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HC 49-II Incorporating HC 1060-i, Session 2006-07

Published on 7 May 2008 by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited

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House of Commons

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee

Flooding

Fifth Report of Session 2007–08

Volume II

Oral and written evidence

Ordered by The House of Commons to be printed 23 April 2008

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee

The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and its associated bodies.

Current membership

Mr Michael Jack (Conservative, Fylde) (Chairman) Mr Geoffrey Cox (Conservative, Torridge & West Devon) Mr David Drew (Labour, Stroud) Mr James Gray (Conservative, North Wiltshire) Patrick Hall (Labour, Bedford) Lynne Jones (Labour, Birmingham, Selly Oak) David Lepper (Labour, Brighton Pavilion) Miss Anne McIntosh (Conservative, Vale of York) Mr Dan Rogerson (Liberal Democrat, North Cornwall) Sir Peter Soulsby (Labour, Leicester South) Dr Gavin Strang (Labour, Edinburgh East) David Taylor (Labour, North West Leicestershire) Paddy Tipping (Labour, Sherwood) Mr Roger Williams (Liberal Democrat, Brecon & Radnorshire) The following members were also members of the Committee during this inquiry Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative, Shrewsbury & Atcham), Mrs Madeleine Moon (Labour, Bridgend) and Mr Jamie Reed (Labour, Copeland).

Powers

The Committee is one of the departmental select committees, the powers of which are set out in House of Commons Standing Orders, principally in SO No. 152. These are available on the Internet via www.parliament.uk.

Publications

The reports and evidence of the Committee are published by The Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications of the Committee (including press notices) are on the Internet at www.parliament.uk/efracom

Committee staff

The current staff of the Committee are Chris Stanton (Clerk), Nerys Welfoot (Second Clerk), Sarah Coe (Committee Specialist—Environment), Marek Kubala and Joanna Dodd (Inquiry Managers), Professor Frank Farquharson and Professor Colin Green (Specialist Advisers), Andy Boyd and John-Paul Flaherty (Committee Assistants) and Mandy Sullivan (Secretary).

Contacts

All correspondence should be addressed to the Clerk of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, House of Commons, 7 Millbank, London SW1P 3JA. The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 5774; the Committee’s e-mail address is: [email protected]. Media inquiries should be addressed to Laura Kibby on 020 7219 0718.

Witnesses

Wednesday 10 October 2007 Page

Baroness Young of Old Scone, a Member of the House Lords, Chief Executive, Dr David King, Director of Water Management and Mr David Rooke, Head of Flood Risk Management, Environment Agency Ev 10

Wednesday 7 November 2007

Professor Edmund Penning-Rowsell, Head of Flood Hazard Research Centre, Middlesex University and Professor Howard Wheater, Professor of Hydrology, Imperial College Ev 40


Mr Kim Ryley, Chief Executive and Professor Tom Coulthard, Leader of the Independent Review Body in Hull, Hull City Council, Sir Robert Kerslake, Chief Executive, Councillor Jan Wilson, Leader of the Council and Mr John Charlton, Director of Streetforce, Development, Environment and Leisure, Sheffield City Council Ev 64

Mr Kevin Whiteman, Managing Director and Mr Robert Salmon, Director of External Communications, Yorkshire Water, Mr David Fullwood, Clerk to Beverley and Holderness Internal Drainage Board, Preston IDB and Wilberfoss and Thornton Level IDB, Dr Jean Venables, Chief Executive of the Association of Drainage Authorities and Mr David Sisson, Engineer to Lindsey Marsh IDB, Internal Drainage Boards Ev 80


Mr Duncan Jordan, Group Director for Environment, Gloucestershire County Council, Mr Richard Dudding, Director for Environment and Economy and Mr Dave Etheridge, Assistant Chief Fire Officer, Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue, Oxfordshire County Council Ev 95

Mr Tony Wray, Chief Executive, Mr Andy Smith, Water Services Director, Mr Martin Kane, Customer Relations Director, Severn Trent Water, Mr Richard Aylard, External Affairs and Sustainability Director and Mr Bob Collington, Director of Wastewater Services, Thames Water Ev 112


Mr Stephen Haddrill, Director-General, Association of British Insurers, Mr Igal Mayer, Chief Executive, Norwich Union and Mrs Bridget McIntyre, UK Chief Executive, Royal and SunAlliance Ev 130

Ms Regina Finn, Chief Executive and Mr Jonathan Hodgkin, Director of Network Regulation, Ofwat Ev 148

Wednesday 12 December 2007

Mr Richard Benyon MP, Rt Hon David Curry MP, Martin Horwood MP, Mr Laurence Robertson MP and Ms Angela C Smith MP Ev 158

Dr Ann Calver, Head of Site and Mr Terry Marsh, Leader, National Hydrological Monitoring Programme, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Professor John Mitchell, Director of Climate Science and Mr Steven Noyes, Director of Operations and Customer Services, Met Office, Dr Chris West, Director of UKCIP and Ms Jacqui Yeates, Deputy Science Team Leader, UK Climate Impacts Programme Ev 188

Wednesday 9 January 2008

Mr Dan Hawthorn, Senior Policy Adviser, Planning and Development, Mayor’s Office and Mr Kevin Reid, Senior Planner, Greater London Authority, Mr Rynd Smith, Director of Policy and Communications, Royal Town Planning Institute Ev 213

Ms Pamela Taylor, Chief Executive, Mr Phill Mills, Deputy Chief Executive, Mr Bruce Horton, Policy Adviser, Mr Jim Marshall, Policy Co-ordinator and Mr Richard Venters, Legal Adviser, Water UK Ev 224


Sir Michael Pitt, Independent Reviewer and Mr Roger Hargreaves, Head of Pitt Review Ev 238

Mr Jeremy Walker, Chair, Yorkshire RFDC, Dr Peter Ryder, Chair, Thames RFDC and Mr Tim Farr, Chair, Midlands RFDC Ev 252


Mr Paul Temple, Vice President, Mr Andrew Clark, Head of Policy Services and Mrs Anna Hall, Water Adviser, National Farmers’ Union, Mr Andrew Wood, Executive Director and Mr James Marsden, Director of Policy, Natural England Ev 274

Mr Steve Batty, Mr Malcolm G Coward, Mr Paul Rouse and Mr Mark Harrison Ev 287

Mrs Julie O’Neill, Chair, Burton Joyce Residents’ Association, Mr Peter Jesse, Chairman and Cllr Keith Marquis, Councillor, Strensall and Towthorpe Parish Council, Cllr Reginald A Shore, Leader and Mr James Nicholson, Director of Neighbourhoods and Health, West Lindsey District Council Ev 297

Monday 4 February 2008

Mr Alan Raymant, Director of Operations and Asset Management, Central Networks, Mr Nick Winser, Executive Director, Transmission and Mr Chris Murray, Director of Asset Management, National Grid Ev 311

Baroness Young of Old Scone, a Member of the House of Lords, Chief Executive, Mr Phil Rothwell, Head of Flood Risk Management Policy and Mr David Rooke, Head of Flood Risk Management, Executive Agency Ev 318

Wednesday 6 February 2008

Mr Phil Woolas MP, Minister of State (Environment), Mr Martin Hurst, Director of Water and Mr David Wright, Resilience and Institutional Framework Programme Manager, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Ev 350

List of written evidence

Mr Tony Adams Ev 592

Ms Christine Adamson Ev 396

Alde and Ore Association Evs 552, 553

Ashchurch Parish Council Ev 458

Association of British Insurers Evs 120, 123, 140

Association of Drainage Authorities Ev 513

Mr M Baker Ev 406

Norman Baker MP Ev 377

Revd. Robert Barlow Ev 411

Dr R A Barnes Ev 542

Mrs Jean and Mr Gordon Basnett Ev 397

Mr Steve Batty Ev 283

BBC Radio 4: You and Yours Ev 586

Mr Michael A K Bell Ev 565

Richard Benyon MP Ev 155

Clive Betts MP Ev 376

Professor Keith Beven Ev 562

Ms Margaret Bishop Ev 409

Blueprint for Water Ev 482

Mr Chris Blunkell Ev 580

British Damage Management Association Ev 529

British Ecological Society Ev 438

The British Insurance Brokers’ Association Ev 484

British Water Ev 572

Bucklebury Flood Alleviation Committee Ev 591

Ms J D Budden Ev 553

Colin Burgon MP Ev 370

Burton Joyce Residents’ Association Ev 293

Butler Sherborn Ev 469

Mr Peter Butterworth Ev 557

Ms Rosie Callinan Ev 404

Rt Hon David Cameron MP Ev 376

Mr Roger Case Ev 398

Central Networks Ev 304

Chaceley Parish Council Ev 402

Chairmen of Regional Flood Defence Committees in England Evs 249, 261

Chalford Parish Council Ev 395

Mr Jeremy Chamberlayne Ev 393

Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management Ev 479

Mrs Judy Chipchase Ev 389

Clanfield Parish Council Ev 439

Ms Alison Cobb Ev 448

Mr Melvyn Cole Ev 494

Coleford Area Market and Coastal Towns Initiative Partnership Ev 507

Mr Peter Collier Ev 388

Commission for Rural Communities Ev 490

Consumer Council for Water Ev 543

Revd. Stephen Cope Ev 394

Country Land & Business Association Ev 441

Mr Malcolm G Coward Ev 284

Rt Hon David Curry MP Ev 155

Datchet Parish Council Ev 528

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Evs 343, 366

Ms Mary Dhonau Ev 550

Down Ampney Parish Council Ev 403

Eastington Parish Council Ev 447

Mr Robb Eden Ev 428

Mr D F and Mrs A L Edwards Ev 555

Ms Jane Edwards Ev 556

Engineering Services, Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council, West Yorkshire Ev 559

English Heritage Ev 531

Environment Agency Evs 1, 29, 335

Nigel Evans MP Ev 370

Ms Sue Everett Ev 508

Mr Tim Fairhead Ev 579

Farm Crisis Network (FCN) in Yorkshire Ev 446

Ms Pauline Farman Ev 401

Flood Hazard Research Centre, Middlesex University Evs 34, 53

Frampton-on-Severn Parish Council Ev 398

Mr Dudley George Ev 391

Gloucestershire Constabulary Evs 516, 527

Gloucestershire County Council Ev 93

Mr James Harris Ev 396

Dr Nick Haycock Ev 567

Rt Hon David Heathcoat-Amory MP Ev 379

Mr Roger Hendry Ev 394

Hesco Bastion Ev 471

Mr Fred and Ms Jean Hollier Ev 415

Ms Carolyn Horsewood Ev 413

Martin Horwood MP Ev 156

Chris Huhne MP Ev 371

Hull City Council Ev 54

Institution of Civil Engineers Ev 497

Mr David Jones Ev 413

Mr Julian Jones Ev 591

Dr Susan Juned Ev 417

Mr Holger Kessler Ev 398

Mr Allen Keyte Ev 392

David Kidney MP Ev 380

Professor Donald Knight Evs 462, 467

Landmark Information Group Ev 589

Mr Ewan Larcombe Ev 541

Ms Patricia Lee Ev 551

Leeds City Council Ev 501

Mr Richard Long Ev 558

Peter Luff MP Ev 372

Mr C G Mann Ev 556

John Maples MP Ev 387

Ms Janet Marrott Ev 391

Mr Roger Martin Ev 389

Mayor of London Evs 206, 220

Mr Peter J D McNally Ev 539

Met Office Evs 178, 203

Mr Peter Mills Ev 594

Mr Joe Morris & Mr Tim Hess Ev 423

Ms Carole Mortimer Ev 400

National Farmers’ Union Ev 265

National Grid Evs 307, 317

National Trust Ev 453

Natural England Evs 270, 282

Natural Environment Research Council Evs 169, 202

Mr Colin Newlands Ev 394

Ms Rebecca Nicholls Ev 407

Norwich Union Insurance Evs 124, 141

Ofwat Evs 143, 154

Ordnance Survey Ev 416

Oxford City Council Ev 445

Oxfordshire County Council Ev 94

Ms Gill Pett Ev 397

Pickering & District Civic Society Ev 495

Pickering Flood Defence Group Ev 493

Sir Michael Pitt Ev 237

Ms Fay Price Ev 401

Prudential Property Investment Managers Ltd Ev 585

Quedgeley Parish Council Ev 401

RSPB Ev 534

RSPCA Ev 451

Rt Hon John Redwood MP Ev 373

Resthaven Nursing Home Ev 393

River Dene Action Group—Wellesbourne Ev 568

Laurence Robertson MP Ev 156

Mr Paul Rolph Ev 407

Mr John Rossetti Ev 566

Mr Paul Rouse Ev 286

Royal & SunAlliance Evs 127, 130

Royal Town Planning Institute Ev 212

Mr David Royffe Ev 397

Mr Timothy Royle Ev 396

Martin Salter MP Ev 370

Severn Trent Water Ev 104

Mr R B Shacklock Ev 417

Sheffield City Council Ev 59

Mr Graham Shelton Ev 414

Mr Bill Sherwood Ev 550

Angela C Smith MP Ev 157

Ms Lorraine Smith Ev 389

Mr Roland M Smith Ev 450

Mr Tony Smith Ev 551

Mr Edward Stephens Ev 470

Stoke Orchard and Tredington Parish Council Ev 392

Ms Susan Stoner Ev 395

Strensall and Towthorpe Parish Council Evs 295, 302

Stroud District Green Party Ev 419

Graham Stuart MP Ev 372

The Survey Association Ev 426

Sir Peter Tapsell MP Evs 374, 376

Ms Jacqui Taylor Ev 412

Tewkesbury Chamber of Commerce and Industry Ev 428

Tewkesbury Town Council Ev 435

Thames Water Ev 109

Ms Margaret Thompson Ev 540

Miss D Thorne Ev 555

Paddy Tipping MP Ev 374

UK Climate Impacts Programme Ev 187

United Utilities Ev 474

H R Wallingford Ev 510

Water UK Evs 221, 232

Mr Stephen Watkins Ev 445

Mr Nick Weir Ev 391

West Lindsey District Council Ev 296

Professor Howard Wheater Ev 36

Whiteshill & Ruscombe Parish Council Ev 401

Ms Julie Wickham Ev 393

Wildlife Trusts Ev 486

Wildwood Trust Ev 460

The Witham First and Third District Drainage Boards Evs 570, 571

Mr Dennis Woodman Ev 388

Woodmancote Parish Council Ev 405

Mr Jack Wrightman Ev 557

Yorkshire Water Evs 76, 91

List of unprinted evidence

The following memoranda have been reported to the House, but to save printing costs they have not been printed and copies have been placed in the House of Commons Library, where they may be inspected by Members. Other copies are in the Parliamentary Archives, and are available to the public for inspection. Requests for inspection should be addressed to The Parliamentary Archives, Houses of Parliament, London SW1A 0PW (tel. 020 7219 3074). Opening hours are from 9.30 am to 5.00 pm on Mondays to Fridays.

Peter Hebblethwaite (FL 025) - Background paper

Strensall & Towthorpe Parish Council (FL 039a) - Photographs

Mike Smith (FL 043) - Background paper

Chairmen of the Regional Flood Defence Committees supplementary (FL 063a) - Map

National Grid (FL 080) - Appendix

Butler Sherborn (FL 086) - Appendices

Hesco Bastion Ltd (FL 088) - Appendix

Water UK (FL 095a) - Photographs

Sue Everett (FL 107 & FL 107a) - PowerPoint presentations

Oxfordshire County Council (FL 126) - Annex

The Alde and Ore Association (FL 136) - Annexes

O M Goring (FL 146) - Background paper

John Rossetti (FL 150a) - Background paper

Mayor of London (FL 151a) - Annex

River Dene Action Group - Wellesbourne (FL 153) - Annex

The Witham First and Third District Drainage Boards (FL 155) - Annex

Landmark Information Group (FL 163) - Map

Julian Jones (FL 165) - Appendices

Beverley & North Holderness Internal Drainage Board - Background papers

Upton St Leonards Parish Council - Background paper

Wiltshire and Swindon Local Resilience Forum - Background paper

Timothy Maddison - letter to Welsh Assembly

Dr David Stephens - letter to Chairman

Tony Cowley - letter to the Chairman

Ken & Gill Holway - letter to the Chairman

HJ Harper - letter to the Chairman

Ian Hill - letter to the Chairman

Denis Gibbs - Letter to Lynne Jones MP

David Drew MP - Notes from meeting with Tim Brain, Gloucester shire Chief Constable

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Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee: Evidence Ev 1

Oral evidence

Taken before the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee

on Wednesday 10 October 2007

Members present

Mr Michael Jack, in the Chair

Mr GeoVrey Cox David LepperMr David Drew Dan RogersonMr James Gray David TaylorLynne Jones Mr Roger Williams

Memorandum submitted by the Environment Agency (FL 121)

Summary

The Environment Agency welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Environment, Food and RuralAVairs (EFRA) Committee inquiry into the recent flooding across England.

The following memorandum summarises the role of the Environment Agency, our initial views on the keyissues arising from the floods of June and July 2007, and on the significant policy and leadership challengeswe face.

This memorandum will cover:

— Inland Strategic Overview Role

— Characterisation of Risk (mapping flood risk)

— Development and Flood Risk

— Sustainable Drainage

— Emergency Planning

— Protecting Critical Infrastructure

— Rural Flood Risk Management

— Reservoirs

— Investment

— Governance

Our internal review is due to report in December 2007, but we have incorporated our preliminary findingsinto this submission. We look forward to the findings of this and other reviews of the floods this summer.Our initial conclusions include the following:

— The weather event that led to the flooding was unprecedented in many places, with significantamounts of rain falling in very short periods of time. The flooding occurred largely because urbanand land drainage systems were unable to cope with the large volumes of water which resulted.

— We are still analysing the performance of our flood defences during the event but early indicationsare that with virtually no exceptions, the majority performed to design standard and did not fail.They were, however, in many places simply overwhelmed and overtopped by the sheer volumeof water.

— There were many communities that were satisfactorily protected by defences, including some forthe first time following recent investments.

— The Environment Agency’s flood warning systems performed well with no problems with serviceprovision. We warned over 45,000 properties at risk; our flood agents took almost 55,000 calls; wereceived over 200,000 calls to our recorded message service and received over 43 million “hits”from 4 million individuals on our website. All of our systems stood up to the challenges ofincreased usage.

— Our links with the Met OYce and the data provided by them were crucial in allowing theappropriate deployment of staV and resources. However, the specificity of forecasting informationis not yet such as to define with suYcient accuracy where rain will fall so that more local impactson surface water and small watercourses can be assessed.

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Ev 2 Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee: Evidence

1. Introduction

1.1 The severe flooding that aVected much of the country in June and July followed what we now knowto be the wettest May to July period since records began in 1766. The sheer volume of water overwhelmedmany drainage systems and some defences, and much of the flooding occurred because these systems couldnot cope with the sheer quantity of water. However, whilst little reported, our activities and previousinvestment to protect homes and businesses substantially reduced the impacts of this extreme event.

1.2 Nevertheless, the eVects were severe. Several people lost their lives. 44,600 homes and 7,100 businesseswere flooded. Transport infrastructure was disrupted, and many properties were without power and waterfor many days. Recovery from such an event can take years, as properties are dried out, cleaned, repairedand redecorated. Rural areas and businesses too have had to face the impacts of flooding. Many farmershave suVered significant losses of livestock and crops.

1.3 Every flood provides a learning opportunity to examine the root causes and identify areas forimprovement. The summer floods brought into sharp relief a number of issues, many of which we werealready tackling. This incident was characterised by severe surface water flooding and potential problemswith reservoirs, as well as flooding from rivers and other watercourses.

1.4 A particular challenge is urban surface water drainage. In many places, flooding occurred as a resultof prolonged heavy rainfall, leading to surface water run-oV and drainage systems being overwhelmed.Pressures on drainage infrastructure had been increased by new development, infill of previouslyundeveloped land and increased levels of impermeable paving. Climate change is likely to make urbansurface water flooding more common as rainfall is predicted to increase by 10–30% by the 2080s, andintensity could increase by up to 20% (UKCIP, 2002).

2. Inland Strategic Overview Role

2.1 There is a need for clarification of responsibilities for inland flooding from whatever source. Atpresent, no single organisation has the strategic overview role for all inland flooding issues, includingflooding from river systems and surface water. Whilst local government will be the key local player for urbansurface water flooding, there needs to be a strategic overview and co-ordinated approach to flooding fromall sources, including rivers, seas and surface water. There are benefits to be gained from a co-ordinatednational approach. These include, for example, in the methodology and techniques used for riskcharacterisation and surface water management; in aligning the design capacity of surface water systemswith those of river and coastal defences; and in the contributions that whole-catchment approach to watermanagement oVers.

2.2 Defra wrote to key stakeholders in June 2007 to seek views on their approach to the intendedEnvironment Agency Strategic Overview for Inland Flood Risk Management, and to ask for feedback ontheir draft impact assessment for the Integrated Urban Drainage work. Additionally, the Defra MakingSpace for Water initiative has funded 15 pilot studies in urban areas in England examining diVerentapproaches to urban flood management. These studies will report in 2008 and provide an evidence-basedapproach to policy development. The Environment Agency believes there is an urgent need to establish astrategic overview role, to provide national leadership, advice and support to all bodies who have roles toplay in the management of flood risk for the future, including the several bodies locally who have a key roleto play in the management of surface water flood risk. The issue of the overview of surface water floodingis also identified in the independent review of the 2007 floods in Kingston-upon-Hull, commissioned by HullCity Council.

2.3 Working within a strategic framework, advice, support and tools provided by the EnvironmentAgency, Local Authorities, as the key local players, would undertake Strategic Flood Risk Assessmentscovering all forms of flooding to inform spatial planning decisions. Where necessary these would trigger thepreparation of a Surface Water Management Plan (SWMP). A SWMP would take account of flooding fromsurface water, sewers, combined sewers and the impact of these sources in combination with flooding fromrivers, the sea, groundwater, canals and reservoirs to provide a more holistic approach to the problem ofurban flooding. Input on flood risks from rivers, the sea, groundwater, canals and reservoirs would continueto be provided by the Environment Agency. At present markedly diVerent design standards are applied byoperating authorities to urban drainage systems. Typically, return periods of up to 1 in 30 years will beapplied but not universally and not in a co-ordinated approach with others to appropriately manage urbanflood risk. Retro fitting the application of higher standards and increased risk protection would beprohibitively expensive but regulation to ensure that all new build and redevelopment conforms to newstandards would bring significant improvements over time. Surface Water Management Plans would alsoallow the identification of priorities for the remediation of surface water flooding “hot spots” in currentsystems.

2.4 The forthcoming Planning Reform Bill could introduce a duty for all utilities, regulators and agenciesto work with local authorities to produce a Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (SFRA), where EnvironmentAgency Catchment Flood Management Plans identify a significant risk of urban flooding.

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2.5 A methodology for developing these plans is critical. The Environment Agency could develop amethodology that would be applied nationally by Local Authorities. A SWMP would provide input to theLocal Development Framework for the Local Authority.

2.6 We believe that the Environment Agency could perform an eVective strategic overview role for alltypes of inland flooding. However, the role needs careful specification and the balance of responsibilitiesbetween the Environment Agency, Local Authorities and other organisations will need to be clearlyarticulated.

3. Characterisation of Risk

3.1 We already have a well-established way of characterising and mapping the risk of flooding from riversand the sea. The Environment Agency is not, currently, responsible for floods from surface water. Were weto be given the overview role outlined above, it would still be far more diYcult to characterise and warnagainst the risk from other sources of flooding. Water moves in complex ways through the changinglandscape in a dynamic urban environment, and is extremely challenging to map. Planning decisions, urbandesign and changes in sewerage provision all conspire to make it diYcult to accurately predict flooding.Little work has been done on mapping areas at risk from urban surface water flooding. There is nonationally consistent approach. There needs to be developed a workable, risk-based methodology forcharacterising urban flood risk. This will be an important part of implementing the European FloodsDirective, and critical for the Environment Agency in taking a meaningful strategic overview for all formsof flooding, as proposed by Defra.

4. Development and Flood Risk

4.1 The new planning policy guidance on development and flood risk (England: PPS 25) published inDecember 2006 introduces a strengthened presumption against developing in areas of flood risk. At the sametime the Government introduced new powers for the Environment Agency to challenge planning authoritiesthat overrule our advice based on the basis of riverine or coastal flooding and flood risk from surface waterdrainage. It remains diYcult to identify urban areas at high risk from surface water flooding in a consistentway and therefore the full potential of PPS25 is not being realised.

4.2 In 2005–06, we objected to more than 4,000 planning applications in England because of concernsabout flood risk (High Level Target 5—Development and Flood Risk, 2006). In the end, only 10 majordevelopments went ahead against our advice in 2005–06, but that is 10 too many. Our report on buildingin the floodplain for 2006–07 will be completed in November.

4.3 Increased storminess and the possibility of flooding occurring more widely outside the floodplain dueto surface water issues, means that the resistance and resilience of buildings to floods needs to be increased,to reduce the damage when such floods occur. The feasibility should be examined of introducing floodresistance (preventing water entering buildings) and resilience (reducing the impact of water which hasentered buildings) requirements into the Building Regulations as part of measures to adapt to climatechange.

5. Promoting Sustainable Drainage

5.1 Sustainable drainage systems (SUDS) slow the movement of surface water through the builtenvironment to emulate natural processes. These include allowing water to soak into the ground andproviding absorbent surfaces, buVering or storage. In doing so, they reduce the impact of rainfall on thedrainage system. However such systems do require long term maintenance and, at present, there is no legalclarity as to whose responsibility this is or who will fund it.

5.2 Local Authorities should take the lead on providing SUDS. In the forthcoming Planning Bill, apresumption in favour of SUDS should be introduced to add weight to existing policy in PPS 25. LocalAuthorities should apply a presumption in favour of SUDS in planning applications for new developmentsby applying conditions. So-called General Binding Rules could be introduced, requiring parking areas orother surfaces to be made permeable, as envisaged in the Defra non-agricultural diVuse pollutionconsultation.

5.3 Section 106 of the Water Industry Act 1991 (right of connection to a public sewer) should be amendedto encourage the use of SUDS. Currently this section gives property owners a right to connect to a publicsewer without having to consider alternatives or demonstrate that SUDS are not feasible.

5.4 Greater transparency in charging for surface water drainage could reward organisations that place asmaller load on the surface water drainage system. This would encourage more permeable surfaces, reducingsurface water runoV.

5.5 PPS 25 requires that drainage issues be appropriately considered as part of the flood risk assessment.Where flood risk from drainage has not been adequately considered in this way the Environment Agencywill object.



6. Emergency Planning

6.1 The multi-agency approach to emergency planning is sound. The Environment Agency, Police, localgovernment, Fire and Rescue Service and others jointly develop strategies for responding to floodemergencies and these worked during the floods. The fora and collaborative mechanisms set up under theCivil Contingencies Act stood in good stead during the flood emergency, so these need further developmentto focus on particular flood emergency issues.

6.2 The Environment Agency played a full role in supporting the Government at a national level throughattending meetings of the Civil Contingencies Committee (known as COBRA meetings) and in providingbriefings for Ministers and members of Parliament.

7. Protecting Critical Infrastructure

7.1 The experiences at Walham electricity sub station operated by National Grid and the Mythe WaterTreatment Works operated by Severn Trent Water have brought into sharp relief the necessity for protectingour critical infrastructure. The Receptors Vulnerable to Flooding project (Environment Agency and JBA,2007) found that significant numbers of public and private sector critical infrastructure facilities were at riskfrom flooding. These included 15% of major energy installations, 14% of emergency response installations(fire, ambulance and police stations), 9% of hospitals and health centres and surgeries, and 57% of waterand sewerage treatment works, as well as railway stations and lines, roads, telephone exchanges and schools.

7.2 The Civil Contingencies Act requires business continuity plans to be prepared by category 1 and 2responders. However, this does not extend to a specific duty to protect critical assets from flooding. Ourexperience of the recent floods suggests that some utility companies may not have appropriate businesscontinuity plans in place to address all the potential impacts of major flooding. We encourage utilitycompanies to review their business continuity plans in light of the most up-to-date information that we haveavailable. Our reviews from previous floods have identified this as an issue. To ensure that adequate progressis made, the Environment Agency would want to see proposals to include a specific requirement in theClimate Change Bill for utilities and all critical infrastructure and service providers to take account ofclimate change adaptation needs.

8. Rural Flood Risk Management

8.1 Considerable rural land flooded during the summer floods. The Environment Agency works withlandowners and Internal drainage Boards to help manage rural flood risk where possible. The Agencyprioritises the provision of defences and the maintenance of watercourses on a risk basis. In the case ofmaintenance of watercourses, including dredging, the Environment Agency provides maintenance anddredges where that will help reduce flood risk. There are a number of ways in which land owners andmanagers can help reduce flood risk. Two current research projects under Defra’s Making Space for Waterinitiative are helping to provide the scientific evidence to show land owners and managers what role theycan play in reducing floods from their land. In addition, the use of farmland adjacent to rivers to storefloodwater and re-create natural floodplains, perhaps subject to payment, can help manage flood risk.

9. Reservoirs

9.1 During the floods problems were identified at a number of reservoirs including the well-publicisedUlley Reservoir near Rotherham. The Environment Agency became the enforcement authority forreservoirs across England and Wales in October 2004. Our experiences over the past three years and from thefloods lead us to conclude that a review of the legislation would be timely. The combination of the impacts ofclimate change and an ageing reservoir stock mean that risks from dam failure are likely to increase andhaving a modern risk-based legislative framework in place is in our view a pre-requisite to managingthose risks.

10. Investment

10.1 There is strong justification for increased investment in flood risk management to cope with theexisting backlog of floodplain development, growing development pressures, additional duties andobligations placed upon us by our changing role and developing legislation, and to take account of theimpacts of climate change. The economic benefits are clear—for every £1 spent on protecting homes andbusinesses and building in resistance and resilience, the cost of clean-up and repairs following a flood canbe reduced by up to £6 (Defra Zero-based review of flood risk management, 2006 unpublished). Theinvestments we make are therefore paying for themselves many times over. The pressures on the flood riskmanagement budget remain and the cost of bringing urban drainage systems up to standard and improvingstandards will also be considerable.



10.2 The continued investment and provision of flood defences for properties in areas at high risk offlooding is a fundamental part of Government’s agreement with the insurance industry. The “Statement ofPrinciples” agreed with the ABI states that insurance for flood risk will continue to be oVered by the industryas long as Government investment in flood risk reduction measures continues. The ABI has called for floodrisk management budgets to be increased at 10% per year (A future for the floodplains, ABI, 2006), and theEnvironment Agency believes it is prudent to increase the budget this steadily so that capacity can increasein line with a real increase in budget.

10.3 The Government announced in July its intended expansion of overall funding in flood riskmanagement from £600 million per year to £800 million per year by 2010–11, although it is not yet clearhow much the Environment Agency will receive, or when. The National Audit OYce identified the need foran additional £150 million to be spent on bringing our existing assets into “good” standard. The ABI’s viewis that this commitment should be made over and above the increase to £800 million annually alreadyannounced, and they have identified a case for an additional £8 billion to be spent over 25 years on east coastdefences alone. The Government’s Foresight report also advised that an increase in spending of £30 millionper annum in real terms would be necessary to contend with the best current predictions of the eVects ofclimate change.

10.4 So, we warmly welcome the extra funding announced by the Secretary of State for Environment,Food and Rural AVairs. We believe it should increase steadily in 2008–09 and 2009–10, and in accordancewith the ABI’s proposals after 2011. Increases should continue through the next spending review, towardsreaching over £1 billion annually.

11. Governance

11.1 Some commentators are already suggesting disaggregation of flood risk management to more localcontrol. The Government consulted on governance and funding after the extensive floods in autumn 2000and concluded that a national approach was needed to enable eVective focus on priorities and more eYcientuse of resources and skills. Government has just agreed that the Environment Agency will take on theresponsibility for strategic overview on the coast and is consulting on giving the Environment Agency asimilar role inland.

11.2 Other commentators have suggested that management of flood events point to the need for a singleflood agency which would handle all aspects of flood emergency management from forecasting and warningthrough to event management, community support and post-flood recovery. The management of floodevents requires collaboration of a wide range of organisations. For example, the skills of both theEnvironment Agency and the Met OYce are needed for flood forecasting. Emergency management needsclose collaboration between Local Authorities, the emergency services, utility companies, Internal DrainageBoards, voluntary organisations and others. The important factor is clarity of responsibilities and excellenceof co-ordination, not the creation of a single organisation, which would cut across the ongoing “peacetime”responsibilities of other organisations.

11.3 A fundamental principle behind the creation of the Environment Agency was the need for theintegrated management of rivers, including pollution control, water resources, the land / water interface andbiodiversity as well as flooding. This is even more valid now. The Water Framework Directive requires suchan approach and this will soon be universal across Europe.

11.4 A response to the flood event that focuses on organisational restructuring rather than action on theissues risks losing output for up to two years while restructuring takes place and reductions in productivityfor some three years after as the new arrangements bed down. Many of the issues identified as arising in thesummer floods were highlighted in reports from previous flood events. It is vital that the real issues aretackled, rather than resorting to restructuring as a substitute for real focus and action.

12. Conclusions and Recommendations

12.1 In reaching conclusions and making recommendations, we must bear in mind that the full pictureof the events in June and July, and the full impacts of the flooding have yet to be clearly understood. Theinternal “lessons identified” review that we are undertaking, together with reports from other studies, willadd flesh to the bare bones of information that have so far been available, and help us direct our futurethinking, policies and activities. Our interim views, based on what we know so far, are as follows:

— Recommendation 1—We believe that there needs to be an eVective strategic overview role for alltypes of inland flooding. The role needs careful specification and the balance of responsibilitiesbetween the Environment Agency and other organisations will need to be clearly articulated. TheEnvironment Agency could provide leadership, advice, expertise and national support. LocalAuthorities would need to take a lead role in the local management of surface water flooding.These roles would need to be supported by appropriate powers and resources, and by SurfaceWater Management Plans that would set out a package of responses to risks that were identifiedin a consistent way (Section 2.0).



— Recommendation 2—We need to develop a workable, nationally consistent toolkit forcharacterising urban flood risk and prioritising responses (Section 3.0).

— Recommendation 3—PPS 25 gives the Environment Agency the greater involvement in planningdecisions we called for. However, to be eVective it must be rigorously applied and supported byLocal Authorities (Section 4.0).

— Recommendation 4—Resistance and resilience requirements should be included in the BuildingRegulations for new development in areas that could flood, from whatever source (Section 4.0).

— Recommendation 5—In the forthcoming Planning Bill, a presumption in favour of SUDS shouldbe introduced to add weight to existing policy in PPS25. Local authorities should apply apresumption in favour of SUDS in planning applications for new developments by applyingconditions and clear arrangements need to be put in place for ongoing maintenance (Section 5.0).

— Recommendation 6—Section 106 of the Water Industry Act 1991 (right of connection to a publicsewer) should be amended to encourage the use of SUDS, and charging regimes should rewardorganisations that place a smaller load on the surface water drainage system (Section 5.0).

— Recommendation 7—Local Authorities together with Local Resilience Forums should be givengreater accountability for ensuring emergency plans are adequate in relations to the level of floodrisk (Section 6.0).

— Recommendation 8—Measures that promote investment in resilience and prevention of floodingof critical infrastructure need reviewing. There should be a specific climate change adaptation rolefor utilities and service providers in the Climate Change Bill (Section 7.0).

— Recommendation 9—Land owners and managers should be encouraged to consider the manyways in which their activities can help reduce flooding, for example by careful soil management orcreating washlands and water storage areas (Section 8.0).

— Recommendation 10—Reservoir safety legislation should be reassessed to learn the lessons of therecent events (Section 9.0).

— Recommendation 11—Investment in flood risk management is promised to increase but longer-term commitment to such funding needs to be given by Government in the face of climate changeimpacts (Section 10).

— Recommendation 12—Fundamental changes to governance of flood risk would becounterproductive. Defra should take forward its intention to give the Environment Agency anoverview role of all inland flooding (Section 11).

Environment Agency

September 2007

Annex 1

Our role and activities during the summer floods 2007

1. The Environment Agency

1.1 We are the lead agency for providing flood risk protection and warning of flooding from “main”rivers. Other bodies, (Local Authorities, the Highways Agency and utility companies) are responsible forthe standards and maintenance of smaller watercourses, culverts, drains and sewerage systems. We have aregulatory role in managing flooding from reservoirs, except where we own reservoirs specifically managedto reduce flood risk. Riparian owners are responsible for other watercourses on their land.

1.2 This memorandum explains how we discharged our responsibilities during the summer floods. Itexplains how we worked with others in discharging those responsibilities across the range of our activities,including mapping and modelling flood risk; interpreting weather warnings; forecasting flooding and issuingflood warnings; building and maintaining flood defences; incident management and response; clean-upoperations; and aftercare.

1.3 Although it is not possible to conclusively attribute any particular event or series of events to climatechange, we do know that predictions for the UK suggest we can expect more severe storms accompaniedby intense rainfall. This, combined with predicted sea level rise, mean that the risks of coastal and inlandflooding are likely to increase.



2. Forecast And Warning

Mapping

2.1 We map flood risk and provide free to the public, via our web site, the most detailed mapping analysisof flood risk of any country in Europe. This information is regularly updated and shared with localauthorities and the insurance industry to assist in planning and insurance provision. We map areas at riskof flooding from the sea and from rivers. We do not currently have a responsibility to map areas that maybe vulnerable to surface water flooding, sewer or groundwater flooding.

2.2 Most of the areas that flooded were identified on our flood maps as being at risk of flooding. Thosethat weren’t identified by flood maps as being at risk tended to be areas aVected by drainage systems beingoverwhelmed by the run-oV from exceptional rainfall. Early data analysis shows that five times as manyproperties were aVected by surface water flooding as against those directly aVected by river bankovertopping, although the relationship between the two is complex. Areas where urban flooding was causedsolely by overwhelmed urban drainage systems do not receive flood warnings under the current system.

Data gathering

2.3 We constantly monitor rainfall, river and sea conditions. We also use weather forecastinginformation provided by the Meteorological OYce (Met OYce) on rainfall forecasts, weather radar, tidelevels and wind conditions. These data help us plan and warn for events.

2.4 The data are fed into our national flood forecasting system (NFFS), which predicts river and tidelevels for critical locations across England and Wales and allows us to warn people at risk and professionalpartners. When severe weather is predicted, our national and regional flood forecasting duty oYcers are inregular and direct contact with Met OYce forecasters.

Triggers for action

2.5 The Environment Agency’s operational flood response can be triggered in a number of ways,depending on the response required, for example:

— Using weather forecasts from the Met oYce—for informing professional partners, running riverlevel and tide forecasts, putting staV on standby;

— Using detected river levels through remote sensing or direct observations—used to issue floodwarnings and operate our flood control structures, including putting up our temporary floodbarriers; and

— Through reports of flooding from the public or others—these can be received by Floodline (ourflooding information telephone service 0845 988 1188); our National Customer Contact Centre(NCCC) during oYce hours, or through our Regional Communication Centres (RCCs) using ouremergency out of hours contact number. They are then passed to the relevant local duty oYcer toinvestigate and act.

Flood warnings

2.6 We issue flood warnings when rivers or sea levels reach trigger levels, or when high levels are forecast.Before we issue warnings to ensure we try to be as specific as possible about which communities will beaVected. However, we have to find a balance between the needs for accuracy and the importance of alertingthe public and our partners early enough for them to react appropriately. We also need to be aware of theproblems of raising false alarms, which, if repeated, reduce the willingness of people to respond.

2.7 We aim to give at least two hours’ notice of flooding, but in some locations, where catchments respondvery quickly to rainfall, this notice period is not feasible. We do not currently have a responsibility to providea flood warning service for flooding from sewers, drains or surface water, although work is currently beingdone under Defra’s Making Space for Water initiative to study the feasibility of expanding current floodwarnings to cover other flood risks.

2.8 During the summer floods:

— We warned over 45,000 properties of flooding through our free flood warning systems.

— Our flood agents took almost 55,000 calls and we received over 200,000 calls to our FloodlineRecorded Message Service. Our call centres were manned with triple the usual number of staV.

— We issued 233 Flood Watch Warnings, 272 Flood Warnings, and 51 Severe Flood Warnings.

— We received over 43 million “hits” to flood pages from 4 million individuals on our website whichcontain advice on preparing for flooding, what to do during a flood and on cleaning up after aflood.



Floodline Warnings Direct (FWD)

2.9 We have invested £10 million over the last 3 years in our new national flood warning disseminationsystem, Flood Warnings Direct (FWD). It has proved a robust and reliable way of getting warnings out topublic and our professional partners. This system is unique in the world, warning free of charge registeredusers at the highest risk of flooding via telephone, fax, text, mobile, pager and email.

2.10 We have sustained a long running campaign to raise awareness of flooding and the availability offlood warning and advice. To date 40% of those oVered FWD have voluntarily signed up for the service.We continue eVorts post flood to encourage sign up, for example by taking out full-page adverts in threenational newspapers, local newspaper advertising, direct mailing, and going door to door.

3. Response

3.1 During the June and July flooding we mobilised all appropriate head oYce and regional operationalteams. Their activities included checking the condition and stability of our flood defence assets; confirmingtelemetric readings; installing demountable flood barriers; monitoring and forecasting; issuing warnings;manning our incident control rooms; and responding to queries from the public, Government Ministers andoYcials, Members of Parliament and the media. Many staV from non-flooded areas and other disciplinesof Environment Agency work were drafted in to supplement formal flood risk management staV, an exampleof where a large, multi-functional agency is able to provide a more robust response in such emergencies.

3.2 Over this period, up to 23 National, Regional and Area Incident Rooms were operational, and staVattended the same number of Gold and Silver Control Centres.

Gold and Silver Controls and Civil Contingencies Committee

3.3 The Gold and Silver Command structure is used to co-ordinate a managed response to majorincidents where a range of agencies and emergency services have a role to play. Communication betweenthe Environment Agency Regional contacts and Gold and Silver Controls across the country worked well,largely due to pre-established relationships and links made during emergency planning exercises and LocalResilience Forums. We were able to provide updates as necessary on flood risk in many areas. These werewidely cascaded to responding agencies and authorities on a regular basis and the information was oftenthe basis for informing evacuation plans and informing the public. The same material was used extensivelyby our own staV to brief the media, provide press statements and give interviews.

3.4 The importance of our role in control centres is recognised—Hull City Council and Humberside Fireand Rescue have both indicated that the Environment Agency were “invaluable in providing accurate andvital information on river levels, tides, and weather forecasts” at Silver Command in Hull (Hull FloodsIndependent Review Body).

3.5 We also provided liaison oYcers in the Met OYce and in the Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) NationalFlood Support Team. These staV were able to keep direct contact as needed with both the National IncidentRoom (gathering and co-ordinating situation report information from local Operational staV for onwardtransmission) and with Area Forecasting teams (monitoring river levels and environmental conditionspredict their possible eVects). For the FRS, this provided useful intelligence on how rainfall was aVectingriver flows and levels, predicted peak times and locations. Without this, the FRS would not have been ableto co-ordinate the deployment of water rescue staV and assets as eVectively.

3.6 We played a full part nationally in the Cabinet OYce Civil Contingencies Committee (known asCOBRA).

Local communities and residents

3.7 After the floods, we put significant eVorts towards working with and talking to local communitiesand answering questions about flooding in their areas. We organised or took part in drop-in centres andadvice sessions where our staV were on hand to answer questions and oVer practical advice on all aspectsof the flooding, as well as to hear first hand from people aVected by flooding. Many of these took place ona multi-agency basis so that together we could provide as much information as possible locally. We also hadstaV acting as “flood ambassadors” in some communities to oVer on-the-spot advice and answer questions.

3.8 Our Floodline is available to provide advice 24 hours a day during a flood event. Flood pages on ourwebsite contain information on preparing for flooding, what to do during a flood and cleaning up after aflood.

3.9 We provided four national briefings to MPs during and after the flooding as well as briefing MPs inaVected constituencies at a regional and local level. We supported the Government by providing briefingsfor Ministers and assisted with Government briefings for members of Parliament.



4. Assets

4.1 Across England and Wales, the Environment Agency flood risk infrastructure assets comprise 17,400structures and 22,800 kilometres of coast and riverbank defence with an estimated replacement cost of £20billion. Over the five years to 2007–08, our capital investment programme will have reduced the risk ofcoastal and river flooding to an additional 155,000 properties.

4.2 We assess the condition of our assets and grade them from 1 (very good) to 5 (very poor).Improvements to our condition assessment work have helped to improve the classification of our defencesbased on fit-for-purpose performance. Currently more than 90% of our assets are graded as being in fair (3)or better condition.

Performance during events

4.3 Past evidence has shown that the majority of instances where flooding occurs is due to either anabsence of defences or where the design capacity of the defences is overwhelmed. Our records show that onlyaround 1% of instances of flooding arises directly from an asset failure. Current evidence from the summerflooding of 2007 confirms that asset failure was not a significant contributory issue.

Standards of protection

4.4 Flood defences in England and Wales are provided under the Environment Agency’s permissivepowers—there is no legal requirement on the Government to protect property to a given standard, or at all.Government policy in England, set through Defra, identifies indicative standards of protection. These arecurrently between 1 in 50 and 1 in 100 for fluvial defences and 1 in 200 years for tidal flooding. The standardfor each location is established through economic assessment and focuses on optimising the benefit to costratio. It typically enables standards of protection of around 1 in 100 years for urban river systems and 1in 200 years for urban coastal defences. There are exceptions; most notably on the Thames where defencesprotecting London from tidal flooding are set to the 1 in 2000-year standard.

4.5 Calculating standards of protection is based upon statistical analysis of the historical record. Thefrequency and severity of intensity of rainfall are predicted to increase as a consequence of climate change.These are major drivers of river flooding. We therefore build increased tolerances into our floodmanagement works to cater for climate change inland and at the coast. We allocate funds to areas of highestrisk taking account of the need to spread risk reduction as far as possible with the funds available.

Temporary and demountable barriers

4.6 Temporary flood barriers are totally removable and portable flood control systems and are one of anumber of mechanisms that we can use to protect people and property from flooding. They are used as ashort-term measure, for example when repairs to permanent defences are being undertaken or duringconstruction of a permanent defence. We regularly use them in a number of locations in England (wherepermanent schemes cannot be justified). Our temporary defences were used to protect the electricitysubstations at Walham, maintaining electricity supplies to 500,000 people across Gloucestershire and SouthWales, and Castle Meads. Temporary barriers at the Mythe Water Treatment Works near Tewksburyenabled recovery work to start at the plant and restoration of water supplies to begin far earlier than wouldhave been possible without defences.

4.7 Demountable defences are set in pre engineered locations where permanent fixings are in place towhich barriers can be attached. They are used successfully in a number of places where it is not possible toput permenant barriers, often for aesthetic reasons. We successfully deployed demountable defences atBewdley in Worcestershire and Shrewsbury protecting many properties.

4.8 Reliance on the use of temporary barriers however is not without risk, as shown in the case of Upton-upon-Severn, where we were unable to install temporary defences in time. As previously agreed between theEnvironment Agency, local community and Local Authority, the barriers for Upton are stored 23 milesaway at Kidderminster, where secure storage facilities, equipment for loading and removing them fromlorries are available. Under normal circumstances, excellent transport links enable us to be on site withinan hour. However, the extreme weather conditions caused severe traYc disruption and, despite our besteVorts and help from the police, we were unable to reach Upton in time to erect the barriers. We now knowthat due to the unprecedented amount of water flowing through the area, even had we been able to erect thebarriers, they would have been overtopped.

4.9 Even though the barriers were not used at their intended location in Upton, we were able to deploythem to great eVect at Walham electricity sub-station, preventing the loss of power to half a million people.



Dredging

4.10 Whilst there are certain circumstances where dredging and channel clearance may help reduce floodrisk, we have largely found in the past that, overall, channel maintenance contributes little to reduction offlood risk in major events and it is therefore less economically beneficial than other flood risk managementtools. To reinstate more widespread channel management practices on top of our other flood riskmanagement activities would, therefore, require significant additional resource.

4.11 River channel clearance would have had limited immediate benefit during the summer floods. Riversonly stay inside their banks in low to medium flows. Above this the river will flow onto the floodplain, whichis as much a natural part of the river as the channel itself. Channels, which are over-deepened beyond theirnatural profile, quickly silt up as they try and find their natural state of equilibrium.

5. Recovery

5.1 The focus on the floods has now moved from incident management to the recovery phase and tolonger-term reviews of what went well and the challenges for the future.

5.2 Our immediate role in the aftermath of a flood is to inspect defences and other equipment to ensurethey remain serviceable and to remove debris and blockages from main watercourses where we believe theyare increasing flood risk. Local Authorities have the lead role in co-ordinating recovery eVorts following aflood. We believe that planning for recovery is as important as planning for the flood itself.

5.3 Current direct costs of the floods to the Environment Agency stand at £20 million. Three quarters ofthis will be needed to repair our flood defences.

Clean up operations

5.4 We have a limited role in post event economic and social recovery but we work with others to helppeople get their lives back to normal as quickly as possible. As flood levels receded, our workforce wasdeployed to help remove water from flooded areas as quickly as possible, including using large temporarypumps through to unblocking debris from culverts and under bridges, and helping the emergency servicesremove obstacles and blockages.

Environment Agency

September 2007

Witnesses: Baroness Young of Old Scone, a Member of the House of Lords, Chief Executive, Dr David King,Director of Water Management and Mr David Rooke, Head of Flood Risk Management, EnvironmentAgency, gave evidence.

Q1 Chairman: Good afternoon, ladies andgentlemen. I am delighted to see so many people heretaking an interest in the Committee’s first sessionafter the summer recess. Can I just deal with onesmall but important piece of housekeeping before westart? As some colleagues here may be new to theCommittee or may have forgotten how we operate, itwould be very helpful if you could make certain yourmobile phones or other alert mechanisms are turnedoV. I welcome our first witness in our inquiry intoFlooding, the Environment Agency: BaronessYoung, their Chief Executive, Dr David King, theirDirector of Water Management and Mr DavidRooke, the Head of Flood Risk Management. Youare all very welcome and thank you for yourcomprehensive submission and oVers to theCommittee of further briefing to enable us tounderstand in even greater detail some of the lessonslearned from the summer’s flooding. I would just liketo say at the outset that this particular inquiry hasattracted an unprecedented response, particularlyfrom members of the public. On behalf of theCommittee I would like to express my thanks tothose people, some of whose lives were blighted byflooding, but nonetheless have seen fit to share withthe Committee their own thoughts and indeed posed

some very pertinent questions which I hope, as weproceed with these hearings, we will be able to reflectand reflect upon when it comes to reaching ourconclusions. I would like to start, Baroness Young,if I may, by asking you a question borne out of thefact that there do seem to have been an awful lot ofreports on the subject of flooding and floodmanagement with lots of very good advice. I lookedback to the predecessor committee of this and I thinkit was in the Session 1997–98 when they published areport on Flood and Coastal Defence and in theirrecommendations they made an importantobservation that there needed to be integratedmanagement of flooding issues.1 They concentrateon main rivers, non-main rivers and internaldrainage board areas and made the distinctionbetween that and coastal activity. In the case of ourown Committee we published a report, ClimateChange, Water Security and Flooding on 16September 2004 in which we made a number ofpressing recommendations, including asking theGovernment to publish a White Paper on the subjectof the Foresight Report which very accuratelypredicted the onset of more extreme weather

1 Agriculture Committee, Sixth Report of Session 1997–98,Flood and Coastal Defence, HC 707-I



conditions and made some very importantrecommendations about should be protected,including vital infrastructure.2 The Government’sown activity in terms of their response to MakingSpace for Water for example had conclusions whichsaid (and I quote): “The aim will be to manage risksby employing an integrated portfolio of approacheswhich reflect both national and local priorities.”Their first thought was that these were all aimed atreducing the threat to people and their property.With so much advice how come it went so wrong?Baroness Young of Old Scone: Thank you for givingus an opportunity to say that we do not think it wentwrong as a result of the advice. The reasons whythese floods were so severe was because the weatherthat prompted them was indeed severe. There was anunprecedented amount of rain in June and July,more than ever before.

Q2 Chairman: Just to interrupt, you say it wasunprecedented but Sir David King’s report alertedeverybody—albeit on a long timescale—to the onsetof more extreme weather conditions associated withclimate change. If you look at the scientific evidencein volume two of his findings a lot of the kind of thethings that we saw happen in the summer—forexample the lack of protection for vitalinfrastructure—were flagged up as work areas inthat document. What did you, as an Agency, dowhen Sir David published his findings in terms ofgiving advice to the Government?Baroness Young of Old Scone: We have looked, asyou have, at all the reports that have been done onfloods since 1998 and if you look at all therecommendations coming from these reports aconsiderable number of them have been acted onand implemented. Some of them are currently partof a process of implementation as part of MakingSpace for Water which is the Government’s strategyfor flood risk management. I think the issue really,as far as the previous findings are concerned, is thepace at which they are being implemented. In somecases this is as a result of the pace that can beachieved through funding; in other cases it ischanges in legislation; sometimes it is cultural and achange in hearts and minds. It is a big andcomplicated process of implementing all of thesereports. I believe we need to move faster and I dohope that the reviews that are currently takingplace—your own and Sir Michael Pitt’s—will in factreinforce the need not to come up with newconclusions but to implement the ones that havealready been reached.

Q3 Chairman: Let us get to the heart of the matter. Itis refreshing to hear you say that things should movefaster and this is borne out of, if you like, a reactionof some very harrowing situations which occurred inthe summer. Going back to 2004 when that reportwas produced—indeed, you are continually workingin the area of dealing with flood prevention issues—did you sit down formally with government and in2004 deliver a hurry up message in the context of thethen available resources?

2 Environment, Food and Rural AVairs Committee,Sixteenth Report of Session 2003–04, Climate Change,Water Security and Flooding, HC 558

Baroness Young of Old Scone: There has been a hugeamount of sitting down with government on theMaking Space for Water strategy, which is theprimary vehicle for changing the way in which floodrisk management is delivered. That has achieved awhole variety of changes including the work that hasgone on to take a risk based approach to flood riskmanagement for the future. We have delivered moretechniques of assessing risk, we have madeconsiderable progress in delivering our mapping andwarning systems. As a result of that report there wasalso the injection of additional funding into thesystem through the spending rounds and there are anumber of things that are currently underway,including giving us a role on the coast to integrate(you made the point about integration) andconsulting on whether we are going to have a role inflooding in-land from all sources of flooding. Sosome of these things have been done and some ofthese things are currently out to consultation andsome of them remain to be done. I do not believe thatany of the messages from previous reports or indeedfrom the report that you are referring to have notbeen worked through in the Making Space forWater strategy.

Q4 Chairman: You made a very telling statement atthe beginning, a candid statement in which you saidthat things should happen quicker. When did youstart to deliver to Defra the message that thingsshould accelerate? Was it as a result of what hashappened this summer or was it as a result of studyand thought at an earlier time?Baroness Young of Old Scone: It all depends verymuch on which of the elements of the report aretaken into account. One of the things we have donein the review of all the various reports is to work outwho, in fact, was responsible for taking the lead.Some of those things we were responsible for takingthe lead in, others it was parts of government, othersit was local authorities, others it was individualagencies, parts of government, whatever. I think theimportant thing is that we have pressed on as fast aswe possibly could with the things that we wereresponsible for. We have urged government to moveforward on the things that they are responsible forand there are quite diYcult conundrums to face interms of the wide variety of responsibilities,particularly for surface water and urban floodingwhere Defra was consulting prior to the floods on a“minded to” basis about our role in co-ordinating allof the organisations that are responsible in the urbanand surface water areas, for example localauthorities, water companies, the HighwaysAgency, highways authorities, the development andre-development process where clearly at the momentthere is huge confusion to the public and a lack of co-ordination.

Q5 Chairman: I think it would be helpful to theCommittee if you could lay out in writing and inmore detail, bearing in mind the reports to which Ihave referred, to give us some kind of time line ofactivity in terms of your exchanges with governmentto see the type of recommendations that you weremaking to ministers, what degree of urgency you, asan Agency, attach to them; the kind of response you



10 October 2007 Baroness Young of Old Scone, Dr David King and Mr David Rooke

were getting from Defra as to whether, in yourjudgment, they were motoring fast enough in thelight of the advice that you were giving.Baroness Young of Old Scone: I am certainly happyto do that as far as our responsibilities go, but Iwould not want it to be left on the record that we areresponsible for all flood risk policy. That is a Defrarole and that is one you will have to put to them.Chairman: We are going to come on to who else maybe responsible because in your evidence you putforward some quite candid conclusions about betterco-ordination of bodies. You alluded to them inyour remarks a moment ago and we will want toprobe that in detail. Before I go on to look in moredetail at the June and July floods I want to bring inDavid Taylor.

Q6 David Taylor: In your comments a moment ortwo ago I think you were suggesting that you weregoing to take a risk based approach to flood riskmanagement. What on earth other approach wouldyou take? I do not understand that.Baroness Young of Old Scone: I can probably turn toDavid King or David Rooke on this because theyhave been around flood risk longer than I have, butmy understanding is that over the last ten years orslightly less we have been increasingly able to mapand assess flood risk and to direct our activities andour resources towards the areas of higher flood riskthan we have been previously in the past. Historyplayed quite a large part and indeed if you rememberthe 2000 floods to some extent history played a bit ofa part there in that the prime minister of the day wentaround standing on bridges, looking at floodedcommunities and saying “This must have a flood riskmanagement scheme”. So it was very much that ifsomewhere had flooded we tended to say that weshould look at what needed to be done to resolvethat situation rather than stepping back and saying,“Where, in these flood risk management areas, arethe highest priorities? Where are the places that aremost at risk? Where can resource and focus save themost in the way of property and risk to human life,rather than simply going on the basis of where hadpreviously flooded. The two Davids may want tocomment.Dr King: I think it is worth saying that theunderpinning philosophy in the 50s and 60s andright up through the 80s was about flood defence.Almost implicit in that was that you could builddefences that would stop flooding. The reality is, ofcourse, that you cannot do that; you can only bebetter prepared against the impact of floods.Therefore it is a change of view; it is about lookingat how you manage the risk down and it is alsoaccepted that you manage the risk down by a basketof diVerent interventions which on one side might beabout development control, keeping buildings awayfrom inappropriate development of a flood plain to,of course, building and maintaining defences. It is awhole diVerent thought process that now existsaround managing floods.

Q7 Chairman: Let us look briefly at what happenedin June and July because the view has been createdthat the floods that we experienced both in the ruraland the urban settings were unprecedented and verydiVerent from anything that we had had before.Perhaps you could comment on that.Baroness Young of Old Scone: They certainly werediVerent from what we have experienced before toan extent that there was a huge amount of rain in avery short space of time. They were the wettest Juneand July ever recorded. Much of the flooding camenot from what we would regard as a traditionalflood, as it were, from the rivers or the seas but fromthe huge volume of water simply overpowering thesurface water drainage systems and causing fairlyinstant flooding, quick flooding. That might later onhave been complicated by flooding from the rivers inmany cases as well, but the initial flooding was verymuch surface water flooding. For those of you whoremember seeing some of our motorways runninglike rivers, that was certainly the cause there. I thinkthere were some big lessons to be gained from thatabout these heavy rainfall events if they are going tobecome increasingly common with climate change.The other complicating factor was, I think, that itwas a summer flood rather than a winter flood andindeed there were two events very close to each otherso that we had a series of very saturated catchmentsand very little capacity either in the river systems inthe second case or indeed in the ground itself to takemore water. So that made the situation worse.Generally speaking in terms of a traditional flood, asit were, the systems that were in place worked well.We had good collaboration with the Met OYce,although we have to make the point that the capacityof the Met OYce to predict to very fine grain thathelps us then predict floods to very fine grain is notyet technically there. We issued warnings forflooding from the river systems pretty well. Therewere a few occasions when it did not quite go rightbut mostly it went well. The big problem was ofcourse that the majority of floods were not from theriver systems, they were from surface water systemswhich are not currently subject to flood warning andindeed are not currently able to be mapped. They arevery unpredictable and the title gives a clue onoccasions in that many of them are very flash floodsso there was not much time to warn even if thetechnology had been there. Our defences generallystood up well in that we did not have catastrophiccollapse or failure of defences other than a few wherestructures that are mechanically operated orelectrically operated failed as a result of their powersupply going out. There were a small number ofdefences in that category but of course the majorityof our defences that were implicated were simplyoverwhelmed by the volume of water because thesorts of design standards to which they had beendesigned were insuYcient to take this unprecedentedflood. We did have a number of flood defences thatworked extremely well and did defend communitiesand worked well to their design standards. Themessage from us for the floods and what makes themso diVerent was very much the huge volume of waterin a very short space of time and the fact that it was




the surface water systems that failed to respond. Ithink the third thing is the critical infrastructureissue.

Q8 Chairman: We are going to come on to discussthat so you will be able to go into it in more detail,but there is a concerning point I want to conclude onthis. You said that at the moment you do not have amodel that can deal with the kind of urban floodingsituation that we saw and yet you as an Agency, indefending your position about responding to thesefloods, have made great play about your flood riskmapping, about your helpline and your Floodline(the information that can go to people). It does begthe question that if we are looking forward what youare going to do to try and address the impact of whatwe currently regard as unprecedented but whichmight become the norm. One of the things thatworries me about the modelling arrangement is thatyou do it on a frequency basis of one in 50, one in100, one in 200 or even one in 1000 year events butnobody seems to have actually gone back and said,“Well, if this kind of rainfall occurs anywhere, whatwould the flood risk map actually then look like?”We have had a lot of focus on coastal and riverflooding in terms of your mapping, but you haveadmitted that there is a gap in terms of the urbanenvironment and there seems to be a dearth ofmathematical modelling to say that if we get so-called unprecedented events anywhere, not trying topredict when it is going to rain but just to look at thecountry as a whole and say, “If this lot dropsanywhere, what are the risk factors?” What are youdoing to improve the modelling and the anticipationof this type of event in the future?Baroness Young of Old Scone: Can I make somepoints of principle and then perhaps pass to DavidRooke to talk about the whole issue ofcharacterising urban flood risk? We are not workingon modelling of urban flood risk at the momentbecause we do not, as yet, have a responsibility forurban flood risk other than from rivers.

Q9 Chairman: Why not?Baroness Young of Old Scone: Because as yet theGovernment has not given us that responsibility.They were consulting on whether they should puttogether a proposition before the summer events butwe are not responsible for urban flooding from allsources.

Q10 Chairman: So at the moment it is localauthorities, is it, who are supposed to be responsiblefor that?Baroness Young of Old Scone: At the moment it is avery complicated mixture of responsibilities of localauthorities, of owners of land, of the HighwaysAgency, the highways authorities; in circumstanceswhere it is the water company assets that areinvolved—sewers and drains—it would be the watercompanies. So it is a very mixed and uncoordinatedpicture. In some areas there has been a degree of co-ordination, for example following the floods inCarlisle there has been very good work to bringtogether all the parties and put together a surface

water drainage plan and flooding plan combined.However, in the vast majority of urban settlementsat the moment that will not have been done. As yetwe are not looking at modelling floods from surfacewater issues within cities. Let me just take one pointof principle also about your extreme eventshappening anywhere. We could in theory look at ourflood mapping and risk approach and work outwhat was needed to protect everywhere against thepossibility of a very extreme event. I personally donot believe that that would be the best use of publicmoney because it would be highly unpredictable.Where some of these very extreme events willhappen, although they may be increasing infrequency with climate change, only once in alifetime or two lifetimes or three lifetimes in somelocations. To engineer the whole of the country tothat standard would be quite expensive.

Q11 Chairman: I am not suggesting that that was theoutcome I was seeking, it was “do the modelling andthen decide from the response the approach” whichseems to be lacking.Baroness Young of Old Scone: I certainly think thatnationally there needs to be a discussion and debateat government level about the standard of protectionthat we believe is important and how frequently wewould regard as acceptable an event that wouldoverwhelm the traditional defences. We also need tolook at other ways of making sure that if theseextreme events occur that proper contingencyplanning is in place and that generally speaking webuild our buildings and our settlements with moreresilience.Chairman: We are going to come onto that but MrWilliams wants to come in here.

Q12 Mr Williams: You have talked about theconsultation that is taking place as to whether theEnvironment Agency should take the legalresponsibility in urban flooding from surface water.How did that consultation arise? Was it because ofa ministerial announcement?Baroness Young of Old Scone: It is part of theMaking Space for Water strategy and this was thebeginning of the process of looking at integration.We have gone through the process of Defraconsulting on integrating the roles in coastalflooding and coastal protection. That has now beenagreed and we are going to have a combined role incoastal flooding and coastal protection. This wasnow moving onto consulting on the inland roleintegrating surface water drainage with floodingfrom the rivers as well. It was partly the process ofimplementing Making Space for Water.Dr King: Making Space for Water is theGovernment’s strategic framework for handlingflood risk over the next ten to 15 years. Sitting underthat strategy document are somewhere between 15and 20 programmes of work which largely sweep upall of the recommendations that the Chairman madereference to. Many of those have progressed but it istrue to say that most of the focus over the lastnumber of years has been on fluvial and coastalflooding. However, the issue of urban flooding, for




example last December the Government set anumber of pilots looking at urban flooding, surfacewater flooding, specifically to try to understand howwe might best manage the surface water issue. Inaddition to and as part of that Defra are consultingon the need for a strategic overview. There are fiveor six diVerent organisations involved in managingurban flooding. They all have an important part toplay and must continue to do so, but there is a needfor a strategic overview part of which would be thecharacterisation of national risk. My belief is that interms of characterisation mapping surface waterflooding, which is a lot more diYcult for a wholevariety of technical reasons, we are significantlybehind where we are with our understanding ofcharacterisation and mapping of fluvial and coastal.

Q13 Mr Williams: Can I just ask how far theconsultation has proceeded? What conclusions haveyou come to?Baroness Young of Old Scone: It has gone throughthe consultative process and Defra now has theresponses. They are not going to act on those untilthe review, chaired by Sir Michael Pitt, has come tosome conclusions.

Q14 David Lepper: Could I concentrate on yourresponsibilities for flood warning systems and publicinformation. There is no doubt at all these have beenunder very heavy pressure during the summer. Ithink you talked of some 43 million hits to yourwebsite during that period, but you concluded inyour evidence to us that the current system stood upto the challenges of increased usage. On the otherhand, we have a number of those organisations andindividuals who have submitted evidence to uswhich suggests diVerently, for instance SheYeld CityCouncil say that severe flood warnings were onlygiven when the water level was already up to thewindscreens on vehicles. The National Farmers’Union says that farmers who had been signed up fora flood warning did not receive the warning until itwas too late for them to rescue their livestock.Residents in Oxford complained about incorrectand confusing information. Would you agree thatyou do need to review the processes of warning—accepting the fact that this was perhaps a once inhowever many years occurrence—that pressureswere put on the system and many of thoseindividuals who were relying upon the Agency’s ownwarning system and information felt that they werelet down.Dr King: The first thing I would say is that when youget an event of the severity that we did clearly therewill be lessons learned and there will beimprovements that we will make. The second pointthat I would make is that our warning system isexclusively associated with fluvial, so flooding fromrivers. In the dissemination of warnings we use theFloodline Warnings Direct which enables you togive a warning either by fax, phone or pager. We usethe Internet and obviously we use the local radio aswell as Floodline. In terms of warnings, we gave out45,000 warnings and we strive to give a two hourwarning. We know that about 75 per cent of

warnings were given with at least two hours, butobviously there are 25 per cent where we did not.Given the nature of the flooding that unfortunatelyhas happened. In terms of our website, youmentioned we had 43 million hits from 4 millionpeople and although there was some minor slowingof the system we are talking about seconds.Normally 95 per cent of the enquiries are withinthree seconds, it went down to a minute in someperiods.

Q15 David Lepper: We had Tewskesbury Chamberof Industry and Commerce telling us that in relationto Tewskesbury, where the flood happened on aFriday night (or at least the worst part of it), they tellus over the weekend it was impossible to connect tothe Environment Agency website. That is not just amatter of the slowing down of the process because ofthe number of hits, but they are telling us they couldnot get any connection at all to your website.Baroness Young of Old Scone: We can certainly giveyou the evidence from our own logging process thatshows that the website was active throughout. Ifpeople were not getting onto it obviously we need tolook at it. Perhaps I could just comment on one ortwo of the examples you gave. SheYeld, for example,was one of those areas where there was considerable,very rapid flooding from surface water drainageissues and that was the primary cause of most of theflooding in SheYeld and therefore it was verydiYcult to give warning at all. We currently do nothave a warning system there. The NFU issue, if thereare farmers who were signed up for a warning anddid not get one, we need to explore that but myunderstanding is that in many cases it was that theydid not feel they got it in time. Our standard is awarning, if we can, two hours beforehand. I thinkthe one point I would want to make about thefarmers is that we still have remarkably few farmersand others signed up to the warning system. Only 41per cent of people who are eligible have signed upand we would very much like to press for morepeople to be signed up to it so that we can, wherepossible, give warnings. Again we can look atinstances where farm

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