MPs demand '˜urgent' assurances over winter flooding preparations

The head of Parliament's influential rural affairs select committee has written to Environment Agency bosses to demand 'urgent' assurances over preparations for winter flooding.

In his letter to the organisation’s chairman Emma Howard Boyd, the MP Neil Parish expresses “concern” about recent floods in Cumbria and Lancashire, before calling for guarantees that “everything possible is being done” to protect communities over the coming months.

It follows an appearance by Ms Howard Boyd before the committee, during which she told the panel that a “huge amount of time and effort” had gone into the Agency’s “winter preparedness” since the widespread flooding of 2015/16.

The Committee is now asking for information about what warnings were provided to residents and businesses in Cumbria and other affected areas, and for further assurances that the measures promised in the wake of Storm Desmond have been implemented.

“Thank you for attending the committee’s session on Tuesday 21...We are, however, keen to get an immediate update from you on the crucial issue of the EA’s [Environment Agency] ability to protect communities from flooding,” Mr Parish wrote.

“[We were] concerned to read media reports that flooding in the North of England only two days after our session caught some communities off-guard.

“It is essential that people are given adequate warning of impending flooding and it is not acceptable if communities are not told as soon as information becomes available.

I would be grateful for an urgent response so that communities can be reassured as we head into winter that everything possible is being done to prevent and respond effectively to flooding.”