Flooding

David Nuttall Excerpts

Monday 7th December 2015 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

I know the hon. Lady has a lot of experience in this area. I have had such a discussion with the Environment Agency, and the budget is effective for the level of our plans at the moment. As I have mentioned, we saw an extreme weather event with the incidents in Cumbria, so although the flood defences in Cumbria delayed the impact, giving the emergency services an opportunity to operate and to evacuate people, and also reduced the impact, we clearly need to look at that area.

[Mr David Nuttall (Bury North) (Con)]

With uncanny timeliness, a publication entitled “Responding to Major Floods” arrived in my postbox today from the Association of British Insurers. It is a useful guide to help those affected by flooding. Will my right hon. Friend speak to the ABI and ensure that copies of the booklet are distributed to everyone affected by this weekend’s flooding?

[Elizabeth Truss]

In fact, I met the ABI a couple of weeks ago and saw the document. It is indeed a good document, which I encourage Members of Parliament across the House to use in helping their constituents.

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Gentleman is doubling up as a helpful public information system, on top of all the other useful contributions—

[Mr Nuttall]

Always keen to help.

[Mr Speaker]

Indeed, the hon. Gentleman is always willing to help. We are grateful to him.