MPs on the House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee are calling for an overhaul of flood management in England to tackle the rising risk to communities from climate change.

A new report by the Committee published today describes current flood risk management structures as “fragmented, inefficient and ineffective” and warns that the Government’s recent National Flood Resilience Review’s “limited solutions will not rectify fundamental structural problems”.

The Committee is proposing a new governance model which it says the Government must consider as part of a root and branch review of how it manages England’s flood risk.

The Committee has also proposed an extension to current water and sewerage companies’ roles: as water and drainage companies their remit would include the land drainage responsibilities currently held by local authorities. The MPs said this would foster a more holistic approach to flooding and water supply management.

The calls for change come in the Committee’s Future flood prevention report - launching the report, EFRA Committee Chair Neil Parish MP, said:

“Some five million people in England are at risk of flooding. Winter 2015-16 broke rainfall records. Storms Desmond, Eva and Frank disrupted communities across northern parts of the UK, with Desmond alone costing the UK more than £5 billion.[1] We propose a radical alternative to the Government’s National Flood Resilience Review’s limited solutions to the current fragmented, inefficient and ineffective flood risk management arrangements.”

“Our proposals will deliver a far more holistic approach to flooding and water supply management, looking at catchments as a whole. Flood management must include much wider use of natural measures such as leaky dams, tree planting and improved soil management. And some areas of farmland should be used to store flood water.”

Call for new National Floods Commissioner to be responsible for flood management in England

The Committee is recommending a new governance model with a new National Floods Commissioner responsible for flood management in England. The Commissioner would agree with the Government strategic, long-term flood risk reduction outcomes and be held to account for their effective delivery via:

• New Regional Flood and Coastal Boards coordinating regional delivery of national plans, in partnership with local stakeholders. These Boards would take on current Lead Local Flood Authority and Regional Flood and Coastal Committee roles;
• A new English Rivers and Coastal Authority, taking on national flood risk management roles currently the responsibility of the Environment Agency.

Neil Parish added:

“Our proposed model would streamline roles and pool expertise to allow bodies to deliver their unique roles. Funding would be firmly linked to outcomes: the Commissioner would hold the new English Rivers and Coastal Authority to account on whether it spends its budgets efficiently - whether by directly undertaking work or by commissioning projects from catchment partnerships or Internal Drainage Boards. New Regional Boards would enable a close link between national plans and local aims.”

Developers who fail to comply with planning requirements should be made liable for costs of associated flooding across a catchment

The Committee said that it recognises that it is impossible to protect all properties at all times and is therefore calling on the Government to improve help for communities and individuals to cope with and recover from flooding. The report also makes proposals for immediate action, in advance of major governance reform, to improve resilience to floods, including:

• Developers who fail to comply with planning requirements should be made liable for the costs of associated flooding across a catchment;
• Water companies should be made statutory consultees on planning applications, and the right to connect surface water to a sewerage system should be removed;
• The Government should develop by the end of 2017 a grant scheme for small businesses unable to secure affordable insurance to install resilience measures; and
• The Environment Agency and Met Office should develop clearer methods of communicating flood risk by the end of the year. Current descriptions of a '1 in x year' flood risk are confusing.

The Committee has also suggested that Defra should put flood risk management at the centre of any new support schemes for farmers which replace the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) framework. The Department must consult by July 2017 on an incentive scheme to pay farmers to allow short-term or long-term storage of flood water on appropriate land.

Neil Parish MP said Building Regulations must be tightened up to help flood proof our properties if a voluntary code is not agreed by the end of this year.  Developers who flout planning rules in high flood risk areas must also be penalised.

SUDs should be deployed to maximum effect in all new English developments

The report also says that all flood risk management bodies must understand better the contribution that sustainable drainage systems (SUDs) and green infrastructure such as ponds and swales can make to protecting communities from flooding. The MPs are recommending that, in its response to the report, Defra should set out how the Government’s review of sustainable drainage regulations will ensure that SUDs are deployed to maximum effect in all new English developments.

The review must also set out, if measures in the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 on SUDs are not to be commenced, what alternative measures at least equal in strength will be adopted, the report says.

According to the Committee, while the Government has increased budgets for flood risk management, this level of funding is unlikely to deliver sufficient protection in future decades. The MPs are also calling for the Government to publish its 25-year ambition for flood risk reduction by the end of 2017, and the cost of securing this, against different climate change scenarios.

Click here to download the report in full

Waterbriefing is media partner with the Environment Agency’s major three-day conference and exhibition Flood and Coast 2017 which takes place from 28 to 30 March 2017 in Telford. Click here for more information