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the nonsensical bureaucracy and stop the financial haemorrhage by grant-aiding maintenance work as well as capital grant aid. 10.19 pm

The Parliamentary-Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Mr. David Maclean) : I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Bristol, East (Mr. Sayeed) for the interest he has shown in this subject, which has been on all our minds so recently, and for giving me the opportunity to reassure him on the issues that are of concern to him and other hon. Members and to convey to the House my Department's responsibility and the present arrangements concerning coastal defence works.

Recent exceptional weather conditions, resulting in both flooding and storm damage, have attracted public interest to flood and coastal defences. I start by expressing the Government's deepest sympathy to those who have been affected by this dreadful flooding.

We all saw and applauded the way in which the National Rivers Authority and local authorities responded to the effects of a series of extraordinary storms in December, January and February. Local authorites and the regional organisations of the NRA are close to the scene of the flooding events, and, for this reason, are able to act quickly in an emergency. They know the area. They know the defences, for they and their predecessors have replaced, improved and maintained them over many years, and it is right that they should do so.

While the Government keenly recognise the national significance of ensuring the upkeep of our coastal defences by contributing grant--at rates up to 75 per cent. from next year--towards the cost of these works, the defences are also local defences. The problems of flooding and erosion are also local. It is the local people who have to live with these defences at the bottom of their gardens, on the beaches or promenades in their towns, or in front of their houses, and who have to cope with the awful consequences of flooding ; therefore, it is right that the solutions to these problems should have a strong local input. The present arrangements allow this to happen.

Of course, as trustees of public funds, the Government must ensure that the works proposed for our coastline, and inland, represent a sound investment if they are to attract grant. For this reason, our team of project engineers works closely with the authorities concerned--in many cases, right from the inception of a project. My officials give careful and thorough appraisal to projects before they are approved for grant. Through our partnership with the NRA, which undertakes most flood defence works, we are encouraging a movement away from a piecemeal approach in defence construction towards long-term strategic planning--something for which my hon. Friend called--for instance, by supporting a detailed study of the Anglian coastline, which he mentioned, to ensure that the long-term problems are clear and that the best solution for the area is identified. The Government also have an important role to play nationally through setting a strategic framework for consideration of priorities for defences, funding research and development--for which my hon. Friend called--to elucidate approaches to defending the coastline, and through providing grant directing it to the priority areas. As guardians of investment of Government funds, through

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my river and coastal engineers, we ensure the economic, technical and environmental soundness of projects that are grant aided. This is a carefully balanced relationship, and it actually works on the ground. To change the balance of responsibilities in either direction would, I believe, render the provision of nationwide inland and coastal defence less effective, either because of

overcentralisation in national Government, or because the potential difficulties of local bodies taking narrow local priorities would be exacerbated.

High priority is given to coastal defences. My hon. Friend will be pleased to know that we are increasing the maximum grant for coastal defences from 70 to 75 per cent. next month. Over the next three years, the total Government grant provision in Britain for flood and coastal defences is £161 million, and, of this sum, 80 per cent. is likely to be spent on coastal works. These amounts represent substantial increases in provision by my right hon. Friends' Departments and my own. Increases average about 50 per cent., while, in my own Department, grant provision to the NRA-- increased following both the 1988 and the 1989 public expenditure survey rounds as a result of a comprehensive review of flood defence needs--will almost double by 1992-93.

In Wales, Scotland and England, grant provision is assessed on the basis of plans submitted by the authorities responsible for carrying out the works. In England, for example, the NRA submits annually a five-year programme of works. Information of this nature provides the medium-term planning which underpins our assessment of funding requirements, while also providing the information necessary to determine the capital expenditure limits in each region for the subsequent year.

In England, funding is targeted according to priorities that put flood warning systems and the protection of people and property first. Additional support is given to sea and tidal defence works, which attract a supplement of 15 per cent. rising to 20 per cent. from next month.

In the Anglian region, where needs are particularly high, capital expenditure limits, while already high, are being raised by 17 per cent. next year and are likely to increase further in succeeding years. Anglia also attracts some of the highest grant rates in England. The south-west is another area where flood and coastal defence needs are growing.

Capital expenditure limits have been increased by 33 per cent. together with an increase in grant rate for coastal works to 65 per cent.. In the southern region, the entire planned programme for 1990-91 will attract grant from my Department.

Mr. Barry Field : No one faults the capital grants, but the problem is how to maintain the defences, once they have been erected.

Mr. Maclean : I noted carefully what my hon. Friend said in his speech. I shall consider the question of maintenance and will write to him, giving a detailed and considered reply.

While the majority of the coastal defences in Britain stood up very well to the challenge of the recent extreme storm events, a few areas, most of them well publicised, have suffered the effects of flooding. I should stress that the weather conditions that led to the flooding have been exceptional. In a number of flooded areas, works were

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already programmed or under way. However, we have asked the authorities responsible for defences in areas where flooding and damage has occurred to review the defences and to give us an early indication of changes to programmes so that we can reconsider needs and priorities.

I am aware of the particular problem of loss of beach material on the south coast which is causing anxiety to authorities and ourselves. Therefore, in partnership with the NRA and local authorities, I am considering the need for a study of the circumstances leading to the loss of beach material, with a view to identifying robust remedial measures.

Interest in coastal defences has, I know, also grown through increasing awareness of the greenhouse effect and the consequent speculation on the possible effects this might have on sea levels. While the precise effects of global warming are not yet known, the greenhouse effect and its consequences are being extensively researched through international programmes with United Kingdom involvement.

My Department is responsible for the national flood protection research programme and at present funds some 30 research projects on coastal defences, at a cost of £1.4 million. After the debates I will show my hon. Friend the Member for Bristol, East the list of those 30 projects This research ranges from United Kingdom sea level trends to the action and effects of waves, the behaviour of shingle beaches and the effectiveness of various types of sea defences. Many of these projects will assist in ensuring that coastal defences are so designed that any necessary adjustements, as sea level rises, can be made easily, thereby safeguarding the present investment. Currently, a relative sea level rise of 30 cm per century is taken into account in designing sea defences ; this is about twice the present trend in sea level rise.

My Department does not only involve itself in research related to the greenhouse effect ; it also plays an active role in promoting the study of coastal regimes and encouraging the long-term strategic planning of flood defence works. For example, the most comprehensive study in the country is currently being undertaken on the Anglian coastline from the Humber to the Thames.

Some of those present will recall the tragic events in 1953 when so many lives were lost as a result of flooding on the east coast. The defences built after that event have successfully withstood a similar threat from the North sea on several occasions. These defences are now reaching the end of their useful lives, and this major study will investigate coastal processes such as sediment movement and offshore conditions, to establish the best means of providing a sound defence along this vulnerable coastline. That is exactly the research for which my hon. Friend the Member for Bristol, East was calling. The research and development programme includes projects investigating extreme events, studying wave generation and predicting waves at the coast. The projects help to inform the design of protective structures, but some will be more immediately applicable. At the moment, there are questions about the best types of defences, whether they should be "hard", such as walls, or "soft" such as renewed beaches. There are research projects into the design of sea walls and examining cliff stability, sediment transport and beach profiles that will help to answer some of those important questions.

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However, there is unlikely to be a single solution that will be suitable for every site. The type of structures that have worked well in the past may be favoured in the future, but new understanding will allow more informed choices and the adoption of newer approaches to coastal defence.

In summing up, I repeat my sympathy to those who have suffered flooding as a result of the exceptional weather. However, I remind the House that our coastal defences are kept under continual review and this is why, despite repeated attacks by wind, tides and surges, most of our coastal defences were effective and held up pretty well. Substantial increases in Government funding, including increasing the maximum grant rate for works on the coast

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and inland, have already been announced following our on-going reviews, and we intend to ensure that Government funding is sufficient to take account of necessary adjustments to programmes and priorities as a result of the recent storm events.

My hon. Friend the Member for Bristol, East urged me to accept the acronym CRAC. We are right up to crack with CRAC. My Department is carrying out the co-ordination, we are committed to the research, we are treating the matter urgently and we are piling in the cash. I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving me the opportunity to respond to this very important debate.

Question put and agreed to.

Adjourned accordingly at twenty-eight minutes to Eleven o'clock.

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