Flooding

Diana Johnson Excerpts

Monday 6th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Paterson]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his generous comments. I can confirm that we have implemented nearly all the recommendations of the Pitt report. One of the most important ones was the establishment of the flood forecasting centre, which brings together the Met Office and the Environment Agency. I pay tribute to the centre, whose work I have seen at very close quarters in recent days, for its great accuracy. I also pay tribute to the Environment Agency for the rapid manner in which it got the message out. My hon. Friend touches on one of the most important recommendations that came out of Pitt.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

The Government’s new flood insurance scheme excludes properties built after 2009, properties bought under the Government’s Help to Buy scheme, and small businesses and leaseholders. So can the Secretary of State confirm that the Prime Minister’s review will look at, and publish details of, the number of properties that have been flooded in recent weeks and those that will not be covered by the Government’s new insurance scheme?

[Mr Paterson]

We have already had the Committee stage of the Water Bill, which comes back to the House immediately after this statement and that would be the appropriate moment to raise these issues. We have said that we have to have a cut-off point, and it was 2009, when the last Government firmed up on the whole idea of building on floodplains. There has to be a firm cut-off point, and the longer this goes on, the bigger the burden will be on other hard-working families who are helping to pay the cross-subsidy.