Extreme Climate and Weather Events: National Resilience

Caroline Voaden Excerpts

Tuesday 10th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Jayne Kirkham]

Of course, the EA has struggled with funding for the past 10 years, after it had been cut so badly.

[Caroline Voaden (South Devon) (LD)]

The hon. Lady is being very generous with her time. In my constituency, several homes along the seafront were very badly damaged by storms in February, and as they cannot be lived in, the residents have been evacuated. Seafront protection, which is a responsibility of the Environment Agency, is key—particularly if those people are to live in their houses again—but the Environment Agency tells me that there is no emergency funding, and it cannot suddenly shore up the sea defences. The work would have to go through the normal process of allocation, and it might take up to two years before money can be allocated to improve the coastal defences in front of the houses of Torcross. For the people who have been moved out of their homes, that is an absolute disaster. Does she agree that, as we encounter more extreme weather events, the Environment Agency must be more flexible and nimble, and should be able to access funding quicker in order to shore up defences?

[Jayne Kirkham]

Yes, a great deal of work will have to be done in future, because this will not get better; it will get worse.

Businesses that rely on electricity and broadband are paralysed by outages during extreme weather events, and hospitals risk losing power or water. Heavy rainfall has even led to overflowing septic tanks and sewage spilling out on to streets in Cornwall, creating serious risks to public health. So much of Cornwall’s economy depends on our coast. When beaches, cafés, coastal roads and car parks are under managed realignment in the new shoreline management plan epoch, coastal places will lose their staple industries, and entire communities face existential threats from rising sea levels and coastal erosion. A lot of work is being done across Government, particularly on the water industry and flooding preparedness, which I welcome, but we need to protect communities from the inevitable march of climate change and act with greater urgency.

The urgency of the situation was obvious when Storm Goretti struck Cornwall on 8 and 9 January 2026. It triggered a rare Met Office red warning, with gusts of around 120 mph, and inflicted severe damage on our homes and infrastructure. We lost over 1,000 trees, 121,000 customers lost power, and thousands lost access to clean water. Roads were blocked, communities cut off, and schools, care homes and hospitals faced unprecedented strain.

--- Later in debate ---

[Jayne Kirkham]

I agree. A better way of sharing data must be found. Different utility companies and the council had different lists, and the parishes could not get hold of them at all. That is a really important issue.

[Caroline Voaden]

Will the hon. Lady give way?

[Jayne Kirkham]

Really quickly.

[Caroline Voaden]

On the point about utility companies, we had a major gas outage in South Devon at the beginning of the year. We had a problem that is probably very familiar to MPs in Cornwall; the utility company could not trace who owned the second homes, because the homeowners were not there. As the utility company was working through an intermediary energy supplier, it did not have the data on who the customer was. That meant that the power was switched off for about three days, when it could have been switched off for only a few hours. Does the hon. Lady agree that that is a serious problem in areas like ours, where there is a large proportion of second homes?

[Jayne Kirkham]

I do. Second homes are a whole other debate.

Every parish should be able to identify a community hub that residents can go to in an emergency. It should have a generator, battery packs, blankets, food, and a pre-registered list of volunteers. I know that parishes in Cornwall are considering that, but it could be encouraged across the UK and co-ordinated at a higher-tier council level—maybe across a local or national level. We could look again at the Bellwin scheme, and at how category 2 and category 1 responders respond to these issues.

Finally, there is a conversation to be had about personal resilience. We all need to be more prepared. Having a basic emergency kit sounds simple, but it makes a big difference.