Flood Defence Allocations Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Greg Mulholland
Main Page: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)Department Debates - View all Greg Mulholland's debates with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
(13 years, 3 months ago)
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Richard Benyon
The hon. Gentleman and I met yesterday and I explained to him the complexities of the scheme, which is not going ahead in the current proposals, but will, I am sure, in future. The scheme requires further work and consideration about areas where it can be provided and give better value for money. [Interruption.] Some hon. Members are chuntering, but if we allow a scheme that does not stack up as well as others to go ahead, other hon. Members will quite rightly come to the House and try to hold me to account by asking, “Why isn’t our scheme going ahead?” That has always been the case for Ministers standing here. It is important to understand that we have to give best value for money. The hon. Gentleman’s scheme is good and I hope that it will go ahead in time.
Greg Mulholland (Leeds North West) (LD)
Given the constraints on the public finances, can my hon. Friend confirm that the criteria for judging the schemes before him include not only the risk but the costs of flooding? In Leeds, which is the second-biggest financial centre in the country, those costs would be £500 million. Do the criteria also include the economic benefits of putting in the flood alleviation scheme? In Leeds, the scheme is supported by all the Leeds MPs because it would attract more development to the city.
Richard Benyon
I am well aware of the concerns of the people of Leeds, which have been well articulated by the Members who represent that city. That scheme is hugely expensive and I do not doubt that it will bring benefits to the city. I am happy to meet Members on both sides of the House to discuss it. We want to work with the local authority and other agencies to find parts of the scheme with which we might proceed sooner than others. It will not go from conception to commissioning in one year because it is such a massive scheme, but we want to bring it forward as quickly as we can. We have to make sure that we have value for taxpayers’ money at the heart of what we are doing so that we can protect as many homes as possible across the country.