Flood Risk (North-East England)

Iain Wright Excerpts

Wednesday 4th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship this evening, Mr Speaker, for this important debate on flooding and flood risk in the north-east of England, and to speak in the first Adjournment debate of this Session.

Although I appreciate that the issue affects much of the region, I should like to start by highlighting some recent floods in my constituency before commenting on the broader issue. On 6 September, large areas of my constituency were flooded after days of steady rain on waterlogged ground, which channelled large volumes of water into already swollen waterways. That then combined with a high tide, causing vast areas of the coast to be affected by once-in-100-years flood levels.

[Mr Iain Wright (Hartlepool) (Lab)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing an important debate for our region. He mentions the once-in-100-years frequency, but does he accept that such incidents are occurring much more frequently as a result of climate change and other factors, and that the infrastructure is struggling to cope with flash flooding? People in areas of my constituency such as Arkley crescent, the wider West View area of Hartlepool and slightly further afield in Seaton Carew are all being affected by more frequent flash flooding. What else does he think can be done to help people such as my constituents and, no doubt, his?

[Tom Blenkinsop]

My hon. Friend touches on a point that I will come to later—how the flood risk in the north-east and other northern areas is assessed compared with that in other areas of the country, and the funding and protection that exist.

As we would hope, where flood defences were in place in my constituency, they generally reduced the amount of floodwater damage. In the seaside village of Skinningrove, flood defences were installed after the floods in 2000, and damage to property in September was thankfully minimised. However, that was only down to the work of local residents who volunteer as flood wardens, who monitor the river levels and man the floodgates when there is a risk of flooding. Yet Skinningrove did not escape unscathed. A bridge on the main road into the village was undercut by the fast-flowing river, causing a lengthy road closure while the bridge was repaired, much to the detriment of local residents and, particularly, local businesses.

Further upstream in Loftus, the floods affected Handale beck, where large volumes of water struck Gaskell bridge, causing structural damage and its eventual collapse earlier this year and cutting off a small community from the rest of the town. The water surged over the bridge, taking down two substantial sandstone walls, and flowed straight into the garden and home of my constituent, Mrs Himsworth, completely devastating the ground floor of her listed building. It was the second time that Mrs Himsworth’s home had been devastated by flooding since 2000, yet as her home is not in a high-risk area she is unable to secure any funding and has consequently had to pay for her own flood defences.

The bridge is in private ownership, and finding someone to take financial responsibility for it has proved difficult. There are three agencies with stakes in the bridge: Redcar and Cleveland borough council, the Environment Agency and Northumbrian Water. Nearly a year later, there may thankfully be some progress towards the restoration of the bridge, thanks to a generous contribution from Northumbrian Water, which is responsible for a pipe within the bridge. However, that has taken far too long for the residents of Gaskell lane, many of whom are elderly pensioners.

Another town that suffered from floods last September was the Victorian seaside resort of Saltburn-by-the-Sea, where I live.

[Mr Wright]

Nice part of the world.

[Tom Blenkinsop]

A very nice part of the world.

[Mr Wright]

Not as nice as Seaton Carew.

[Tom Blenkinsop]

I would have to differ from my hon. Friend about that.

Saltburn was badly affected by the combination of high tides and swollen rivers. Saltburn Gill expanded, almost filling the entire valley floor, covering car parks, ruining much of the town’s Valley gardens and harming tourist attractions and businesses. Thankfully, the council has now repaired the damage along the sea front and, with the exception of the amusement arcade on the pier, the majority of businesses are trading again in time for the busy summer season.

Elsewhere in East Cleveland, the former mining village of North Skelton was hit, with water cascading down from higher farmland to the south and finding its new course by inundating homes in the terraced streets and the nearby A174 main road. The tragedy there was that many of the families affected were private renters, and relied for building insurance on their landlords’ ability to repair the structural damage. For them, it was not easy to get redress, which has led to casework that I am still pursuing.

Thankfully, for flood prevention in North Skelton the local council and principal landowner are working together on schemes that will involve breaking up the current prairie-like fields with new tree and hedge planting—an effective way of reducing and controlling flash floods and run-off. Such work takes time, however, and over the coming year I feel that affected North Skelton residents will still worry in periods of long and heavy downpours. One consolation would be to put in place effective measures to ensure that private landlords have sound and reliable building insurance—something that would benefit everyone in the long term. Such things cannot be left to the discretion of the market because we are talking about people’s homes where they raise their families.

Redcar and Cleveland council has spent more than £24,000 on council tax relief for people affected by the September 2013 floods, in addition to money spent via social fund grants and loans. After the Prime Minister’s “money is no object” claim I wrote to the Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, the hon. Member for Great Yarmouth (Brandon Lewis), regarding the Government’s highly publicised council tax relief for flood victims, only to be told that my constituents would not qualify as it covered only

“severe weather in December, January and February 2014.”

That seems wholly unfair to me, to local councillors of all parties, and to local residents. The Government are refusing to support local residents by providing centrally funded council tax relief for the sole reason that—in their eyes—those people were flooded three months too early. Such cases prove that the north-east is still at risk from flooding.

Although flooding is a threat in much of England, research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in a 2011 paper, “Climate change, justice and vulnerability”, demonstrates that there is a clear north-south divide in terms of socio-spatial flood disadvantage, and that the north-west, north-east, and Yorkshire and the Humber have neighbourhood social flood vulnerabilities that on average are above the English mean. That risk has not been met by Government investment in the north-east. As of January 2014, Government funding for flood defences was forecast to be lower in both nominal and real terms during the current spending period than during the previous spending period, and the Committee on Climate Change has calculated that that represents a real terms cut of around 20%. Although the Government have brought forward money that was already set aside to improve sea defences in Skinningrove, there has been little investment in other more rural areas of the north-east.

Since climate change is expected to increase the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events in the UK, we must have a joined-up, nationwide strategy on flood prevention. The effects of flooding last long after the water has subsided, and as many of my constituents know, the effects can last almost indefinitely causing lasting financial and emotional damage. The Government must act to protect all households from the damaging effects of flooding, not just in urban areas or where there is a high media presence. I urge them to extend the support and emphasis that they gave to areas hit by flooding last winter to places such as East Cleveland that were hit earlier in the year.

Finally, I thank the hard-working and dedicated emergency services, in particular the firefighters of Cleveland fire brigade who responded to around 300 calls in three hours when flooding occurred last September. That included a call from me, as the flat where my wife and I live was flooded. Without the assistance of Cleveland fire brigade we would have been in a fairly sticky situation, given that at midnight that evening I was in my shorts trying to bale out my neighbours in their living room.

[Tom Blenkinsop]

Exactly.

[Mr Iain Wright]

And not a pleasant one.

[Tom Blenkinsop]

Not a pleasant image, no. However, I am sure that MPs from across the north-east can provide examples of where the fire service has helped to reduce damage caused by flooding. Flooding is already a significant problem and is likely to increase in future, yet there is no statutory duty on the fire and rescue service to respond to flooding in England and Wales. I ask the Government to reconsider their decision not to introduce a statutory duty on fire and rescue authorities to respond to flooding as recommended in the Pitt review, and I urge them to ensure that fire authorities are sufficiently resourced to meet such an additional responsibility.

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

I congratulate the hon. Member for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland (Tom Blenkinsop) on securing this debate and on the work he does on behalf of his constituents. I served on a Select Committee with him, and know how seriously he takes these issues. To go to the extent of baling out his neighbour’s front room, however he was dressed, shows how seriously he takes his hands-on role as a Member of Parliament.

Flooding is a hugely important subject. I have had the honour of responding to a series of debates, some of which were national in scope and others that focused on particular locations. I hope the House will therefore forgive me for setting out some of the national background to the events of the past several months before looking specifically at the issues in the north-east that the hon. Gentleman has raised.

I should follow on from where the hon. Gentleman finished by thanking all those who were involved in the response effort. As he said, people worked tirelessly to respond to those events, including the staff of fire, ambulance, police and other rescue services, and local authorities, the Environment Agency, the voluntary sector and local communities. He pointed out how the flood wardens in his constituency have made a difference in ensuring that people are aware of what is coming and what steps they can take to protect themselves and their property.

The unprecedented weather events that caused the flooding we witnessed across the UK last year and into the early part of this year were a result of very unsettled weather. It was the wettest January since 1766 for England and Wales. Central and south-east England received more than 250% of average rainfall. Met Office statistics suggest that, for the south England, that was one of the most exceptional periods for winter rainfall in at least 248 years. Added to that, tidal surges caused by low pressure, strong winds and high tides led to record sea levels along many parts of the east coast. High spring tides brought coastal flooding to parts of the south and west coasts. River, surface water and groundwater flooding occurred in many areas.

Although it is not yet possible to attribute a single instance of extreme weather to climate change, the recent winter storminess is in line with what we expect to see under climate change scenarios, as the hon. Gentleman and the hon. Member for Hartlepool (Mr Wright) have pointed out. We therefore expect an increase in the frequency and severity of those types of weather events. The UK’s first climate change risk assessment, published in 2012, assessed that trend and informed the national adaptation programme report, which was published last year. The report sets out a wide range of actions by Government, business, councils and civil society to address the most significant climate risks we face as a country. We already prioritise across Government and well beyond the need to adapt to our changing climate, but we will of course look to learn any lessons from the recent extreme weather events.

We are spending £47.2 million on climate change initiatives this year on both adapting to climate change and helping further to mitigate effects. That includes programmes that help to protect international forests and cut greenhouse emissions, and that help the UK to adapt to a changing climate. Recent events impacted on the homes, businesses and farms of people across the country. Latest estimates suggest that more than 7,000 properties have been flooded in England since the beginning of December 2013. That includes 2,316 properties since the most recent flood event began in early February. The hon. Member for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland pointed out the incidents earlier in the year in his part of the world and the summer floods last year. We have had a series of extreme flood events throughout the country.

There was significant damage to sea and flood defences and transport infrastructure in some areas. Urgent work is under way to repair the damage to rail links—many lines were back up to full operation by 3 March. The House is aware that the extreme weather also affected power supplies to homes. It is estimated that more than 1 million customers had power restored following interruptions during that stormy period. The response was a magnificent effort. All levels of Government and the emergency services were fully engaged in dealing with the floods and extreme weather. The Government’s response was led by the Cobra emergencies committee.

The most recent flooding was predominantly in the south of England and, as I have said, along the east coast during the high tides of early December 2013, but other regions across England have previously experienced the same sorts of devastating events that were witnessed last winter. For example, the north-east of England was affected in 2012. There were numerous reports of flooding to homes and businesses across County Durham, north Tyneside, Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne and Northumberland.

Recent Environment Agency data indicate that, in north-east England, approximately 36,500 properties are at risk of river and coastal flooding. Approximately 11,528 of those are thought to be at significant risk of flooding. The properties at risk are spread throughout the region. However, in a number of key flooding areas, existing flood defences afford a level of protection to communities. For example, the defences at Morpeth are currently being improved to provide more than a one-in-137-year standard of protection to 1,000 properties. Other communities benefiting from Environment Agency maintained defences include South Church, West Auckland, Hexham, Ponteland and Skinningrove, which the hon. Gentleman referred to in his contribution. A notable recent development has been the completion of the flood and coastal protection scheme at Redcar, which protected the town during the severe east coast surge in December 2013.

More than 110,000 properties are potentially at risk from surface water flooding. Managing the risk from surface water flooding is the responsibility of lead local flood authorities. We have established partnerships with the local authorities and Northumbrian Water to support them in managing surface water flood risks. Those partnerships are now starting to deliver schemes that manage both river and surface water flooding issues. Lustrum Beck is a good example of a partnership scheme with Stockton borough council that will deliver river and surface water flood protection to about 150 properties. The Environment Agency can issue 112 separate flood warnings in the north-east for flooding from rivers or the sea. Approximately 11,000 properties and businesses are registered to receive a warning, so that in addition to the flood wardens the hon. Gentleman referred to there are many people who can receive that information straight to hand. They will know when something is coming and when they should start to put into practice measures to ensure that their family and property are safe.

Investment is targeted at a range of communities, from large schemes, such as Port Clarence where 350 properties will be protected from east coast tidal flooding, to small-scale, local projects to protect a few properties from surface water flooding. Overall, this investment will assist in alleviating river flood risk for approximately 1,500 properties and the risk from coastal erosion for a further 200 properties. The annual amount spent on maintenance in the north-east in 2013-14 was £1.2 million and a total of £1.4m has been allocated for 2014-15.

The hon. Gentleman raised, as he has in the past, the specific example of the bridge in the isolated community in his constituency, which is incredibly frustrating. As constituency MPs, we have all had issues in which land ownership features. Where land has a value, people are clamouring to take over and take responsibility. It is very difficult, however, where there is a liability, particularly if the owner does not have a huge amount of cash to hand to be able to put that right.

[Mr Iain Wright]

The Minister talks about isolated communities. The Headland is a fantastic and proud historic part of Hartlepool in my constituency, but there is one road in and out. It is protected by the Heugh breakwater, but that is at risk. I know he will not know about this at the moment, but will he resolve to look at the importance of the Heugh in protecting the Headland? When the road floods, that community could be isolated. What else can be done to ensure that the residents on the Headland, my constituents, are adequately protected?