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Mr. James Plaskitt (Warwick and Leamington): I welcome the Minister's statement and the Government's response to the Bye report. In my constituency, Warwick district council appreciates the swift response of the Bellwin scheme. The Minister's comments on compensation for the county council under that scheme were welcome news.
Royal Leamington Spa was badly affected by flooding and was the subject of a special report within the Bye report: 400 homes were badly affected, as were many small businesses in the town centre. Some people are still not back in their homes, and some of the small businesses closed as a result of the flooding will not reopen. The Bye report's section on Royal Leamington Spa details a long list of failures by the Environment Agency, particularly its failure to issue alerts through the automatic telephone system because it had omitted to include the numbers of the district council on the system. That is a serious failure. I am still interested in the issue of compensation, which
was raised by the hon. Member for Daventry (Mr. Boswell). Would not a useful starting point be acceptance of liability by the Environment Agency for many of the failures?
Mr. Morley:
It is true that the Bye report identified the failure to issue alerts. Those failings have been acknowledged by the agency in improvements and in learning the lessons. On compensation, there is an issue about people who feel aggrieved by their losses but in principle, it is not the policy of the Government--the Environment Agency is a Government agency--to compensate for insurable risk. On the flooding, it is impossible to plan and protect against every eventuality, particularly when the circumstances are so extreme. That factor needs to be borne in mind.
Mr. Ian Bruce (South Dorset):
I congratulate the Minister on defending the Environment Agency, because many things are improving, especially the local flood defence committees. In my constituency, with the work of the agency and everyone else, this year we had the least floods. Anyone who has visited a flooded family will know how traumatic the experience is.
The Minister should consider carefully what local authorities are allowed to do under planning legislation. They often know that someone is building on a flood plain but do not feel able to stop the planning application going ahead. Often, additional properties on a flood plain mean that there is nowhere for the flood water to go, so that other properties flood that would not otherwise have done so.
Will the Minister consider putting flood warnings in the Land Registry for properties built in that way? That would put pressure on people not to build in such places. Will he carefully consider the suggestion of the hon. Member for Oxford, West and Abingdon (Dr. Harris) on the use of new technology? I imagine that people's telephones could be rung simultaneously, perhaps with a special tone, using current technology. Rather than merely warning a local authority that must then try to warn other people, we could use the telephone system to warn everyone.
Mr. Morley:
Planning authorities have the power to turn down inappropriate applications if there is a risk from flooding. If there is a need to issue further clarification or guidance, we will consider it. The issue of Land Registry warnings is much more complicated, and careful thought will have to be given to whether such a procedure is appropriate, and to the practicalities. The technology already exists to ensure that a large number of households are given the warning at the same time. It is offered to those that are considered to be at risk from flooding in certain parts of the country. That is one of the matters that the Environment Agency review will consider.
Mr. Patrick Hall (Bedford):
I would like my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary to be aware that people in Bedford and Kempston are following this issue carefully, because that area was also affected by the flooding. The Minister for the Environment visited part of the flooded area last April. My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary referred to the Environment Agency's action plan, to be published this November. Will that include--if it does not, will the Government look at it--the important question of the agency's powers
Mr. Morley:
The action plan certainly includes warnings and appropriate planning guidance on flood plains. I must repeat the point that was made in the Bye report, which acknowledged that, in recent years, the planning policies of authorities around the country had improved considerably bearing in mind the risks of development on flood plains. Whether there is a need for statutory powers is something which will be considered by my colleagues in the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions.
Mr. Brian White (Milton Keynes, North-East):
I have read the report. The older parts of my constituency were flooded and I have met many of the people who were affected in Newport Pagnell. The newer parts in the city of Milton Keynes, where balancing lakes were built into the design of the flood defence system, did not flood, yet they had the same rainfall and the same river flowed through them. Many of the people who were flooded are not satisfied with the Bye report because it does not adequately address the suggestions that members of the Environment Agency opened the sluice gates and thereby flooded areas downstream. It may have dealt with some of the issues in the five areas that were detailed, but many other aspects were not fully covered.
In my constituency, the fire authorities decided to reaffirm their charge of 300 quid to pump out flooded houses. They pumped out houses without asking whether people were prepared to pay the money; they simply added the charge at the end. That was a scandalous misuse of their authority and shows that combined fire authorities do not work.
The floods at Easter have shown that the work of loss adjusters, and the way in which insurance claims are processed, is long winded. It has caused a number of my constituents who have businesses at home to lose out. They are in danger of losing their businesses as a result of the protracted nature of the loss adjusters system and the way in which insurance claims are dealt with. Does my hon. Friend agree that there is a case for reviewing the system following the floods last Easter?
Mr. Morley:
The Bye report dealt with the point about sacrificing areas, and was clear and specific in its conclusions that no areas were sacrificed to save others. I am not aware of the point about charges by the Environment Agency for pumping, but I will take it up with the agency and write to my hon. Friend about why what he described happened and the justification for it.
My hon. Friend's comments about insurance claims go wider than the brief that I hold, but it is clear to me, from talking to affected residents, that there is a disparity in the performance of insurance companies. That is something which insurance companies need to address.
Ms Joan Walley (Stoke-on-Trent, North):
I thank my hon. Friend for his statement. It is important that the whole country learns the lesson of this incident. It should underpin the work that my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Environment will do when he goes to Buenos Aires to negotiate improved reductions in greenhouse emissions, which is crucial.
Irrespective of the issue of new planning guidance for houses built on green-field and brown-field sites, I urge my hon. Friend to look again and give us an assurance that the Environment Agency has the resources to act as a consultee in respect of planning applications on brown-field and green-field sites on a flood plain.
Mr. Morley:
It is certainly the case that the Government will hold debates with other Governments and internationally, involving the Minister for the Environment. The issue of CO 2 emissions is linked to climate change which, in turn, is linked to the tragedies and implications that we are discussing now. It brings home the need to tackle those issues seriously and in a practical way.
The examinations carried out for the Bye report and the deliberations of the Agriculture Committee have not produced any evidence so far that the Environment Agency has not been able to fulfil its duties in relation to providing advice for flood plain development. The agency has been able to do that and it is important that the planning authorities take notice of that advice. As I have said, the Bye report acknowledges that more attention has been paid to that matter in recent years.
Mr. Huw Edwards (Monmouth):
I welcome my hon. Friend's statement and assure him that I believe that the investigation by the independent inquiry into the floods in Skenfrith in my constituency has been particularly thorough. However, that area was not as badly affected as others mentioned by hon. Members today. Does my hon. Friend agree that Welsh Office planning guidelines need to be revised so that there is a presumption against new housing development on flood plains? Does my hon. Friend agree that there should be consistency between the Welsh Office planning guidelines and the Environment Agency's report on giving guidelines to local authorities?
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