UK Flood Policy

What is the UK Government doing about flood risk?

The devastating floods of summer 2007 floods saw the issue of the UK’s vulnerability to major flooding rise to the top of the policy agenda. The issue has been debated on the benches of the House of Commons and Lords, and has formed a major part of the Government’s agenda. The threat of flooding is now a significant UK public policy issue and central to the important debate on climate change.

The Pitt Review

The Government responded to the rise to prominence of the flooding issue by tasking Sir Michael Pitt to conduct an independent review of the response to the floods that took place in the summer of 2007, one of the most high-profile policy reviews of recent years. The Final Report from the Pitt Review ‘Lessons Learned from the 2007 floods’ was published in June 2008 and recommendations for immediate action from the UK Government included the following:

Publish a Flood Act which outlines clear areas of responsibility for flood management in UK;
Provide more public information on flood risk and prevention, aimed at advising house-owners and businesses;
Give the Environment Agency responsibility for a national oversight of all types of flood risk;
Restrict building in areas of high flood risk;
Make flood risk assessment a mandatory part of Home Information Packs.

To read the report in full click here.

Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)

The Pitt Review requested that the Government respond to the recommendations set out, and a formal policy response from the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) was expected by the end of November 2008.

As such, the Flood and Water Management Act was introduced by DEFRA. Today, DEFRA state that the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 aims to “provide better, more comprehensive management of flood risk for people, homes and businesses.” It will also aim to “help tackle bad debt in the water industry, improve the affordability of water bills for certain groups and individuals, and help ensure continuity of water supplies to the consumer.”

For more information on the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 click here.

Property level flood protection grant scheme

Building upon the recommendations of the Pitt Review, in December 2008 the Secretary of State announced the launch of a property-level flood protection grant scheme totaling £5.6million to help properties in areas with a high risk of flooding that do not benefit from community-level defences. There are two rounds of funding and the second round of grants were announced in March 2010. All schemes are due to be completed by March 2011.

According to DEFRA, the objective of this government scheme is to “promote the use of household-level flood protection and resilience measures in cases where flooding occurs frequently and other flood management solutions are not economically, environmentally or technically viable. To meet this objective, the scheme aims to protect groups of homes so that they demonstrate the benefits of protection and encourage other communities and individuals to protect their homes. It also aims to help local communities engage with, and understand their flood risk.”

For more information on DEFRA’s flood protection grant scheme click here.

For more information contact us on 0844 844 9966 or email flood@homecheckpro.co.uk