Anthony Butcher

The Liberal Democrat Autumn Conference today backed measures to substantially increase funding on flood defences and give the Environment Agency strategic control of Britain’s whole flood management system.

Other measures include plans to limit building on flood risk areas and ensure that infrastructure for new developments is able to cope with increased flooding in the future.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Environment Spokesperson, Martin Horwood MP said:

“With the prospect of greater flooding in the future due to climate change, the Government must start taking flood management seriously.

“Events this summer demonstrated the sheer destructive power that can be wrought by flood water.

“Instead of cutting the Environment Agency’s budget, ministers should be investing more in flood defences, starting now.

“We must review the continuing development on flood risk areas, which puts many families in jeopardy. Where developments do take place, much more forethought must go into keeping homes dry.”


The motion in full reads:


Managing the Impact and Risk of Flooding

Conference notes with concern:

A. The extensive damage caused by floods from flash rainfall and overflowing rivers in England in June and July 2007 which caused a number of deaths, as well as many billion pounds’ worth of damage to homes, businesses and agriculture.

B. That much of Yorkshire, including Doncaster and Sheffield, was particularly hard hit, with nearly one in five households and 90 of the city’s 105 schools affected by flooding in the city of Kingston-upon-Hull.

C. The events in the Severn and Thames Valleys, which included the inundation of a water treatment plant in Gloucestershire, leaving 350,000 people without water due to the failure to protect adequately critical utility infrastructure.

D. That the main damage caused in these flood events were examples of a type of flooding that the Environment Agency had not planned for, or warned about, caused by massive flash rainfall overwhelming drainage and raising the water table.

E. That the Stern and Foresight reports state that major urban flooding is inevitable, with costs rising to more than £21bn p.a. later this century.

F. That the Association of British Insurers estimates that with no change in government policies or spending, climate change could increase the number of properties at risk of flooding to 3.5 million.

Conference notes that:

i) Annual flood damage now averages £2.3 billion per year, and this total is rising as climate change increases the variability of weather patterns.

ii) Over two million homes are currently at risk from flooding, and this may underestimate homes at risk from inadequate drainage and extreme rainfall.

iii) One-third of designated development sites (up to 108,000 homes) in the Government’s South East growth areas are located in a flood plain, and 10,000 properties may be built in areas with significant flood risk.

iv) Only 61% of defences have been maintained to their target conditions, and the flood budget was cut by £14m in 2006–07.

v) Flood risk has increased over recent decades from increased urbanisation, deforestation and the draining of 60% of flood plain water meadows, which once acted as a natural safety valve.

vi) Climate change is likely to increase the incidence of severe weather events, including periods of intense rainfall and therefore potential flooding.

vii) Though the Government is committed to increasing the flood defence budget to £800 million by 2010–11, no commitment has been made for the intervening years, meaning a four-year delay in additional funding.

Conference further notes that the existing Bellwin scheme to help flood-hit areas with compensation is:

a) Complicated and over-bureaucratic.
b) Based on estimates in the first few months rather than long-term impacts.
c) Only normally provides support for current spending rather than capital expenditure, even though in some cases complete reconstruction, of a road section for example, would be more cost-effective than patching up.

Conference therefore calls for:

1. Additional special support for areas hard-hit by the recent flooding, so that repairs can be undertaken quickly to key public buildings and social housing.

2. An ongoing assessment of the physical capacity of the construction industry in flooded areas to respond to the exceptional demand, and a recognition that extra payments may be needed to draft in out-of-area building teams.

3. Generous and speedy grants and interest-free loans to be given by government to allow people in hardship to replace furniture and rebuild their lives in the worst-hit and poorest areas.

4. An early increase in the flood defence budget to ensure adequate maintenance of existing defences and construction of new ones.

5. A review of critical utility infrastructure to assess its vulnerability to flooding with the aim of improving defences where appropriate, and ensuring Flood Risk Maps are kept fully up-to-date.

6. A statutory duty on the private water companies to review and upgrade drainage in line with the increased needs due to climate change, as well as to maintain drainage systems properly and make pumping stations proof against flooding.

7. The Environment Agency to take strategic responsibility for flood defence management and planning, working with local authorities and water companies to deliver an accountable strategic, long-term approach to flood defence and an early warning system for all types of flooding, and ensure residential, retail, commercial or industrial premises are not built on flood plains or areas of high flooding risk, unless substantial flood management schemes are in place.

8. The strengthening of existing legislation concerning developments on flood plains to protect against unsustainable developments, avoiding siting vulnerable development in flood plains and ensuring that all new developments incorporate Sustainable Urban Drainage (SUDS) to reduce urban run-off water.


9. Councils to be encouraged to seek contributions from developers under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act of 1990 to improve

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