Source · Select Committees · Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Recommendation 13
13
Accepted in Part
Paragraph: 58
We recognise and pay tribute to the substantial effort undertaken by all emergency responders, as...
Recommendation
We recognise and pay tribute to the substantial effort undertaken by all emergency responders, as well as local communities and the armed services, in responding to the severe flooding over the autumn and winter of 2019–20. However, we are concerned by ongoing indications of resourcing issues for those bodies undertaking the vital work of helping protect lives and livelihoods in the immediate wake of a flood. As the Secretary of State has rightly acknowledged the increasing frequency of severe flooding events, it is not right to expect these organisations to operate at Flooding 49 the limit of their capacity. The Government should engage with all bodies involved in flooding incident response to review their capacity to deal with more frequent severe flooding. The review should ensure that local co-ordination is effective and all partners are properly resourced to meet future challenges.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government commits to reviewing the role and capacity of the voluntary sector and community groups in flood incident response, and the Environment Agency is reviewing information resources and developing a five-year training plan for staff. However, the response focuses specifically on community and voluntary groups, rather than a broad review encompassing all bodies involved in flood response as recommended.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
58
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government · verbatim extract
Accepted in Part
The Government recognises the crucial and valuable roles undertaken by many during every incident and the near misses. This includes the Environment Agency, local authorities, emergency services, military, third sector organisations, flood action groups, community leaders, volunteers and neighbours. The total level of support and work is hard to quantify but all actions are appreciated. The Government and Environment Agency continue to work closely with local responders in developing preparedness, response and coordination capabilities and our priority will always be to protect life and welfare through quick and effective response to major flooding incidents. The Environment Agency is also assessing Multi-Agency Flood Plans to further improve response capability, following the Multi-Agency Flood Plan Review,13 which was published in 2018. Conclusion and Recommendation 14: It is welcome that the Government has now put in place a package of support measures for households and businesses impacted by severe flooding. While it is right that local authorities will usually be best placed to 13 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/multi-agency-flood-plan-mafp-review-government-response/ government-response-to-the-multi-agency-flood-plan-review-web-version deliver these measures in their areas, it is concerning that some appear to have been left ill-prepared to deal with expectations being set by high-profile announcements from central Government. The eligibility criteria for these schemes have also created at least the impression of unfairness. The use of a single threshold of 25 or more flooded houses, across local authority areas of different sizes, also raises questions of fairness. The review of the Flood Recovery Framework and the property flood resilience grant scheme should include an evaluation of the timeliness and adequacy of communication from central Government to local authorities, as well as whether the scheme ought to include an additional element of reimbursement for administrative costs. The Government should also ensure that the eligibility criteria for these schemes are clearly communicated, and fairly reflect the differences between local authority areas, including size. The operation of the Bellwin scheme in relation to flood events should also be reviewed as part of this work.
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