£12m in fat cat salaries paid to bosses running Britain’s flood response
FLOOD victims yesterday slammed bosses at the Environment Agency after it emerged senior staff have raked in nearly £12million in a decade.
Those netting a bumper pay packet include its chief executive Sir James Bevan, whose £210,000 salary is higher than the Prime Minister’s.
Sir James, 60, is also in line for a pension of at least £240,000 a year.
Its chairwoman Emma Howard Boyd is paid £100,000 for a three-day week while deputy Richard Macdonald picked up £25,201 last year for five days a month.
The annual report for the Agency, which issues flood warnings and is involved with flood defences and repairs, discloses pay for executive directors by bands. It said over the past 10 years directors have shared nearly £12million.
The revelations come as thousands across Britain have seen their homes and livelihoods destroyed by flooding.
With parts of the deluged Midlands warned they face another 10 days of more rain, questions have been asked whether the EA could have done more to prevent the catastrophe.
Pam Webb, whose home and spa business in Fishlake, South Yorks, was badly damaged last November, said: “I totally accept they [the EA] can’t stop it raining but I would have thought part of its remit is to safeguard people.
She said of Sir James’s pay packet: “Anyone paid that amount clearly has to take a lot of responsibility.”
Suzanne Stankard, whose home in Mytholmroyd, West
MORE homes faced flood heartache yesterday as storm Jorge wreaked havoc bringing heavy rain and gale-force winds.
Households in Snaith, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, were among those devastated after three inches of rain fell last night.
Today winds topping 70mph are set to batter much of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Yesterday 82
Yorks, was flooded, blamed a decision by the EA to put just one row of sandbags over a gap where the village’s flood defences were being improved.
“We just watched the water flow over the top,” she says.
Ms Stankard, whose home is flood warnings and 125 less serious flood alerts were issued ahead of what was predicted to be three days of mayhem.
Met Office forecaster Emma Salter said of this weekend’s weather prospects: “It’s not good news I’m afraid, given all the recent rainfall we’ve had.”
The south-west and north-west of England, Wales and Northern Ireland are expected to suffer worst in today’s huge deluge.
Regions that have already seen flooding were warned that their properties were at risk of fresh devastation.
Today’s strong winds are expected to cause travel chaos with delays at airports, train stations, ferry ports and on roads.
50 yards from the river wall, accused bosses of being “in denial” about the threat the village faces and for not asking residents for advice in planning defence improvements.
Sir James told a conference this week: “Our staff are
incredibly dedicated, highly professional and very good at what they do.”
He said the EA was spending £2.6billion on new flood defences to protect 300,000 properties and more than £1billion on existing defences.
Sir James Bevan and Emma Howard Boyd, right, have been awarded bumper pay packets at the Environment Agency