Dry weather high on agenda as minister visits flood defences

Lack of rain has raised the spectre of rising food prices as crops face ruin. She insists the Government is not complacent and a summit with farmers and water companies this week discussed how the impact could be minimised.

“We’re not in a drought yet, it’s dry. Conditions vary and actually Yorkshire is not so badly off as the Midlands,” she said. “But agriculture’s very important to Yorkshire and one of the messages that came out of the meeting this week is that farming has been affected.

“You can’t reverse some of it, so yields will be lower because the grain’s had less moisture to swell and the harvest will probably be affected in the sense it will have to come in earlier. And in turn that affects prices.”

As for what the public should be doing, she admitted some may be surprised at the lack of hose pipe bans yet but adds: “That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t all be making an effort not to waste water. And everybody knows how to do that.”

Today, however, her focus will be on the impact of too much rain, visiting the Pickering flood defence project during a hectic day in the region. Rather than relying on traditional defences, the “pioneering” project – which will receive an extra £235,000 today – seeks to use the natural environment surrounding the town to store, divert and slow the flow of excess water.

Trees are being planted, wetlands restored and natural dams being built in streams to reduce the amount of water reaching the town during periods of torrential rain.

The project started in 2009 and has already received £247,000 from the Government, but today’s injection will allow it to continue for another four years.

Spending on flood defences has been hit by the Government-wide cuts this year, but Ms Spelman is hopeful of a “positive outcome” on a reduced scheme being drawn up to protect Leeds city centre. If viable it could be one of the first to go ahead under the proposed new “partnership” model, where communities will be expected to find part of the funding in return for a Government grant to cover another part of the cost.

Meanwhile, Ms Spelman cites the need to give rural communities access to broadband as a priority, although she says there are “different ways that can be achieved” such as using wireless.

“You’re really disadvantaged if you haven’t got it,” she said, citing the need for farmers to file forms online and the “assumption” in schools that children have online access.

She is also keen to support British producers, and, although farmers may question her claim to have made “great progress” in the Government’s record on buying British, she wants more domestic specialities to come forward to follow in the footsteps of Swaledale Cheese and Real Yorkshire Wensleydale in seeking protected status.

“I know Yorkshire has a really significant number of protected foods already but I think there are definitely other candidates for this,” she said. “Parkin would be a good candidate for this. I make it but I acknowledge Yorkshire is its origins. Fat Rascals are a distinctive Yorkshire food. Licorice, although that’s made in other countries, Yorkshire licorice is different.”

She also urged farmers not to “suffer in silence” and seek help from a hardship fund if their subsidies were delayed as the Government sought to reform the beleaguered Rural Payments Agency.