Peter Parka
Well-Known Member
Flood defence money 'falls short'
Insurers say they may not be able to provide cover despite the government pledging more money for flood defences. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) says the £800m promised by the chancellor is less than was needed.
Head of the Environment Agency Baroness Young said the funding was a "good start" as she prepared to face MPs over the floods.
Parts of south-west England, the Midlands and Yorkshire were left under water during the summer.
Rising costs
ABI chief executive Stephen Haddrill said the money pledged by Alistair Darling in Tuesday's Comprehensive Spending Review was so low that it could lead to a review of insurance services in the UK.
"We really want to carry on being able to provide this service. But obviously we can't keep providing it at significant loss.
"So what we are going to be looking for from the government is a recognition of what happened this summer and an increase on the level they have announced today, to reflect the lessons learned and to reflect the results of their own reviews which they are now conducting," Mr Haddrill said.
On Monday, AA Insurance said home insurance costs had risen at their fastest rate since 1994 as a result of the flooding.
Buildings premiums jumped by 3% in the past quarter, reflecting the estimated £3bn cost of flood damage across much of the UK in June and July.
Rough ride
Meanwhile, Environment Agency chief executive Baroness Young is expected to get a rough ride later when she is questioned by MPs.
She will be asked by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee what more could have been done to help communities.
They will also ask what lessons have been learned for the future.
She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the money pledged was a "good start".
She said: "We are not happy but we will be working hard to get up and running these schemes which have a huge impact on the lives of local people."
Their funding should be planned more than three years ahead, she added.
"We need to start anticipating what is needed for the next 10 to 20 years."
Drainage questions
BBC environment correspondent Sarah Mukherjee said the Environment Agency was told by the government it had to plan for a one-in-100-year flood event.
It was estimated that the summer flooding was between a one-in-150-year and a one-in-200-year event, our correspondent said.
In other words, way beyond what the agency was told by the government to build towards.
Baroness Young will say to MPs on Wednesday that it would cost the government an awful lot more money to build even more robust defences, our correspondent added.
Committee chairman Michael Jack said he and his colleagues had received an unprecedented level of submissions on the floods that left thousands homeless, tens of thousands without power and hundreds of thousands without water.
He says the government should have acted earlier after more extreme weather and flooding was predicted by the chief scientist in 2004.
"The interesting question is, why didn't the government respond then to the clear message that more resources were going to have to be put in to flood defences," he said.
Story from BBC NEWS:
Its getting very worrying here, even where I live it floods more and more and its a situation which really needs sorting out urgently. We're in a flat two stories above the ground but my mum who is getting old is in a house on ground level and its only a matter of time before she starts getting flooded!
Insurers say they may not be able to provide cover despite the government pledging more money for flood defences. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) says the £800m promised by the chancellor is less than was needed.
Head of the Environment Agency Baroness Young said the funding was a "good start" as she prepared to face MPs over the floods.
Parts of south-west England, the Midlands and Yorkshire were left under water during the summer.
Rising costs
ABI chief executive Stephen Haddrill said the money pledged by Alistair Darling in Tuesday's Comprehensive Spending Review was so low that it could lead to a review of insurance services in the UK.
"We really want to carry on being able to provide this service. But obviously we can't keep providing it at significant loss.
"So what we are going to be looking for from the government is a recognition of what happened this summer and an increase on the level they have announced today, to reflect the lessons learned and to reflect the results of their own reviews which they are now conducting," Mr Haddrill said.
On Monday, AA Insurance said home insurance costs had risen at their fastest rate since 1994 as a result of the flooding.
Buildings premiums jumped by 3% in the past quarter, reflecting the estimated £3bn cost of flood damage across much of the UK in June and July.
Rough ride
Meanwhile, Environment Agency chief executive Baroness Young is expected to get a rough ride later when she is questioned by MPs.
She will be asked by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee what more could have been done to help communities.
They will also ask what lessons have been learned for the future.
She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the money pledged was a "good start".
She said: "We are not happy but we will be working hard to get up and running these schemes which have a huge impact on the lives of local people."
Their funding should be planned more than three years ahead, she added.
"We need to start anticipating what is needed for the next 10 to 20 years."
Drainage questions
BBC environment correspondent Sarah Mukherjee said the Environment Agency was told by the government it had to plan for a one-in-100-year flood event.
It was estimated that the summer flooding was between a one-in-150-year and a one-in-200-year event, our correspondent said.
In other words, way beyond what the agency was told by the government to build towards.
Baroness Young will say to MPs on Wednesday that it would cost the government an awful lot more money to build even more robust defences, our correspondent added.
Committee chairman Michael Jack said he and his colleagues had received an unprecedented level of submissions on the floods that left thousands homeless, tens of thousands without power and hundreds of thousands without water.
He says the government should have acted earlier after more extreme weather and flooding was predicted by the chief scientist in 2004.
"The interesting question is, why didn't the government respond then to the clear message that more resources were going to have to be put in to flood defences," he said.
Story from BBC NEWS:
Its getting very worrying here, even where I live it floods more and more and its a situation which really needs sorting out urgently. We're in a flat two stories above the ground but my mum who is getting old is in a house on ground level and its only a matter of time before she starts getting flooded!
