Farming News - DEFRA: Opening remarks and further background on today's Floods Resilience Taskforce meeting
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DEFRA: Opening remarks and further background on today's Floods Resilience Taskforce meeting
Further background on Taskforce discussion
Opening remarks
In his opening remarks to the Floods Resilience Taskforce, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Steve Reed said:
“I’m very pleased to welcome everyone to our first meeting of the Floods Resilience Taskforce.
“I’ve made clear that protecting communities from flooding is one of my top 5 priorities – with preparedness and resilience for this autumn and winter is the clear focus for today’s meeting.
“This Taskforce will drive a robust review of preparedness for flooding before the start of the main flood season – and ensure it is improved continuously in the long-term.
“We’re committed to bringing the required energy, drive and cohesion to the entire flood resilience picture to help increase protection for people and businesses.”
Outlook:
The Met Office confirmed that there is an increased probability of a wetter-than-average winter floods season. While the summer months were largely dry, it has been a wet September, with many areas (particularly in the west of England) having already received 100% of their average September rainfall. The outlook for October is unsettled.
Information-sharing
- Representatives of different regions gave examples of challenges they’d faced over previous winters, and offered insights into their responses. For instance:
- Burst water mains, which have a particularly significant impact on basement flats, in London;
- Cyberattacks putting additional pressure on resilience and infrastructure in Gloucestershire;
- The longer-term financial pressures on local authority budgets from repeated flooding in South Yorkshire.
- Floods Minister Emma Hardy was particularly keen to ensure that the Taskforce could act as a space for regional representatives to share their experiences and learnings going ahead into the next meeting.
Assets and winter readiness
- The Environment Agency has stepped up its maintenance of flood assets following last year’s demanding winter, delivering repairs at pace and focusing on the areas of highest risk to ensure preparedness ahead of the flood season.
- The EA has conducted 170,000 checks on the state of assets in the past year – up from 100,000 in an average year. It has also increased its spend on asset maintenance and repair to £236 million, up from £200 million.
- Pumps have been pre-emptively deployed at 10 strategic depots in vulnerable regions around the country to ensure they can be rolled out rapidly as and when required.
Next steps
At the end of today’s meeting, the Taskforce group agreed on next steps to action. This includes:
- Continuing to monitor catchment areas showing sensitivity to rainfall, including in west and southern parts of England, and how they recover ahead of the winter flood season.
- Identifying how government, emergency services and Local Resilience Forums can better share lessons learnt from recent flooding events, with the introduction of best practice guidance to be considered.
- Assessing how public awareness of the role and benefits of flood warnings can be improved, with EA chief executive Philip Duffy highlighting the key role this will play in October’s Flood Action Week.