Weather Events (South West England)

Debate between Ben Bradshaw and Richard Drax

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.