Lack of expertise in local authorities, the need for a high profile public awareness campaign and the need for regulating building companies providing flood defence solutions were just three of the issues flagged up at a roundtable conference on flooding held in December.

The roundtable, hosted by UK Flood Barriers and Jewson, and chaired by Mark Lane, Partner at Pinsent Masons, was attended by representatives from key players in the flood sector such as Defra, the Environment Agency and house-building firms, as well as Mary Creagh MP, Shadow Minister for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The panel discussed several issues surrounding flood defence and funding in the UK including regulation, awareness, responsibility and the insurance sector’s role.

One of the main points to come out of the discussion was the debate about where responsibilities lie for communication of flood risk and how to engage local communities.

Flood defence responsibility has been partly devolved to local authorities and it was recognised that many were demonstrating best practice. However, Mary Dhonau, chief executive of Know Your Flood Risk, pointed out that it is important that the authorities have the necessary skill to handle their responsibilities, but in the current climate some local authorities may find it difficult to prioritise flood management in the face of budget cuts and a lack of in-house skillset.

She also placed an emphasis on community engagement and encouraged the Environment Agency to closely work alongside communities. It was generally agreed that homeowners need to be educated about what is available to them for flood protection, if their home is on a flood plain and where they can go to find out about flooding risks.

In order to raise awareness of flood protection available to the householder, Tony Andryszewski from the Environment Agency suggested the public be incentivised in some way. This was compared to the Green Deal, an initiative designed to stimulate businesses and householders to make their buildings more energy efficient currently being rolled out by the Government.

Marcus Jefford, Greenworks Academy Manager at Saint-Gobain Building Distribution suggested that if people knew the flood defence products available to them, they would be more likely to encourage their local authority to do something about it and raise awareness.

The representative from building merchant Jewson said that his company had been tasked by Environment Agency Chairman Lord Chris Smith to make flood prevention products universally available – the company said it is currently marketing these to the public.

Another issue raised at the event concerned building companies spotting a gap in the market for providing flood defence solutions but at the expense of householders. Paul Everell, chief executive of Local Authority Building Control (LABC) said his organisation had plans to develop a builder registration scheme to combat any unprofessionalism.

The current Partnership Funding approach to flood defence investment was discussed and Simon Purcell from engineering consultant WSP suggested that the Environment Agency may hopefully in the future be able to take contributions from developers as part of the Partnership Funding model. Mary Dhonau felt that that the Government could not be expected to entirely manage the situation and that communities themselves could be empowered to take control. Instances of residents willing to contribute to defence schemes to ensure their home was protected, such as Cockermouth, were cited.

There was also a general consensus that the insurance sector was not engaging fully with the issue. Simon Purcell led the debate around insurance premiums and whether the insurance sector could recognise those that put in place flood defence solutions, and adapt their policies accordingly, rewarding those with lower premiums for taking those steps.

Sarah Vaughan, Managing Director at UK Flood Barriers concurred, stating: “There should be a stronger link…between flood defending or making your property more resilience and being able to have a reduced premium or excess.”

Robbie Craig from Defra responded that the Government is producing a pro-forma which will assess the flood condition before any property level measures are installed. This information would be passed on to insurance companies so they can make adjustments based on their pricing models.

Looking forward after the discussion, the panel agreed that a cross stakeholder organisation could be set up to deliver best practice within the flood defence sector. UK Flood Barriers will act as the leaders in setting up a further meeting in six months to discuss the framework for such a group.