Weather Events (South West England)

Ben Bradshaw Excerpts

Wednesday 26th February 2014 Westminster Hall

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

I am delighted to see you in the Chair, Mr Hood. I am sure that my delight is shared by the hon. Member for South West Devon (Mr Streeter), who will be speaking in this debate rather than chairing it.

I would like to start by outlining the current situation, because although the national media and visiting politicians have moved on, we in the south-west are still feeling the impact of the recent storms and floods. The main and only railway route beyond Exeter to the rest of Devon, Plymouth and Cornwall is still severed at Dawlish; the main line providing cross-country services from our region to Bristol, south Wales, the midlands and the north is still under 18 inches of water for more than a mile of its stretch near Bridgwater in Somerset; and, of course, much of the Somerset levels still look as if they have been reclaimed by the sea.

We must also take note of the impact of the rail closures on our roads. First Great Western alone is running 166 coaches a day to replace rail services lost due to the flooding in the Somerset levels and Dawlish. The urgent priority is to get both important railway connections reopened as quickly as possible. I am sure that Network Rail is doing its best in Dawlish and on the Somerset levels, but I am also sure that both it and the Minister will be aware of the importance of the Easter holidays to our tourist industry. Everything possible must be done to ensure that both lines are reopened in time for the school holidays. We have heard encouraging words from Ministers and Network Rail about the need for an additional alternative route that avoids the vulnerable Dawlish section. We have had words in the past, but what the west country wants and expects now is action.

The Government have given the commitment that Network Rail will report back by the summer on its initial feasibility study into a Dawlish-avoiding route. Will the Minister reassure me that Network Rail will take advice from outside experts, including the Met Office, on the likely impact of rising sea levels and more extreme weather events due to climate change? When Network Rail reviewed the Dawlish line for the Labour Government in 2004, it deemed it viable for the foreseeable future and rejected the need for an alternative. That advice was hopelessly over-optimistic. In fact, Network Rail has been criticised in the past for opening its eyes too slowly to the resilience challenges posed by climate change. Will the Minister assure us that Network Rail has now opened its eyes and will not make the same mistake again?

As the four transport authorities in the south-west pointed out in a letter to the Secretary of State for Transport in January—before we lost the line at Dawlish—the re-announced £31.3 million for rail flood resilience in the south-west was actually promised a year ago, after last winter’s floods when we also lost our rail connection for several weeks. The money was not delivered then—will the Minister tell us whether it has been now? If not, why not, and when will it be paid?

On the wider issue of flood defence, the Minister will be aware that several important schemes in the south-west were abandoned or delayed after his Government cut investment in flood defences on taking office. The UK Statistics Authority confirmed again today that investment in flood defences has fallen by £250 million under this Government compared with the previous one. The Environment Agency’s flood maintenance budget has fallen from more than £100 million a year in 2010 to just £60 million this year. At the time when such changes were announced, many of us warned that they would be a false economy, because, as the Minister knows, for every pound invested in flood defences, at least eight are saved in the long run. Indeed, those are the Treasury rules—the EA is not allowed to spend money on new flood defences unless it can guarantee that level of return.

When the Government took office, there was also a very good argument for sustaining or even increasing capital investment in infrastructure. For the first three years under this Government, our economy flat-lined. Organisations such as the IMF and CBI argued repeatedly for more capital investment to boost jobs and growth, but that did not happen. The Government did not listen and we are now paying the price. Will the Minister assure us that the schemes that were in the pipeline in 2010 will now go ahead on a renewed, accelerated time scale?

Two weeks ago, in response to the floods, the Prime Minister said, “Money is no object”. He also kept repeating, in his now infamous press conference, the words “we are a wealthy country”, but I cannot see that any of the announcements made in the past few weeks represent any new money or increased investment. Indeed, there is still confusion about whether the Prime Minister was talking about resources to deal with the immediate crisis or long-term investment, in spite of the fact that he seemed to say quite clearly that we need to do everything we can to improve our resilience as a country.

What is the Minister’s understanding of what the Prime Minister was talking about? For example, there has still not been a firm pledge on the investment that would be needed for the Dawlish-avoiding route. Yet, whichever route is chosen, or even if the recommendation is somehow to maintain and better defend the current route, the cost will be a tiny fraction of the tens of billions of pounds that the Government have already committed to HS2. I am not against HS2, but why are the Government incapable of committing to ensuring that we in the south-west have a 20th-century railway that functions and does not leave us cut off on an annual basis, while remaining committed to HS2?

[Richard Drax (South Dorset) (Con)]

I congratulate the right hon. Gentleman on securing the debate. Does the current railway blip not draw attention to the fact that the dualling of the A303 and A30 is paramount so that if we get such appalling weather conditions in future, there will at least be access to the south-west? From my constituency, there is no access because the road infrastructure is terrible.

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[Mr Bradshaw]

I have some sympathy with the hon. Gentleman’s argument, although he will be aware that the sort of dualling that some people would like would raise huge environmental challenges in the Blackdown hills. Nevertheless, he is right: we in the south-west are the poor relation when it comes to transport infrastructure. I will say a little more about that in a moment.

[David Simpson (Upper Bann) (DUP)]

I congratulate the right hon. Gentleman on securing the debate. We in Northern Ireland obviously did not suffer as much from the floods, but we sympathise with the agri-food sector, which has been badly hit. It will take tens of thousands of pounds to help the farmers in the right hon. Gentleman’s area, and flooding will have a devastating impact on future food prices.

[Mr Bradshaw]

The hon. Gentleman is probably right. The recent weather comes after droughts and floods in previous years. I am also going to say a little about the importance of land management, because I do not think that the current approach is holistic, as it should be.

I believe that the Government will not commit the money that we need to invest in the south-west because of the Chancellor’s addiction to austerity—so short-sighted when it comes to capital investment. As has been said, current Treasury figures show that expenditure per head on transport in the wider south-west is well below that of all other English regions and the devolved Administrations. The Minister is a Cornwall MP, so I am sure he is aware that it is politically difficult for any south-west MP to vote for any more funds for HS2 until we have a firm commitment to address our rail problems first.

Will the Minister tell us the latest position on job losses at the Environment Agency? As he will know, EA staff have been working around the clock during the recent flooding. In our region, it is the second year in a row that Christmas and New Year were effectively cancelled for them. I was pleased that, in response to the call from my own party leader, my right hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster North (Edward Miliband), the Government announced a temporary freeze in the EA redundancy programme. However, local staff in Devon tell me that they have already lost so many people that they not only do not have the staff to work on the new flood defence schemes that are under way, but they cannot adequately maintain current flood defences. It would be wholly irresponsible of the Government to press ahead with job cuts given what we have been through this year and last, and so soon after the even bigger floods of 2007.

When I visited the Environment Agency, with the Leader of the Opposition, in Exeter the week before last, we were told that this year is already categorised as a one-in-250-year weather event. Last year, 2000 and 2007 were categorised as one-in-100-year weather events. We seem to be having one-in-100-year or one-in-250-year weather events every other year, on average. That brings me to my next questions, which are about climate change.

It is well known that the Minister’s boss, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, who sadly is still not with us, is the Government’s leading climate change denier—a position that many of us consider untenable, given his responsibilities. Will the Minister assure us as he sums up the debate, as Floods Minister, that he accepts the science on climate change? Has he, unlike his boss, met his own Department’s adviser on the issue and has he spoken to the world’s leading experts on the issue, who are based in Exeter? It is easy for him to do so on his way to and from his constituency.

I also appeal to the Minister to do what he can to ensure that his boss and some of the others who I fear are in denial understand the importance of overall land management in water management and flood avoidance. It is not all about dredging. As many have pointed out, including his Conservative predecessor in the job as Floods Minister, dredging can often make things worse.

In that context, let me draw the Minister’s attention to a study by Exeter university, in collaboration with his Department and South West Water, on land management and water management on Exmoor. That four-year project, led by Professor Richard Brazier, essentially involves blocking up ditches and other drainage courses over a 2,000-hectare area of the moor to help to restore the peatland that predates the drainage that has happened for grazing during the past 200 years or so.

The preliminary results, published last week, are dramatic. Because of the restored land’s improved ability to retain and absorb water, the project has reduced by one third the volume of water leaving Exmoor and entering the River Exe. That is the equivalent of nearly 7,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. It has significantly reduced the volume of storm and therefore flood surges all along the Exe. It has had the added benefit of improving significantly the quality of the water arriving at South West Water’s treatment works, thereby reducing costs for that company and ultimately, it is hoped, for those of us who pay water rates. That work has very important lessons for land management across the uplands of south-west England and elsewhere, including, Professor Brazier believes, the high land surrounding the Somerset levels.

May I turn briefly to flood insurance? Many householders and businesses in Exeter have seen their flood insurance premiums rocket because of the combination of the cuts in investment in flood defences, the delay in the construction of upgraded flood defences for the city and the continuing failure of the Government to implement the long-awaited deal that they finally struck with the insurance industry on long-term insurance cover.

When the Leader of the Opposition was in Exeter, he met a couple whose insurance had rocketed in price from below £200 to nearly £800. He also met the chairman of Exeter chamber of commerce, who told him that businesses on Marsh Barton, one of the main industrial sites in my area and, as its name suggests, on a floodplain, had seen the excess on their flood insurance policies increase fivefold. They had also been told that they would have to move all their plant and equipment to the first floors of their buildings in the event of a flood warning, even though many of them are in single-storey buildings.

We were told that there is an ongoing disagreement between the Government and the insurance industry about whether to make it clear on everyone’s bills the premium that they are paying to help to cover people in higher-risk areas and that that is holding up the implementation of the deal. There is also the problem in relation to leaseholders, homes built since 2009 and small businesses, none of which are included in the current scheme. Is it not clear that, as it stands, Flood Re, as the scheme is called, is not adequate? Will the Minister assure us that the Government will deal with its inadequacies in the Water Bill?

In opposition, the Prime Minister famously rode huskies and said “Vote blue, go green.” People thought that he was serious about the environment and climate change, yet in recent years, intimidated by the growing band of climate change deniers in his party, he has seemed almost embarrassed to talk about the subject. He oversaw huge cuts in flood defences and the Environment Agency budgets, and work on implementing the recommendations of the Pitt report, commissioned after the major floods in 2007, stalled.

[Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab)]

My right hon. Friend is making a passionate speech on behalf of the south-west region. Does he share my concern that preparing for and managing flood risk has been dropped as one of the priorities of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and that the Government’s national policy statement on roads and railways contains no reference to ensuring the resilience of our existing transport network?

[Mr Bradshaw]

I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. What she describes fits into the overall picture, which is that the joined-up, strategic, collaborative, comprehensive approach adopted following the Pitt review after the serious floods of 2007 has been picked apart. The Cabinet Committee on Flooding that was set up under the previous Government was scrapped. It has now been reintroduced, we hear.

I do not know whether the Committee has sat; I do not know whether the Minister serves on it. However, we have lost three and a half years of effective policy on flood defence, flood management and managing flood risk, and I still do not detect the “joined-up-ness” that we need. When the Prime Minister comes to the Somerset levels and repeats what he heard from the last people he spoke to about dredging, has he actually looked at the evidence? Has he looked at all the advice that is coming, including again today, from organisations that know much more about flooding than anyone in this room does? They say that we need a much more holistic and joined-up approach—in the end, an approach that would save us as a country not only a great deal of heartbreak, but a great deal of money.

[Neil Parish (Tiverton and Honiton) (Con)]

The right hon. Gentleman is right to say that this is not just about dredging, but the problem with the Parrett and Tone is that the river channel is only about two thirds of the size it should be, so dredging is needed. The problem has been that dredging has not been put into the equation. The issue is about water management, but it is also about dredging.

[Mr Bradshaw]

I invite the hon. Gentleman, who serves on the Select Committee on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which sits this afternoon, to invite Professor Brazier from Exeter university to come and give evidence to the Committee. If the Committee is to publish a report on the lessons that could be learned from what has happened in the past few months, it is very important that it listens to the views of people who have conducted such important research.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I appreciate that the concerns being discussed today are specifically about the south-west of England, but we have also had concerns in Strangford. Does the right hon. Gentleman believe that this issue should be addressed in any way? There seemed to be a delay in responding, which was a big issue for many of my constituents at home, but also in the south-west of England. Does the right hon. Gentleman believe that the Minister should set up a group to consider how the Government can react quickly when flooding starts, rather than providing a delayed response?

[Mr Bradshaw]

I did not want this debate to be about how the Government handled the immediate crisis, but about how we move forward and ensure that we have a joined-up approach to dealing with flood risk management. However, having been Minister for the South West in 2007, when we had what were more serious floods in many ways, I do have some experience of how to manage a crisis. I also dealt with bird flu at DEFRA. It is very important that when something such as this happens, it is gripped immediately from the top. When the Prime Minister finally did grip what had happened, things started moving and changed, but it is only really when the Prime Minister gets involved, starts chairing Cobra and takes control that all the agencies and Departments come together and work effectively.

However, what matters to people in the long term is not how Governments manage immediate crises—although that is important, not least for their reputation—but whether that collaboration, that “joined-up-ness”, that strategic approach is continued in the long term, because it is long-term and sustained policies and investment that will make it less likely that we will have constantly to fight these crises and fires in the future.

I hope that the recent floods and storms and their impact will have served as a wake-up call to the Government, because the long-suffering south-west of England will judge not on words, but on actions.

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[Anne Marie Morris]

First, I do not think there is any question in anybody’s mind that any additional railway line or loop would be instead of the existing line—it must always be as well as the existing line, not least because any new building of railway will take a significant length of time, and whether someone lives in Plymouth, Exeter, Newton Abbot or Dawlish, they need the line and they need it for the long term. It is not a question of an alternative, but an addition.

[Mr Bradshaw]

Hear, hear.

[Anne Marie Morris]

I am grateful for the right hon. Gentleman’s support. As for the hon. Lady’s comments about squeezing other budgets, I would request, as I am sure she would, that additional money is found elsewhere in the Government’s coffers. They have some big issues to deal with, and I am afraid I am going to be a bit controversial here. Almost without exception, constituents have come up to me and said, “Why have we got so much money in the international aid budget?” In many ways, that budget is absolutely right, but what about our own people? Does not charity begin at home? I am conscious that that budget is not big and would not cover all the flood prevention work that is needed. Although it is laudable to have a fund for international aid, there must be a balance, and the time for reviewing that balance is now.

The help offered by the Government to date has been welcome. We have had a business rates holiday for businesses, and the changes to the Bellwin scheme, which gave us 100% cover and lowered the level that had to be reached before money was forthcoming, were welcome, but I have a concern for the Minister to pass on to his Cabinet colleagues. My concern is that the Bellwin formula money did not assist district councils, but most of the expenditure in my area was incurred by the district council, not the county council.

I am equally grateful to the Government for the business support fund, which is to provide support for businesses that have lost trade as a result of this weather event. There is considerable confusion about what “flooding” means. In my constituency, yes, we have flooding and water standing in properties, but we also have storm damage and erosion. It is far from clear what that support covers, because businesses clearly have lost trade from all those things. When my constituents and the council ring the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills hotline—and, indeed, when people speak to Devon county council—they find that they do not know either. We need some clarity about exactly what the business support fund covers.

I am grateful for the £22,500 that has been earmarked for my district council, Teignbridge, but I am saddened that, even as I speak this morning, it has still not been paid. I wonder whether the Minister could raise that matter with his colleagues.

Going forward, we need a proper strategy and proper flood prevention and advice. Villagers who have been flooded are concerned because they feel that they did not have any advice about what to do to shore up their properties. Could we not talk to the fire service to see whether it could provide advice? Otherwise it will be a free-for-all for individuals who might be giving the wrong advice. Villagers were also concerned that there was no early warning and said that a siren would have helped, because this weather event was in the middle of the night. Indeed, Network Rail only discovered it was a double black rather late in the day. Perhaps something could be done about warning and notification, not just of individuals and organisations that can do something, but of residents. That would be helpful.

As the right hon. Member for Exeter said, this is no time for complacency. There is much to be done and it must be done now. That railway line along the coast is vital to the whole south-west and action is needed now. I do not think any of us would condone delay until 2019. Now means 2014 or 2015 and, at the latest, 2016.

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[Mr Streeter]

I agree. It provides an increasingly impressive service to the far south-west. There is another debate to be had—it is not a matter for this Minister—about the future of the franchise and how, with only two and a half years to run, the company lacks the ability to invest in upgrading its rolling stock, and so on. That needs to be tackled, but that is for another day.

The real challenge will be not getting the Dawlish breach restored and the trains running again before Easter—I am confident that will happen—but, as my hon. Friend said, the report to the Government on alternative or additional routes that I understand will be made by July. That is when the fun will begin, because there will be myriad views on the right approach. Let me say, first, that I agree that the existing route has to be reinforced and kept open. We should consider alternative routes from Newton Abbot to Exeter that would be faster and straighter, because that would make the link from the far south-west to London much quicker and more acceptable, to business people in particular. That needs to be fully explored. However, I agree that the existing line must be kept open. All we may really need is an additional line to be used in extremis, but which can be used for freight and local traffic. Then if there should be another breach in years to come, traffic can be switched to that alternate route. It would be wise to wait until we see the report, but it will be important for those of us in the west country to try to reach a consensus on the right way forward. I am afraid that at the moment there are probably as many views as there are Members of Parliament in Devon and Cornwall, which is not helpful. We need to try to reach a consensus.

That issue is eclipsed by the far greater issue of funding. I agree with many of my constituents who ask me, “How on earth can you support HS2?” There is already tremendously impressive infrastructure from London to Birmingham and further north, while in the west country we have a Victorian line that is unfortunately looking more and more vulnerable. I have come to the conclusion that it is very difficult to answer that question, except by saying—as I have already said to Ministers—that it will be impossible for me to support the Government on the Second Reading of the hybrid High Speed Rail (London – West Midlands) Bill unless there is a firm commitment on the table for a fully funded package for an agreed alternative route. That has to be new money. There is a lot of money in the five-year budget, but a lot of things have to be done with it; it has to be new money. We are probably talking about hundreds of millions of pounds.

[Mr Bradshaw]

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that, were every Member of Parliament for Devon, Cornwall and Somerset of every political party to sign up to that position, it would send a powerful message not only to the Government but to my party on the future long-term commitment?

[Mr Streeter]

It is hard to get all Members of Parliament to sign up to something like that because different agendas are running, but I agree that, in theory, there are enough Members of Parliament for Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and further afield that we could make an impact if we were to act collectively. HS2 is a decision not just for this Government but for the next Government. This is not a party-political point, and I understand that HS2 has cross-party support on the Front Benches, so it is important that we send a message from the west country that, unless there is a commitment to fully fund an alternative or additional route, we will not support the Bill on Second Reading. Although we are talking about hundreds of millions of pounds, it is crumbs off the table compared with the money anticipated for the HS2 project. I am not against HS2, but now is the time for the far south-west to have a slice of the action. We have been putting up with a second-class rail service for far too long.

That is what I came here to say today. The next nine to 12 months will be challenging for west country Members of Parliament, but there is no higher priority than restoring our connectivity. In the meantime—I finish on the point that my hon. Friend the Member for Newton Abbot was so keen to make—as Easter approaches and despite the challenges, Devon and Cornwall are firmly open for business.

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[Neil Parish]

My hon. Friend is right about the need for good repairs. The county councils naturally argue that a major repair is much more expensive than just filling a pothole, but she is right that it is a pointless exercise if all the tarmac comes out of the pothole five minutes later. An awful lot of money is available to be spent.

I also welcome the Prime Minister’s pledge of £5,000 grants to help businesses through the floods. Will the Minister give us more detail on how people can claim that money? It is always great when the Government offer money, but people would like to be able to claim and use it.

On the Somerset levels, it has been said that raising the railway line across the moors would cost £200 million. There is one solution to ensure that that railway line does not flood, and that is a sluice at the end of the river Parrett to stop the sea from coming in. At the moment, the sea comes in and drives the fresh water back, and that is what keeps the moors flooded. I cannot guarantee that the sluice would mean that the moors never flooded again, but a tidal sluice on the end of the Parrett, north of Bridgwater, could mean that the depth of water on the moors would not be enough to flood the railway line.

Doing the arithmetic, it would cost £200 million to raise the railway line and that will never happen. I reckon that a sluice across the Parrett would cost some £50 million and if hydroelectric power was put there as well, the project would start to show its worth. It would help farmers, properties and nature conservation. When there is water over the whole Somerset levels for six to eight weeks, there is nothing left when the water recedes. There will not be the lovely flora and fauna or reeds and rushes that everybody wants, because it will all have rotted. Then there is the farmland, what has happened to people’s property and the stock that has had to be moved across the moors. We have to look at the situation seriously.

The other great benefit of having a sluice across the River Parrett is that the water could be penned in during the summer and the area could be made like a mini Norfolk broads. That would bring the benefits of a huge tourist attraction. Devon and Cornwall need a railway line, but we have to cross Somerset to get there, and we need to consider that. I know that the right hon. Member for Exeter does not like dredging and all those things, but they must be part of the armoury. We can hold water in certain places and further upstream, but in the end rivers such as the Parrett and Tone silt up, and without dredging we will not get the water away fast enough.

The management of those waterways has to be much more local, and that is where inland drainage boards can do a lot more. We might need more drainage boards. Will the Minister consider that? We might, dare I say it, have to get people living in houses further up the catchment area to pay a small amount, because their water is flowing down and flooding the lowland areas. There are ways of raising money, which will help. Local management would be so much better.

[Mr Bradshaw]

I was interested in what the hon. Gentleman just said. He seems to agree with the research from Exeter university, which argued that if landowners and farmers in upland areas were paid to manage their land differently, the amount of money saved through reduced flood risk on the Somerset levels and elsewhere in low-lying areas would massively outweigh that expenditure. Is it not better to pay farmers to do that, rather than to graze the uplands intensively, which is sadly sometimes the case?

[Neil Parish]

The right hon. Gentleman raises an interesting point. It is part of the solution, and we have to look at how land is managed and how farmers are paid. At the moment, farmers are paid for loss of income. We should say, “If you are going to hold that water and that will reduce flooding, you should be paid to manage that water.” In the end, that would probably be a much cheaper option.

We must also remember—this is where I probably do not agree with the right hon. Gentleman—that we need land for food production; we should not take away too much land from food production for that type of process. It is about getting the balance right, an issue on which the right hon. Gentleman and I do not entirely agree. Land management is part of the solution.

Let us go forward and look at the infrastructure across the west country, including road and rail, and let us look at maintaining our coastline. Let us look at having, in the Somerset moors, the south-west and the country, pads and pipes where we could put in these massive mobile pumps that the Dutch have. We could have Dutch pumps in Sedgemoor and they could be moved around the country. Rather than having millions and millions of pounds invested in one pumping station, let us spend a few million pounds on portable pumps and the necessary infrastructure to connect those pumps wherever they are. We can import the pumps from Holland and have them ourselves. That is key.

We have to learn lessons. A lowland area has to be pumped fast. We should stop the tide from going up the Parrett so that we can fill it with fresh water. Then, when the tide goes down, we can let it out. There are lots of practical solutions. We have suffered and people still are suffering. We can never guarantee that flooding will never happen again, but we can reduce it. I will stop there, because I know that my hon. Friend the Member for South Dorset wants to speak.

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[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.

Flooding

Ben Bradshaw Excerpts

Wednesday 26th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Maria Eagle]

I hear what the right hon. Gentleman says about his experience in his constituency. I did not say that there was no support or preparation, but the Government did not act in the requisite fashion to deal with the seriousness of the situation in many places.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend is right to talk about the slow and belated but ultimately welcome response. Is not the danger that, now that the national media circus has moved on and the visiting Ministers have gone away, the Somerset levels are still under water and both of our main rail connections from the south-west to the rest of the country are still severed, and likely to be so for several more weeks? We need sustained and comprehensive attention and policies to address flood risk and flood management in the long term.

[Maria Eagle]

I acknowledge the truth of what my right hon. Friend said. Of course, it is the job of Her Majesty’s Opposition to try to make sure that the Government realise that need as much as we do. I am sure that we will seek to do that.

Flooding (Somerset)

Ben Bradshaw Excerpts

Monday 3rd February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Paterson]

I thank the Chairman of the Select Committee for her question. She is absolutely right that there is a balance to be struck. The lesson in Somerset is that it is an extraordinary environment. It is completely artificial. It was first dredged by the Dutch before the time of Charles I, way back in the 17th century. Our criteria are not applicable in an environment where the rivers are, in effect, canals. We need to treat it as a unique environment and therefore bring in local knowledge. At the meetings I had last Sunday and Monday, it was very clear that this had to be a combined effort of the Environment Agency doing the dredging, and then, for future years, allowing locals to take over and come to their own arrangements. There will be close involvement of local councils and colleagues from the Department for Communities and Local Government to work out how that will be funded and organised.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

Will the Secretary of State guarantee that the measures he has announced to address the very serious problems on the Somerset levels will not delay investment in the south-west’s main priority in relation to flood defences—namely, the upgrading of the Exeter flood defence to protect the railway line and thousands of businesses and homes after last year’s floods, which caused huge economic damage and devastation not only to parts of Somerset but the whole of Devon and the whole of Cornwall?

[Mr Paterson]

The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to remind us of how damaging the floods were last year and the impact on the railway line, which I saw for myself. Significant work is going on on that line as we speak, as has been discussed in Cobra this week. It is absolutely our intention to deliver the very significant programmes that will soon come forward; we will announce the details shortly.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ben Bradshaw Excerpts

Thursday 9th January 2014 Commons Chamber

The right hon. Member for Banbury, representing the Church Commissioners, was asked—

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

2. What assessment the Commissioners have made of the Pilling report, published by the House of Bishops working group on human sexuality in November 2013; and if he will make a statement.

[The Second Church Estates Commissioner (Sir Tony Baldry)]

The report was discussed by the House of Bishops in December and its recommendations will be considered by the College of Bishops later this month.

[Mr Bradshaw]

Does the right hon. Gentleman accept that the report’s recommendation that parishes should be allowed to offer same-sex couples some sort of blessing would in effect simply formalise what already happens in practice in many Anglican parishes? Does he agree that the vast majority of Anglicans in this country would welcome a more generous approach to long-term, faithful, same-sex relationships?

[Sir Tony Baldry]

I agree with the principle that everyone should be welcome at the communion rail. The working group did not recommend a new authorised liturgy, but a majority of its members did recommend that vicars should, with the consent of parochial church councils, be able to mark the formation of a permanent same-sex relationship in a public service. I am sure that that is one of the issues that the House of Bishops will be considering very seriously in the context of its consideration of the Pilling report’s recommendations.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ben Bradshaw Excerpts

Thursday 4th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Richard Benyon]

I assure my right hon. Friend that I share his frustration. I inherited a system that created huge expectations but which did not match the evidence required to make these zones work. We are now seeking to make sure that they are evidence-based, affordable, fit in with what happens locally in the seas and part of a coherent package.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

Vital marine habitats off Devon and Cornwall will be lost for ever because this Government are not implementing a fully ecologically coherent network of marine conservation zones or following the time scale laid down in the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009. Will the Minister please think again and tell the Chancellor that the costs of inaction in the long run will be far greater than the costs of protecting our marine environment now?

[Richard Benyon]

The right hon. Gentleman is looking at marine conservation zones as if they are the only show in town. We have 42 special areas of conservation and 37 special protection areas around the English coast. About a quarter of our inshore waters are protected and we have more than 300 sites of special scientific interest in the intertidal zone. What we are trying to do with marine conservation zones is part of a much bigger picture of marine protection. We will be one of the leading countries in the world for marine conversation and the right hon. Gentleman should feel proud about that.

--- Later in debate ---

[Sir Tony Baldry]

Absolutely. My hon. Friend makes an important point. [Laughter.] This is not a joking matter. This is serious and people have to understand that. I am grateful for the attention paid to this issue by the Under-Secretary. We are making real progress, but we need to ensure that places such as St Hilda’s, Ellerburn can continue to be places of worship and are not closed as a consequence of bat faeces and bat urine.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

2. What guidance the Church of England plans to issue to parishes and Church schools on pastoral care for same sex couples and their children.

[The Second Church Estates Commissioner (Sir Tony Baldry)]

The House of Bishops issued a pastoral statement before the Civil Partnership Act 2004 came into force in 2005. I expect that the House of Bishops will want to issue a further statement before the legislation on same-sex marriage comes into force. The House of Bishops is due to consider this December a report on sexuality, chaired by former permanent secretary Sir Joseph Pilling. The work of that group will assist the House of Bishops in its deliberations.

[Mr Bradshaw]

I am grateful for that reply, because I recently came across a case of a Christian couple in a same-sex relationship and with children in the local Church primary school to whom it was made clear by the local conservative evangelical church that they would not be welcome to worship in it. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that such intolerance and bigotry have no place whatever in the Church of England? When the Church issues guidance, it is very important that that is made quite clear to both parishes and Church schools.

[Sir Tony Baldry]

Of course I agree with the right hon. Gentleman about that. If he would like to give me the details of that case, I will most certainly take it up with the diocesan education officer. Children in Church schools come from a wide variety of family backgrounds, and teachers offer the same compassion and care for all. Each child is valued as a child of God and deserving of the very best that schools can offer. I would not expect any Church school to discriminate against any child, whatever their personal or family circumstances. If any right hon. or hon. Member comes across any instance where he feels that a Church school is in any way falling short of the standards that this House would expect, I hope they will get in touch with me.

Marine Conservation Zones

Ben Bradshaw Excerpts

Tuesday 21st May 2013 Westminster Hall

[Mr Adrian Sanders (Torbay) (LD)]

I congratulate the hon. Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Damian Collins) on securing the debate and on the careful way that he presented the case for his constituency.

I want to make three brief points. First, fishermen are not the only stakeholders in this. Although I agree with my hon. Friend the Member for St Ives (Andrew George) that fishermen should be more involved in the process, their views are not the only ones that the Government have to take into consideration.

Secondly, marine conservation zones work, and that is proved by the marine protection areas that have been extremely successful on the west coast of north America. There is also some evidence of the success of marine conservation zones around Arran and the Isle of Man in Europe.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

[Mr Sanders]

I will, although I do not have much more to say.

[Mr Bradshaw]

Is the hon. Gentleman also aware of research commissioned by the recreational anglers? It shows that fishing interests are not always allied. Sometimes the commercial fishing sector can be in conflict with the recreational sector, and the recreational sector, in many parts of the country, brings more income in to those local communities.

[Mr Sanders]

The right hon. Gentleman is correct. There are also divers and other people using the seas who contribute financially to the economies of the local areas concerned.

My third and final point—I hope that the Minister will refer to this—is the fact that we have to judge marine conservation zones as a whole, not individually. The network is crucial to their success. By altering one, we perhaps diminish the potential success of the concept as a whole.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ben Bradshaw Excerpts

Thursday 16th May 2013 Commons Chamber

[Jessica Morden (Newport East) (Lab)]

9. What steps he is taking on flood insurance.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

10. What steps he is taking on flood insurance.

[The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Mr Owen Paterson)]

We are at an advanced stage in negotiations with insurers towards producing a successor to the statement of principles. Today, the Association of British Insurers has written to say that insurers will continue to abide by the current agreement for a month beyond the end of June to allow further time for the outstanding issues to be concluded. I am placing a copy of the letter in the Library of the House. We are aiming to conclude negotiations as soon as possible to ensure that households can continue to access affordable flood insurance.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Paterson]

The current arrangements are not guaranteed to hold premiums down. We are seeking an arrangement that will last well into the future, will deliver affordability and comprehensiveness, and will not impose a huge burden on the taxpayer. The hon. Lady may wish to pop into the Library, or, if she comes to see me later, I will give her a copy of the letter from the ABI. She will see that the tone of the letter demonstrates that we are very close to an agreement, although there are still some important issues to be resolved.

[Mr Bradshaw]

A one-month extension is simply not good enough. The Government have had three years in which to sort out the problem, and, in the meantime, householders and businesses in Exeter and throughout the south-west face huge hikes in their premiums because of the uncertainty. Can the Secretary of State assure the House that both the Prime Minister and the Chancellor understand that no country in the world has a free market in flood insurance, and that there will have to be some sort of underwriting if there is to be a deal?

[Mr Paterson]

Having seen the floods in Exeter, I know that this is a key issue there. I hope that the right hon. Gentleman will welcome the new schemes, which will be of great benefit to many thousands of his constituents. I cannot negotiate with him on the Floor of the House, but we are fully aware that a great many people are vulnerable to increases in premiums, and we view this as a real priority. I think that the fact that the ABI has told us that only one month is needed for us to conclude our important discussions shows how close we are to an agreement.

--- Later in debate ---

[Richard Benyon]

I am delighted to report that at 6.15 am yesterday we got an agreement that the Council of Ministers is now in a position to do a deal with the Parliament that means we will, at last, see a meaningful end to the practice of discarding perfectly edible fish. This is part of a radical reform of the common fisheries policy, for which Members from all parts of the House have been calling for a great many years.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

What is the Government’s estimate of the costs of policing the badger cull, and who will pay for it?

[Mr Heath]

We have made it very clear that this Department will cover the marginal costs to the police forces involved of policing the cull, when it takes place. Obviously, the level of costs will be entirely dependent on the level of illegal activity in the areas in which the cull is taking place.

Horsemeat

Ben Bradshaw Excerpts

Tuesday 12th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mary Creagh]

I believe that traces of horse DNA were found in products that emanated from the Dalepak plant in Hambleton; if the hon. Lady has information to the contrary, I am sure that she will take the opportunity to put the record straight. The British meat industry is not mentioned in the motion because now is not the time to be talking down the British meat industry, as she says.

Burger King, which sells a million burgers a week, gave “absolute assurances” that its burgers were fine; two weeks later they tested positive. Representatives of TRG, or the Restaurant Group, which runs Frankie and Benny’s, revealed last Monday that they had discovered a batch of meat at Rangeland Foods that tested positive for horse.

Furthermore, last Monday, the Irish authorities discovered a 900 kg block of mostly horsemeat sitting in the cold store of a Northern Ireland burger producer, Freeza Meats. The meat had been impounded during a routine inspection five months ago. I congratulate the inspectors from Newry and Mourne council, who on a routine inspection had concerns about that meat’s packaging and quality and about the absence of labelling on some products. If meat does not have a label, we have absolutely no idea where it has come from.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on her leadership on this issue. She and the highly respected Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee have said that they would not currently eat processed beef products. Does she share my amazement that Ministers are still encouraging people to do so?

[Mary Creagh]

A range of mixed messages has been coming out of the Government. The Secretary of State said on Friday that he would be happy to eat processed beef products, but said on Sunday that doing so could be injurious to human health—[Interruption.] Well, he said that substances could be found that could be injurious to human health; I remember him saying it on the Iain Dale radio show.

The issue is difficult because yesterday the chief medical officer said that testing had never been done, because nobody wants to test humans to find out who is susceptible to the serious blood disorder aplastic anaemia—of course, it would be completely unethical and impossible to conduct such a test. The Government are in a difficult position. They may be trying to minimise public concern, but there is no safe dose of bute in humans.

Horsemeat (Food Fraud)

Ben Bradshaw Excerpts

Monday 11th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Paterson]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend, the Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, for her question. Commissioner Borg made it clear to me today that there were no grounds for banning imports on mislabelling or fraud, and that that could happen only if human safety might be imperilled. I have also spoken to Minister Constantin in Romania, who was very emphatic on this point—we have to be fair to all countries involved. He made it quite clear to me—I am happy to share this with the House—that the two main named abattoirs, one of which only deals with horsemeat, shipped products that were correctly labelled. Horsemeat was shipped and it was labelled as horsemeat. I therefore think that this case has some distance further to travel, and we should not jump to conclusions, which is why I am pleased that my discussions with Minister Coveney have led to an agreement that the Agriculture Ministers of the half dozen countries concerned will meet. We all want to get to the bottom of this.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State says that there is no evidence of criminal activity in this country, but may I remind him that inaccurate labelling is illegal? Why has it taken him more than three weeks to summon the retailers and four weeks to come to the House? Given that the highly respected Chair of the Select Committee said on the “Today” programme on Friday that she would not eat processed beef products, why is he still recommending that people do?

[Mr Paterson]

The right hon. Gentleman is right to say that inaccurate labelling is an offence. At the moment, we have to establish exactly what is in these materials and who is responsible for the label. In the Findus case, that material has been withdrawn.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ben Bradshaw Excerpts

Thursday 24th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

Does the Minister agree that the disgraceful over-fishing of mackerel by Iceland, leading to the Marine Stewardship Council removing mackerel from the list of sustainable fish, exposes the folly of the idea of repatriation of fisheries policies?

[Richard Benyon]

The Marine Stewardship Council has not delisted mackerel; another organisation downgraded it. It is certainly still right to buy British-landed mackerel—it is still a sustainable stock—but, as the right hon. Gentleman will know, we have serious worries about the activities of the Faroe Islands and Iceland in declaring a unilateral total allowable catch and not being willing to negotiate. We are working very hard to try to bring them back to the table, and we will use every measure we can. This is the most important stock for the United Kingdom industry, and most of all we want to protect it for the future.

--- Later in debate ---

[Sir Tony Baldry]

I fully agree with everything my hon. Friend says. That is why we are concerned about the removal of postgraduate certificate in education places for religious education and the minimal amount of time primary teachers receive to address religious education in their training. However, rather more encouraging is the fact that student take-up of religious education at GCSE has been at substantial levels for many years. The number of people sitting RE exams demonstrates that young people are indeed curious about faith and religion.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

4. What the policy of the Church of England is on celebrating civil partnerships.

[Sir Tony Baldry]

The Church of England’s position remains as set out in the House of Bishops pastoral statement of July 2005. A working group chaired by the former Northern Ireland Office permanent secretary, Sir Joseph Pilling, is reviewing the Church’s approach to sexuality more generally and will submit a report to the House of Bishops by the end of this year. A private member’s motion seeking to authorise the registration of civil partnerships in Church of England churches is due for discussion in the General Synod in due course.

[Mr Bradshaw]

As the hon. Gentleman will know, a number of senior Church of England bishops have, in the context of the debate on same-sex marriage, expressed their support for civil partnerships, but would the Church of England’s opposition to same-sex marriage, and the distinction it tries to draw, be more credible and have more authority if it allowed Church of England parishes that want to conduct civil partnerships to do so?

[Sir Tony Baldry]

The right hon. Gentleman makes his point well. Given the sensitivity of the issue, the most sensible thing for me to do is to ensure that his comments and those of any other right hon. and hon. Members are drawn to the attention of Sir Joseph Pilling.