Winter Floods 2013-14

Martin Vickers Excerpts

Thursday 8th January 2015 Westminster Hall

[Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)]

Absolutely, Sir Edward—as you well know, Lincolnshire is the greatest of our counties. It is always a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, and I congratulate the Chairman and members of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee for the work they have done in producing this timely report. It is also good to see the Minister in his place yet again. I think this is the fifth time that he has responded to a flooding debate in which I have spoken. He will be pleased to know that tempting though it was to have an action replay of one of my previous speeches, I spent time this morning producing a different one.

Despite what we have heard about Somerset and the levels and so on, I think I am right in saying that in terms of the number of properties flooded, the Humber region suffered worst following the December 2013 tidal surge. As I have pointed out in previous debates, the Humber ports, in particular, are vital for maintaining supplies to industry. Thirty per cent. of the coal that supplies our power stations passes through the port of Immingham in my constituency. Had the port been out of action for weeks, rather than days, it would certainly have meant a major disruption to power supplies throughout the country.

I mentioned that in the floods of late 2013 and early 2014, the Humber was the most affected area. I think I am right in saying that more homes were flooded in my neighbour constituency of Brigg and Goole than in any other constituency in the country at the time of the surge—my hon. Friend the Member for Brigg and Goole (Andrew Percy) asked me to pass on his apologies; he wanted to speak in this debate, but he had a prior, long-standing engagement in his constituency.

I note that in the introduction to the report, paragraph 3 states:

“Nevertheless, last winter showed that there are lessons still to learn about: the capability of the country’s flood defences; the suitability of the Government’s flood risk management priorities; and whether sufficient funding is available in the face of increasingly frequent weather events”.

Despite all the work that has been done over the last 12 months—I acknowledge that that is the case—there remains, in my constituency and elsewhere, I am sure, considerable concern not just among residents who know that their properties remain at risk, but within local authorities, drainage boards and the farming community, all of whom have considerable expertise in such matters. Their concerns are understandable, particularly when we read paragraphs 11 and 12 of the report. Paragraph 11 states:

“The Environment Agency has permissive powers (but not a duty) to carry out flood and coastal risk management work and to regulate the actions of other flood risk management authorities on main rivers and the coast. Local councils have powers to carry out work on other watercourses and coastal erosion protection assets, except for watercourses within Internal Drainage Board (IDB) Districts and public sewers (which are the responsibility of IDBs and water companies respectively).

Paragraph 12 goes on to state:

“We heard evidence that there is confusion over the division of responsibility for maintenance activities, particularly in relation to the maintenance of watercourses. Regardless of the legal division of responsibilities, many people perceive maintenance to be solely the responsibility of the Environment Agency. The Flood Hazard Research Centre at Middlesex University (FHRC) is concerned that: ‘responsibilities are unclear, confused and fragmented…in the case of maintenance of watercourses, it is increasingly assumed that the Environment Agency will undertake those maintenance activities including those for which there is a legal duty on riparian owners to perform.’”

Members throughout the House will bear witness to the fact that when we have cases involving water, there is always confusion about whether it is rain water, sea water, or surface water. The reality, of course, is that if someone’s home or business is flooded, they do not care where the water came from. They only want it sorted out and reassurance that action will be taken to ensure that it does not happen again.

If I may quote the report again, paragraph 14 states:

“Defra must work with the Environment Agency to improve public awareness and understanding of the division of maintenance powers and duties, particularly in relation to”—

yet again it comes up—

“watercourse maintenance, and to ensure that riparian owners discharge their watercourse maintenance duties.”

Rather than improving public awareness, would it not be better to consolidate the various responsibilities into, if not one, at least a smaller number of agencies?

In respect of riparian owners, I rather suspect that many of them are like those living close to an ancient parish church who suddenly find that they are responsible for the maintenance of the church tower, which needs thousands of pounds spending on it to keep it standing. The fact is that most of them do not know. If they do, they try to avoid it, and more often than not, even if they accept it, they find that they do not have the resources to carry out the work. That leads to long legal battles and no resolution to the problem.

In my Adjournment debate about flooding in my constituency last January, I referred to the knowledge of farmers, local councils and others who serve on internal drainage boards. We have heard from previous speakers today how important it is that local knowledge is used. At that time, I was pleased with the Minister’s response, and I am pleased that at paragraph 38, this report states:

“Where responsibility for maintenance work is devolved to make the best use of local knowledge and expertise, the allocation of Defra funding should reflect this to support the organisation undertaking the work.”

I also urge that local expertise has some input into the allocation of resources. We must make better use of local knowledge. Despite all the warm words, I am still not sure that that is happening sufficiently.

Sir Edward, you will recall the floods in 2007, when I was working as your constituency agent. After those floods, we toured the Gainsborough constituency. We saw homes, farms and businesses that had been flooded, and the message that we got was, “We knew this was going to happen.” The local people said, “We told the planners and the Environment Agency this was going to happen.” The local knowledge knew better, but seven years later, we still have exactly the same issue. I am sure that, during that time, work has been done to try to bring in local people and all the various types of local expertise, but the fact is that seven years on from the 2007 floods, the same message was coming through to me and, as we have heard, to other hon. Members.

I very much support the recommendations in paragraphs 28 and 29 of the report that greater recognition be given to the importance of agriculture as a “major industry” and that funding allocations

“recognise the economic and social value of agricultural land.”

Now we come to dredging. The public remain unconvinced by official reassurances that it is of limited value. At paragraph 32, the report states:

“Historically, rivers were dredged more frequently to remove silt to improve land drainage and support agricultural production. Over the past seven years Government policy has established the Environment Agency’s priority as managing flood risk and not land drainage.”

It is not clear to me from the Government response whether the Environment Agency’s priorities remain unchanged in that respect. Perhaps the Minister could clarify that in his reply.

The Minister will be aware of the work done by the Humber local enterprise partnership, local authorities and other agencies in producing a report that has been submitted to his Department. The report calls for a 17-year programme costing £1.28 billion. That, of course, is a huge amount of money—or is it? It would be used over 17 years to protect the whole of the Humber estuary, which is of great strategic importance. I suggest that that is a serious proposition and affordable.

My hon. Friend the Member for Brigg and Goole and I have met not just DEFRA Ministers but the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and all the Humber MPs met the Prime Minister, to press our case. It is clear from their response that they recognise the importance of the matter not just for residents, but for the strategic case in respect of industry. The £80 million announced by the Chancellor in the autumn statement was widely welcomed by my constituents and, indeed, throughout the region and it will allow preliminary work to be done, but I hope that the Minister will be able—if not today, in the very near future—to provide the reassurance that is urgently needed that a longer-term commitment to fund the proposals will be forthcoming not just for the residents, but because of the massive investment coming into the Humber region and the great potential that it has to bring prosperity not just to the area itself, but to the UK as a whole.

I acknowledge, of course, that there has been limited time since the proposal was put forward five or six months ago. It would be unreasonable to expect DEFRA to be able to make announcements now. Obviously, before a commitment can be made to spend £1 billion, a lot of work will have to be done, but I hope that the Minister will agree to provide some reassurance, particularly to industry and investors, through a meeting between key stakeholders such as Associated British Ports and Network Rail, which have key assets in the area, and the local authorities, which have put together the proposal. If he or, indeed, the Secretary of State herself would agree to a meeting in the near future, that would be helpful. I think that it would give some reassurance to all concerned.

It has been a very traumatic period for many of my constituents since December 2013, when their homes and businesses were flooded. We have made some progress. We are extremely grateful for the £80 million that is already on its way, but I hope that the Minister can provide, as I said, the reassurance that is needed for the future.