with their funds.

[Brendan Clarke-Smith (Bassetlaw) (Con)]

I thank the Secretary of State for her visit to Retford and Ordsall today to meet some of the hundreds of people who were evacuated, such as those in Darrel Road, and to see the devastation at first hand. For many of those residents, it is not the first time that this has happened. I also thank the Minister for her reassurance that we will provide as much support as possible, and will invest in the appropriate flood defences to make sure that we can mitigate the impact. Does she agree, however, that we need to remind councils of their responsibilities to communicate information effectively to our constituents? In my case, one of the emergency respite centres was closed with only 20 minutes’ notice, and one of the emergency phone lines was down for nearly two days. Can we also please ask councils to stop building on floodplains?

[Rebecca Pow]

I know that the Secretary of State visited my hon. Friend’s constituency today and will have seen for herself exactly what local people are facing. I know that my hon. Friend has rightly been a great champion for them, and he makes a good point about the role of local authorities in the local flood forums. It is important that everybody plays their part in this, not just the emergency services who come in if there is a problem. It is about the messaging early on, and that is why the Environment Agency has a comprehensive system of warnings that people can sign up to. Some 1.6 million people are signed up to its flood warning scheme and I would urge people to ensure that they know how to join it. I also urge local authorities to play the role that they really should be playing, and I will be talking to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to stress that further.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Brendan Clarke-Smith and Rebecca Pow

Thursday 4th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Brendan Clarke-Smith (Bassetlaw) (Con)]

What steps he is taking to support flood resilience.

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

In July 2020 we published a long-term statement setting out our

“ambition to create a nation more resilient to future flood and coastal erosion risk”,

and it contained five key policies and over 40 actions to better protect and prepare the country. We are investing £5.2 billion to build 2,000 new flood defences over the next six years; this is a serious commitment and it will better protect 336,000 properties.

[Brendan Clarke-Smith [V]]

I thank the Minister for her response and also for meeting me and the Environment Agency in January to discuss various issues surrounding flooding in Bassetlaw. Can the Minister update us on the progress of the proposed £6.5 million scheme in West Stockwith with local stakeholders?

[Rebecca Pow]

I was very pleased to meet my hon. Friend and the EA to discuss this issue. He is a great campaigner for his local community. The West Stockwith pumping station evacuates flood water into the Trent at times of flood; elements of the station are at the end of their design life, and the Environment Agency is working with its partners to consider competing water demands in the area to develop an outline business case to replace these. There is a £5.5 million grant-in-aid indicative allocation in the capital programme for 2020-21 to 2023-24 for this work, and, crucially, the work will protect around 68 homes.