Flooding risk ‘puts standard of living in peril’
Act now to prevent new disaster, Johnson urged
EFFORTS TO tackle the NorthSouth divide and improve living standards in Yorkshire could be undermined unless more is done to tackle the region’s vulnerability to flooding, a report warns today.
Fresh from his election victory on the back of wins in Labour seats across the North, Boris Johnson has been urged by IPPR North to act now to prevent a repeat of last month’s devastating flooding in South Yorkshire and Storm Eva in 2015.
The think-tank’s research fellow Jack Hunter said that while greater investment in flood defences should be a priority of the next phase of the Northern Powerhouse concept, “hard” infrastructure like barriers and dams were only part of the solution.
Instead he argues that greater flood resilience also needs “a much more holistic approach” that focuses on how decisions about land use, agriculture, development and architectural design impact upon the overall flood risk of an area.
His report comes as more unsettled weather was expected to hit parts of the UK over the next 24 hours, with winds of up to 70mph and heavy rain leading to a further risk of flooding.
The Natural Assets North, Flooding in the North report calls on leaders across the North, including metro mayors such as Dan Jarvis in the Sheffield City Region and Ben Houchen in the Tees Valley, to use their influence to work together towards a floodresilient North.
It says: “The North of England has considerable and undeniable potential across a wide range of sectors that, with the right strategic planning and investment, will improve the lives of people in the region and benefit the UK economy.
“Now, after decades of underinvestment, there is a renewed interest from central government in the potential to improve living standards and rebalance the UK economy through investment in the North’s £300bn economy, including under the Northern Powerhouse brand.”
It goes on: “However, unless flood risk is managed appropriately, the potential for further economic, social and environmental costs of flooding may undermine the confidence of the North’s leaders, its businesses, and those who want to invest in the region – with negative impacts on the overall health of the region’s economy and its population.”
The report cites the Living with Water scheme in Hull and the East Riding as an example of a more integrated and comprehensive flood strategy. Local leaders, the Environment Agency and Yorkshire Water work together on developing “green” flood infrastructure such as flood plains and water-storage lagoons alongside walls and flood barriers.
Mr Hunter said: “Nothing the Government does to level up the country will matter if those places are flooded.”
AUSTERITY CUTS which have disproportionately affected the North are having a knock-on effect on flood management because local leaders are having to prioritise other issues like social care, it is claimed.
Think-tank IPPR North says the amount of funding spent on preventing and dealing with floods has been “substantially scaled back” in recent years despite several serious floods and the impact of climate change.
It comes as pictures taken before and after flooding hit the South Yorkshire village of Fishlake show the true extent of the devastation wrought by the “biblical” rainfall which began on November 7.
The aftermath of the floods can still be seen, as houses previously deluged by debris and sewage-filled water are now stripped bare of plaster and carpet. Entire ground floors of properties have been destroyed, with homeowners still desperately trying to dry out walls and plasterboard.
Many of the flood-affected villagers have “emptied their lives” into skips and piles of rubbish lay strewn in people’s gardens.
Boris Johnson visited the nearby town of Stainforth in the aftermath of the floods, which left hundreds of homes underwater and saw a woman swept to her death in Derbyshire.
Amid anger over perceptions of a slow response, he activated an emergency scheme allowing local authorities to reclaim their
flood-related costs from the Government.
He also said the North received more funding for flood defences than southern England. In its report Natural Assets North, Flooding in the North, IPPR North disputed this, saying the Government’s planned spending on flood defences heavily favours
the South East. And author Jack Hunter wrote that government spending on flooding has decreased in real terms over the past decade.
Environment Agency spending on flood and coastal erosion management fell from £780m to £622m between 2010/11 and 2013/14, before rising to £741m by
2017/18. With inflation this is still below the 2011 peak.
The report added: “Revenue and non-grant eligible expenditure on flood management by local authorities is funded through the Revenue Support Grant, which is non-ringfenced, meaning individual councils can decide how much to spend, subject
to limits on overall budgets and the need for investment in other priorities.
“The dramatic reductions in the Revenue Support Grant from central government have put pressure on local authority spending across the board – and has made it very difficult for councils to continue to invest the same amounts into flood management as they have done historically.
“Local authorities are legally obliged to fulfil their statutory duties regarding flood management – however, there is a substantial risk that local authorities will have to cut back on non-essential flood defence expenditure.”