Storm Chandra Flooding

Martin Wrigley Excerpts

Wednesday 11th February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Dyke]

In a previous life, before being elected to this House, I was the lead member for climate change and environment on Somerset council. Somerset has a lower-than-average tree canopy cover at 8%, compared with the national average of 14%, so we committed in our 10-year tree strategy to plant more trees. There are lots of community groups doing that across Somerset, including Reimagining the Levels, which brings together volunteer networks to plant trees. I was out on Ham Hill a couple of months ago planting 3,000 trees for exactly that reason: once those trees become established, they can soak in more moisture and play their part in slowing the flow through those catchment areas. I wholeheartedly agree with the hon. Lady.

According to the Environmental Audit Committee’s report into flood resilience,

“the UK is not on track to be fully…flood resilient by the time”

the Flood Re programme ends in 2039. It further states that without clear standards, flood resilience is just

“a vague ambition rather than a deliverable goal.”

I would appreciate the Minister’s comments on what she means when she talks about resilience, especially at community level. Some communities have spent time and money putting in place property-level mitigations but still face flooding. How can they better understand what it means to be flood resilient?

The memories of the devastating 2013-14 floods are still painfully vivid in the minds of those who experienced them. Following those floods, the Environment Agency carried out what was, at the time, the single largest pumping operation ever undertaken in Somerset. Following flooding in January 2023, the EA once again put in place another large temporary pumping operation on the levels and moors.

[Martin Wrigley (Newton Abbot) (LD)]

I thank my hon. Friend for securing this essential debate. Her speaking of 2014 reminds me of the previous great storm, which took out the railway lines in Dawlish. This January, we had three storms in quick succession, as we did last January, so there appears to be more of a pattern now —it seems to be something we can expect every year. Does my hon. Friend agree that we need more Government funds to call upon to clear up areas after they have been hit so hard by these devastating storms, as Dawlish and Teignmouth were by the storms in January?

[Sarah Dyke]

I could not agree more. We need mitigation, resilience and protection, but we also need to support our communities through the aftermath. That is absolutely crucial. I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention.

While it is yet to be confirmed, it looks like the ongoing pumping operation this year will once again supersede its predecessors that I mentioned. What does that tell us about flooding in Somerset? Despite the Government’s claim that they are investing a record £10.5 billion in flood defences, the reality is that these problems are critical now, and they are continuing to grow. Despite that, analysis by Flooded People UK shows that capital spending commitment is at a lower annual rate than the previous capital regime.

In Somerset, we need action and investment to ensure the availability of critical assets in emergencies, when they are needed to mitigate flooding. Every £1 spent by the Government prevents £5 in damage, and means £2 in direct savings to the Exchequer, yet national flooding budgets have been cut in real terms. It is crucial that the Government invest in cost-effective strategies relating to flood preparedness, prevention, traditional flood defences and nature-based solutions, so that communities like those in Somerset and the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Newton Abbot (Martin Wrigley) are not left to fend for themselves.

Communities that are deemed to be at flood risk have long felt abandoned by Government and their agencies; the Environment Agency’s recent decision to withdraw from main river maintenance owing to funding shortfalls is a clear example of this. With no consultation, riparian owners in Somerset were issued with withdrawal notices last summer, and were left with the responsibility for undertaking maintenance work alone—a decision that has rightly heightened anxieties about further flood risks. Appropriate maintenance of main rivers reduces the likelihood that channel capacity will be exceeded or assets will fail. The likelihood, extent, depth, and duration of flooding, and the damage caused by it, is then significantly reduced. We do not need to go back very far to understand the profound impact that this can have. Main river maintenance reduced over several years leading up to 2012, and what followed was a catastrophic flood in 2012, and then, of course, the extreme flood during the winter of 2013. It has been evidenced that had regular main river maintenance been undertaken, those events would have had much less of an impact. That is why the Liberal Democrats are calling for an urgent review of the decision to effectively abandon main river maintenance.

We are also calling for a further £5.3 billion of investment to ensure that flood defences are built quickly and provided to all necessary communities to increase local preparedness and resilience. It is not in doubt that the cost of flood defences and resilience is significant, but the cost of getting this wrong or doing nothing is far greater. Some £6.1 billion in gross value added has been lost from downward pressure as a result of flooding in the last five to 10 years. Given that one in four properties nationally, and some 1,500 in Glastonbury and Somerton alone, will be at flood risk by 2050, the costs will only rise. That scenario opens up a broader question about communication and how different bodies—including the Government, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the EA, internal drainage boards, the Somerset Rivers Authority and Somerset council—work together with communities and individuals. In the meantime, many riparian owners are confused about what their responsibilities are, and more must still be done to improve communication and understanding. This lack of clarity is causing frustration and yet further anxiety.

I was pleased that the Minister found time to meet the Somerset internal drainage board with me yesterday. The board has called for a collaborative approach, but that must be backed with appropriate local and national funding to move it forward, and it must be sustainable. Any change will take time to implement, so it is paramount that the necessary main river maintenance works continue until alternative solutions are in place.

Alongside the importance of ensuring that dredging and regular maintenance take place, I would like to highlight the importance of natural flood management and its part in making Somerset more resilient to flooding. I am aware that the Minister shares my appreciation for such solutions, but as the Environmental Audit Committee report made clear, these interventions remain undervalued and underused in England, and must take their place alongside hard engineering projects.

The urgent need to build more homes has led to there being full or conditional planning permission for more than 7,000 new homes in England on previously undeveloped floodplain land. I am clear that new developments should not be built on floodplains, because they increase the speed of run-off and the risk of flooding downstream, putting homes and communities at risk. We desperately need new homes, but if Somerset is to hit the Government’s house building targets, the question must be: where do the houses go?

Surface water flooding is the fastest-accelerating risk affecting areas of the country that are not traditionally expected to flood. The Liberal Democrats have led calls to ensure that new homes are built with a range of measures to enhance their flood resilience, and to ensure that sustainable urban drainage systems do their job and are maintained properly. We also believe that older homes should be retrofitted to help mitigate the risk of flooding.

I pay credit to my constituent Tim Adams, the flood warden for Blackford, just outside Wincanton. Tim has undertaken research on the rapid run-off of surface water from the A303, which has often been recognised as materially increasing flood risk. His work has shown how attenuation ponds or wetlands could reduce peak flows, improve water quality and deliver biodiversity gains. In my view, it is essential to use citizen science, local knowledge and natural flood management techniques in a catchment area approach to flood mitigation.

We must also recognise the key role that farmers play in flood management by storing floodwater on their land, protecting those downstream, and consider building natural flood defences, because 58% of grade 1 agricultural land is situated on a floodplain, while 9% is at high risk of coastal flooding. If there is not appropriate insurance in place to compensate farmers for holding water on their land to prevent communities from flooding, we put those businesses under increased financial pressure after each and every flood event.

Yesterday, Mike Curtis told the Minister and me that he had reared cattle in Thorney for over 30 years, with his herd peaking at 750 head of beef cattle 10 years ago. He now keeps less than half that number, because his land spends so much time under water. While Mike’s land saves thousands of homes downstream from flooding, he is unable to access any Government compensation for these losses to his business. Sadly, Mike is not alone in facing this. Trish and Ron from Bineham City Farm near Knole also have hundreds of acres under water, and will run short of feed for their dairy herd before they are able to turn their cattle out this year. This is having a massive, catastrophic impact on their business. That is why farmers who store water on their land to protect housing or other critical infrastructure—they are providing a public good—should be properly recognised for doing so and compensated fairly.

Liberal Democrats would tailor the qualifying criteria for the farming recovery fund to reflect the realities of flooding for rural communities and farmers. We would also raise the environmental land management scheme budget by £1 billion, to support farmers in their transition to environmentally sustainable farming, and to recognise their key role in accepting and managing flood water.

Flood defences in Somerset cannot be run on a shoestring budget. We urgently need to ensure that critical assets are available and able to operate at capacity during flood events. We must use the multitude of flood defence techniques available to ensure that our communities are resilient to future extreme weather events. There is much work to be done to ensure that England has a strong framework that recognises the role of the multiple bodies and agencies that work together to make flood-resilient communities.

To conclude as I began, flooding can have a profound impact on mental health, affecting individuals and communities long after the waters recede. We must always remember the very real and persistent anxiety that flood victims experience; that must be central when considering future Government support for communities at risk of flooding.

--- Later in debate ---

[Emma Hardy]

We are taking that decisive action to halt the steady decline in the condition of flood defences under the previous Government by shifting an extra £108 million into the maintenance and repair of existing assets. We are also boosting the delivery of new defences by making available £140 million to 31 projects that are stalled because of funding gaps.

In October, following consultation, we announced major changes to our flood and coastal erosion funding policy. Those reforms will make it quicker and easier to deliver the right flood and coastal defences in the right place by simplifying our funding rules. The new funding policy will improve the balance of funding between building new projects and maintaining existing defences, and will ensure that deprived communities continue to receive vital investment. We will use Government funding to unlock investment from public, private and charitable sources, making every £1 of Government investment go further. We will invest at least £300 million into natural flood management over 10 years—the highest figure to date for the floods programme, although I am always keen for it to go higher still. Those new funding rules will be brought in for the new floods programme, and will take effect in April 2026.

I saw once again the crucial role that internal drainage boards play in flooding events. Our £91 million IDB fund supports greater flood resilience for farmers and rural communities. Ninety-four IDBs are delivering projects that are already benefiting over 400,000 hectares of farmland and over 200,000 properties. The Environment Agency estimates that the fund will avoid around £10 billion in economic damage.

[Martin Wrigley]

I deeply thank the Minister and my hon. Friend the Member for Glastonbury and Somerton (Sarah Dyke) for highlighting the dreadful things that have happened in Somerset, and I join them in thanking all those who have responded.

I very much welcome what the Minister says about ensuring that the Environment Agency has the money to maintain assets and build new ones. My hon. Friend mentioned the importance of sustainable urban drainage systems, which we debated in Westminster Hall just last week. In that debate, the Minister talked about ways of maintaining SUDS. I asked for the maintenance of SUDS to be a statutory responsibility for the agencies set out in schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. The Minister suggested that there was a route by which section 106 funding could be used to create permanent maintenance for SUDS. Might I ask the Minister how that could be achieved, given that section 106 money is finite and limited?

[Emma Hardy]

I think the best answer to that is for me to get the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, which is responsible for that policy, to give the hon. Gentleman a full answer. I recall from that debate that the Department is considering how the long-term maintenance of SUDS can be achieved, but I am mindful of the fact that it is another Department’s responsibility.

Through the internal drainage board fund, we are further investing in resilient infrastructure that can withstand more frequent and intense storms, supporting communities with clear information, accessible resources and long-term recovery assistance, and enhancing natural flood management by restoring wetlands—that is brilliant—improving soil health and working with nature to slow the flow of water.

In April 2025, the Environment Agency proposed pausing main river maintenance in certain low-risk areas of Somerset. However, it became clear, following a query raised by the hon. Member for Glastonbury and Somerton in November 2025, that the initial process did not provide sufficient opportunities for engagement with local communities and stakeholders. As a result, a new consultation period is now open, running until April 2026. This consultation will allow residents, landowners and local organisations to share their views and to help to shape the future of flood risk management in their area.

I fully recognise the importance of flood risk maintenance, particularly in areas like Somerset, where the landscape and hydrology create unique challenges. DEFRA and Environment Agency officials are already in discussion with key stakeholders, and this formed part of a wider conversation at December’s floods resilience taskforce meeting, which I chaired. These discussions are essential to ensuring that our approach to maintenance is fair, transparent and grounded in the needs of local communities. My letters to the hon. Member for Bridgwater (Sir Ashley Fox) in February 2025 detailed the actions being undertaken in support of this.

The Environment Agency needs to prioritise its funding rigorously, and focus on those areas and activities that deliver the greatest overall benefits for people and property, including reducing flood risk and ensuring value for money. It is spending significant resources every year on pumping and managing the Somerset levels. Its work is essential to maintaining the delicate balance of water across the landscape, supporting agriculture, protecting homes and preserving the unique ecology of the area.