By David Williams
21 January 2010
The Environment Agency has expressed doubts that the Treasury will ramp up funding for flood defences to keep pace with increased risks from climate change.
EA chair and former Labour Cabinet minister Lord (Chris) Smith told the Commons environmental audit select committee that, unless spending doubled to £1bn a year by 2035, more homes would be at risk.
His comments came as the agency revealed that the catastrophic floods in England during the summer of 2007 cost public budgets hundreds of millions of pounds.
Smith told the committee on January 19 that the Treasury had verified the agency’s estimates. But, he added: ‘What they’ve not done is committed to the figure. That’s not likely to happen this side of the election or, I suspect, the other’.
He said that, although the benefits brought by flood defences in areas at risk were worth five times what they cost to build, the EA would be increasingly unable to shoulder the burden alone.
‘We have to look beyond just relying on the public purse,’ he said. ‘The more we can bring in other partners, such as developers, regional development agencies and local authorities, the better.’
In The costs of the summer 2007 floods in England, published on January 18, the agency broke down the £3.2bn estimated cost of the floods.
The report showed how damage to infrastructure and public buildings, cleanup costs, school closures and increased demand on the emergency services cost the taxpayer upwards of £500m.
Three-quarters of the costs to households were covered by insurance, as were 95% of the losses to businesses, the figures showed. But in the public sector, just 45% of council losses and additional costs for emergency services were covered.
The overall damage to public health is evaluated at £274.5m – although some of those costs would have been borne by businesses and individuals. Local authorities were landed with bills totalling £137m.
Overall damage to roads was estimated at £191m, school closures cost £9m, police and fire and rescue costs were calculated at £3.8m, while the Environment Agency itself had to spend an extra £19.3m as a result of the flooding.
Smith said that extreme weather conditions, such as those that caused last year’s flooding in Cumbria, would become more likely due to the effects of climate change.
21 January 2010
The Environment Agency has expressed doubts that the Treasury will ramp up funding for flood defences to keep pace with increased risks from climate change.
EA chair and former Labour Cabinet minister Lord (Chris) Smith told the Commons environmental audit select committee that, unless spending doubled to £1bn a year by 2035, more homes would be at risk.
His comments came as the agency revealed that the catastrophic floods in England during the summer of 2007 cost public budgets hundreds of millions of pounds.
Smith told the committee on January 19 that the Treasury had verified the agency’s estimates. But, he added: ‘What they’ve not done is committed to the figure. That’s not likely to happen this side of the election or, I suspect, the other’.
He said that, although the benefits brought by flood defences in areas at risk were worth five times what they cost to build, the EA would be increasingly unable to shoulder the burden alone.
‘We have to look beyond just relying on the public purse,’ he said. ‘The more we can bring in other partners, such as developers, regional development agencies and local authorities, the better.’
In The costs of the summer 2007 floods in England, published on January 18, the agency broke down the £3.2bn estimated cost of the floods.
The report showed how damage to infrastructure and public buildings, cleanup costs, school closures and increased demand on the emergency services cost the taxpayer upwards of £500m.
Three-quarters of the costs to households were covered by insurance, as were 95% of the losses to businesses, the figures showed. But in the public sector, just 45% of council losses and additional costs for emergency services were covered.
The overall damage to public health is evaluated at £274.5m – although some of those costs would have been borne by businesses and individuals. Local authorities were landed with bills totalling £137m.
Overall damage to roads was estimated at £191m, school closures cost £9m, police and fire and rescue costs were calculated at £3.8m, while the Environment Agency itself had to spend an extra £19.3m as a result of the flooding.
Smith said that extreme weather conditions, such as those that caused last year’s flooding in Cumbria, would become more likely due to the effects of climate change.
