Strengthening Community Resilience

Jayne Kirkham Excerpts

Tuesday 27th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Dan Jarvis]

I understand why the hon. Gentleman will want to raise concerns about his own area; that is absolutely his responsibility. He will, I hope, have heard the comments I made earlier about the amount of money that has been invested in flood defences. These are matters that we take incredibly seriously. I know, as a former metro mayor, the importance of issues relating to flooding and of working across local authority boundaries to make sure that, along with the Environment Agency and water companies, we have a proper response and a proper defensive posture is put in place. I discuss the matter regularly with my colleagues in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. If the hon. Gentleman has any specific concerns, or anything specific that he would like us to look at, I would be very happy to do that on his behalf.

[Jayne Kirkham (Truro and Falmouth) (Lab/Co-op)]

As a Cornish MP, I can tell the House that we had 18,000 off-grid again this weekend with Storm Austen. We all worked together closely during Storm Goretti, and I want to mention Cormac, our farmers, the National Grid and our parish councils. National guidance was missing during Storm Goretti. It is really important that we now have it and that we have a locally led response, with parish emergency plans in place. Other countries have been doing this for years and I am really pleased that this Government have finally brought it in and have launched the campaign. One issue we will always have, though, is comms. We do not have copper wire any more. Perhaps internet and mobile phone providers should be category 2 responders under the Civil Contingencies Act. I wonder if the Minister could comment on that.

[Dan Jarvis]

I am very grateful to my hon. Friend, not least because the Cornwall experience and the experience of Storm Goretti has been genuinely important in shaping this campaign. I am grateful to her and her Cornish colleagues for the important role they play. A storm summit will be taking place in Cornwall towards the end of November. I have asked the director of Cobra and his deputy to be there. That will provide a really important forum for discussing the kinds of issues my hon. Friend has raised today.