The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee says the Government has made no commitment to a national flooding helpline in its official response published today to the EAC's report on ‘Flood resilience in England’.
The cross-party Committee of MPs warned in the report published in October that awareness of flood risk in England was “dangerously low”.
In the Committee’s report, MPs recommended the Government set up a single, national flood reporting service, warning of fragmented responsibilities that confuse the public and undermine trust.
The Government says it will use this recommendation as the starting point to identify ways it could improve communication and coordination with the public around flood reporting. However, it does not commit to concrete action or a timeline.
It also says it agrees with the need for greater catchment-based planning, and that it will move to a catchment-based model for water planning. It also acknowledges the need for national flood resilience standards, but stops short of committing to them, instead deferring further detail to its forthcoming water white paper.
The Government says it is investing £2.65 billion over 2024/25 and 2025/26 in flood resilience and spending £4.2 billion over three years to construct new flood schemes and to repair existing defences.
Toby Perkins, Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, said:
“I’m pleased that the Government is taking our recommendations on board, but too many responses rely on future reviews, consultations, and strategy refreshes rather than decisive commitments. Granting flood victims a central service to report flooding and get urgent information is critical to maintaining public trust. I’d like to see this avenue pursued with more immediate urgency.
Similarly, the Government’s existing funding for flood resilience is encouraging, but more is still needed. We must make sure that deprived and isolated communities are not forgotten in funding allocations too.
With flooding risk increasing, delay risks leaving communities exposed. The Committee will consider this response in detail and pursue questions further in the new year.”
Click here to download the Government response.
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