Under-fire flood bosses received almost £300,000 in bonuses
EXECUTIVES responsible for protecting the UK from flooding were paid almost £300,000 in bonuses last year, it has emerged.
Senior managers took a share of £277,000 while an extra £14,000 was given to directors, including David Rooke, the long-standing director of flood and coastal risk management at the Environment Agency.
The payments were disclosed as records showed two other senior directors at the government agency received large payoffs.
Pam Gilder, the outgoing director of corporate affairs, will pocket £112,133 under a “voluntary exit agreement”, a Sunday Times investigation found. Ed Mitchell, another director, will get £60,000 on gardening leave after he missed out on the top job and resigned.
It also emerged that the organisation spent over £75,000 on special chairs for staff in 2013-14.
The details came as David Cameron unveiled a package of more than £40million to bolster flood defences after the recent storms. The Prime Minister is pledging the Government will back charities helping victims of the Boxing Day floods by matching every pound of the first £2 million raised.
The package is to be extended with grants to reimburse fire and rescue authorities that have spent large sums protecting flooded communities.
Mr Cameron said: “This work to repair and improve flood defences is so vital. We are already spending £280 million over the next six years to protect thousands of houses from flooding in Yorkshire as part of our £2.3 billion investment to protect 300,000 houses across the country. Now more than £40 million will be spent to fix those defences overwhelmed by the record rainfall we’ve seen in recent weeks and to make them more resilient.”
The Prime Minister said £10million would go towards improving the Foss Barrier in York, which was overwhelmed in Storm Eva. The remaining £30 million will repair defences on the Wharfe, Calder, Aire, Ouse and Derwent rivers. John Stevenson, Tory MP for Carlisle, said: “I welcome any additional funding. From a Cumbrian perspective we need a review of the situation, given the fact that we’ve spent £50 million on defences already, so let’s look at what went right and what went wrong and learn the lessons.” The Landmark Trust has conceded defeat in its fight to re-erect a cast-iron statue by Antony Gormley at Kimmeridge Bay in Dorset that has twice been blown over by strong winds.