The House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee will hold its first oral evidence session on Its Future Flood Prevention inquiry in England on Wednesday 13 April.

The Committee launched the inquiry on 27^th January following severe flooding this winter. Commenting on the launch, Neil Parish MP, Chair of the Committee, said:

"Flood damage of the sort suffered by communities across the UK this winter is becoming all-too-frequent an occurrence. I know from personal experience how flooding can damage not only buildings, land and infrastructure, but how it can also devastate lives.”

“Questions need to be answered about whether there are adequate measures in place to plan for frequent, extreme flood events. We want to see how effectively the Environment Agency predicts and prepares for floods in a changing climate. We will also be asking how far Defra policies protect communities in high risk areas from future devastation."

The Committee will take evidence from two panels in the first of its upcoming sessions on future flood prevention. The Committee will firstly hear from the Met Office and the Committee on Climate Change about predicting future floods in a changing climate and preparing for their impact.

The Committee will then question the Environment Agency and Natural England representatives about these issues as well as the effectiveness of flood defences and natural management methods in minimising the impact of floods.

The session aims to cover a number of issues, including:

• Predicting future floods in a changing climate and preparing for their impact
• Effectiveness of flood defences
• Natural management methods in minimising the impact of floods

Deadline for written submissions to the inquiry closed earlier this week. The Committee had invited written evidence on four key topics:

1. Predicting the future: Are the Environment Agency and Met Office models that predict rainfall patterns and the likelihood of future floods fit for purpose - and do they correctly calculate the costs of future flooding to communities?
2. Protecting communities and infrastructure: How adequately do defences protect communities and agricultural land from floods and do current funding arrangements target spending in the right way?
3. Managing water flows: How effectively do Defra and the Environment Agency’s policies encourage innovative approaches to managing risk such as slowing the flow of water in urban and rural river catchment areas and promoting water storage?
4. Planning for floods: How well do planning policies ensure new buildings are not put in areas of high flood risk nor where they would increase risk to others – and how well do new developments incorporate sustainable drainage and flood-resilient buildings?

As part of the inquiry, the Committee is also looking at flood insurance. With the new Flood Re scheme coming into operation in April, written evidence was also sought on how accessible and affordable flood insurance will be for businesses as well as householders covered by the scheme.

Waterbriefing is media partner with the Institution of Civil Engineers keynote Flooding and Water Management Conference 2016 taking place in London on Thursday 30th June. Click here  for more information about the conference.

Click here to join the Waterbriefing UK Flood Risk Management Discussion Group on Linkedin