The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with the Environment Agency on the condition of the national drainage system.
Rory Stewart
The Environment Agency and Defra work closely with the water industry to support the development of resilient drainage systems.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with local authorities on their duties to ensure landowners clear ditches adjacent to their own land as a means of reducing flood risk.
Rory Stewart
Landowners are responsible for maintaining the bed and banks of watercourses on their land, and for clearing obstructions to the flow of water.
Internal Drainage Boards (IDBs) and Lead Local Flood Authorities (LLFAs) have powers under the Land Drainage Act 1991 to require the relevant landowners to maintain the flow of a watercourse.
The Environment Agency, exercising its strategic oversight responsibilities, works closely with IDBs and LLFAs to ensure they are managing local flood risk effectively.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Calum Kerr on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has for funding from the EU Solidarity Fund for relief payments for recent flooding.
Rory Stewart
We will consider all forms of support for those affected by the recent floods.
However, the EU Solidarity Fund would not compensate for private losses. It would take several months to receive the majority of the funds, and only provides for a fraction of the total costs of assessed damage. The Government’s priority has been to act quickly and deal with the urgent needs of those affected.
This is why the Government is providing nearly £200 million of additional aid to support those affected by the floods in England.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many miles of rivers and waterways the Environment Agency is responsible for.
Rory Stewart
The Environment Agency’s flood risk management powers cover over 22,600 miles of ‘Main River’. They are also the navigation authority for over 621 miles (1000km) of waterways in England.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many fixed location pumps the Environment Agency uses to control water flows in England.
Rory Stewart
The Environment Agency operates and maintains 347 fixed pumping stations in England.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many miles of waterway the Environment Agency dredged in the last 12 months.
Rory Stewart
The Environment Agency estimates that the length of watercourse where dredging was carried out was approximately 120 miles (200km) in 2014/15.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason the Environment Agency did not deploy mobile pumps to York when the fixed pumps in that area were insufficient.
Rory Stewart
All 8 of the fixed pumps at the Foss Barrier were fully operational during the onset of flooding in York. The capacity of these pumps is sufficient in all but the extreme conditions which were experienced in December 2015. It is an assessment that the speed and the rise of the water level of the Foss would have overwhelmed the capacity of any potential temporary pumps, particularly given the design of the barrier, which restricted the area available for pumps.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many mobile pumps the Environment Agency owns.
Rory Stewart
The Environment Agency owns a total of 245 mobile pumping units which can be deployed to respond to flooding incidents.
During the flooding in December 2015, 425 mobile pumping assets owned and held by responding organisations, including the Fire Services and the Environment Agency, were identified as being available to Strategic Coordination Groups (Gold Controls).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the work plan of the National Resilience Review is; and how often the Review team plans to meet.
Rory Stewart
Work has already started on the National Resilience Review, which is considering forecasting and modelling, resilience of key infrastructure and the way we make decisions on flood expenditure.
The Review is being delivered by a cross-Government team and will be published in the summer. It will be led by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Oliver Letwin, and include the Government’s Chief Scientist, Defra, DECC, DCLG, HM Treasury and the Chief Executive of the Environment Agency.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, where the Environment Agency deployed its mobile pumps in December 2015.
Rory Stewart
Mobile pumps were moved to locations as required as part of our dynamic response to the various incidents that happened in December. The Environment Agency sent 42 pumps from other areas to the north of England including Cumbria, Lancashire, Yorkshire, Greater Manchester and Cheshire. This was to support existing equipment in use within the area.