Flood Defences: Chesterfield

Louise Jones Excerpts

Tuesday 24th June 2025 Westminster Hall

[Mr Perkins]

My hon. Friend raises a very important point about the importance of plans and the issue of ensuring that children feel supported. The Minister and I are both former shadow Education Ministers, and we know there is no end to the number of things that people think should be on the school curriculum, but that is something that should be considered.

More broadly, communities need to understand that the Government cannot always build a wall and save them. On some occasions, particularly as we go forward, floods are going to happen, and there needs to be a local plan for how we support people during floods and protect life in those times. The whole community needs to be involved, and that is a very important point.

If the Government accept that in some cases they cannot do more to protect an area such as Tapton Terrace, can the Minister explain what mechanisms might be in place? Who do we need to get around the table to discuss a plan, which might involve knocking homes down and potentially building flood-resilient ones there? We previously had a plan about having all the living space on the first and second floor, and just garage space downstairs. I would be grateful to hear from the Minister how we can look at getting people around the table to discuss that.

[Louise Jones (North East Derbyshire) (Lab)]

In my constituency, which borders my hon. Friend’s constituency of Chesterfield, we are affected by exactly the same issues that he has been outlining with exactly the same rivers. I note how interlinked all this is—my hon. Friend has spoken previously about getting people round the table. One of the things I found frustrating was coming up time and time again against the issue of riparian owners and the vital role they play in maintaining water courses. Many riparian owners do so very diligently, but others are not even aware of their responsibilities. What should be the Government’s way forward on that?

[Mr Perkins]

My hon. Friend raises an important point. It is not one that I was planning to refer to, but I am sure that the Minister will respond to it because my hon. Friend is absolutely right. To an extent, we have taken for granted over the years the contribution that farmers and others play. They need to be compensated for it. Many of them want to be a part of that conversation, but it is very difficult in the current climate.

I was delighted that my hon. Friend the Minister joined me in Chesterfield earlier this year to see the Wingerworth flood basin in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for North East Derbyshire (Louise Jones) and hear why we need a similar scheme in Holymoorside to protect us all from the River Hipper.

I warmly welcome the Government’s recently announcement of significant funding for flood defences, including the record £2.65 billion in the next two years, a £4 billion injection for the three years after that and an additional £7.9 billion over the next decade. It is a welcome sign that the Government are taking flooding seriously. However, we are now waiting for the Government to consult on the revised formula, which will determine the allocation of that vital funding.

When an area is flooded, the local authority is compelled to produce a report, known as a section 19 report, to investigate how the local response worked and identify recommendations for future flood readiness. Derbyshire’s section 19 investigation took an inordinate amount of time to produce what is a relatively short document, and set out a number of potential recommendations and investigations. The final report took more than 16 months from the day of the floods before it was put before the county council’s cabinet for approval, and it appears that very little of that report has led to concrete action to mitigate the flood risk in Chesterfield. It will soon be two years since Storm Babet, and some people are still not able to return to their homes. If we have another flood event this autumn without my constituents seeing any significant efforts being made to protect homes and businesses, they will understandably feel very let down.

The section 19 report stated that, to protect central Chesterfield and Tapton Terrace, Derbyshire county council, in partnership with the Environment Agency, is looking to identify potential sites for flood storage within the Spital Brook catchment to slow its flow into the River Rother. It is also looking to identify potential sites for flood storage within the Holme Brook Catchment, including at Linacre Reservoir, to slow the flow of Holme Brook, again to protect central Chesterfield, Tapton Terrace and the Brampton area. The report also stated that DCC is exploring the feasibility of removing the bridge at Crow Lane near Tapton terrace, that the Environment Agency is investigating whether an updated dredging assessment is required on the Rother near Tapton Terrace and that the EPA is exploring options to be able to progress a scheme to deliver upstream flood storage on the River Hipper, which would also reduce flood risk to downstream communities in Chesterfield.

The option that is really needed is the major scheme on the River Hipper at Holymoorside, but it is unclear what other schemes are being considered, what investigations are taking place and when decisions will be made or work completed. I am also told that Yorkshire Water is investigating the feasibility of a storage measure at Horns Bridge, to be introduced during the next asset management programme period. I am pursuing that with Yorkshire Water. While I would always prefer to have a roundabout flooded rather than people’s homes, I would like to see some real urgency to act, as the closure of Horns Bridge roundabout brings Chesterfield to a standstill and hugely affects transport between the M1 and Sheffield, Derby and Manchester.

Derbyshire county council set up the Derbyshire Strategic Flood Group. I attended the first meeting, at which the council said it would start to investigate the costs and feasibility of the schemes I referred to. That was over 18 months after Storm Babet had taken place. The next meeting is not planned for months while that work is investigated. Again, that makes me question how seriously and urgently Derbyshire county council is taking its job of flood risk management.

The message I want the Government, Derbyshire county council, Yorkshire Water, the Environment Agency and all the other bodies involved to hear from this debate is that we need to see real urgency in the approach to reducing flood risk and protecting Chesterfield. Can the Minister explain what she can do to help me imbue the local authorities with more of a sense of urgency about these works, both large and small?

Secondly, does the Minister believe that the section 19 process is fit for purpose? If a section 19 report identifies the cause or causes of flooding and makes recommendations for what is needed to reduce the risk in future, but there are no statutory requirements on what measures are needed or even timescales for investigations into what work is needed to reduce the risk, how will the public have confidence in that process?

Thirdly, can the Minister update the House on her new funding formula and give us any indication on whether we are more likely to see flood funding for Chesterfield as a result? How will this formula be different from what went before? In the meantime, residents of Chesterfield are looking ahead to another potentially rainy autumn and winter. Can the Minister give the people of Chesterfield an assurance that she understands how desperately we need to see action to further protect people’s homes? Is she aware that the River Hipper scheme will also support a major regeneration project in Brampton on the former Robinson site, as well as more than 50 businesses flooded in 2023 and many more that were nearby and escaped on that occasion?

I am glad that I have had this opportunity to give voice to the frustration that flood victims in my constituency feel. I look forward to the Minister giving me some hope to take back to the people of Chesterfield following this debate.