Think again on ‘ summit snub’, Ministers told
MINISTERS HAVE been warned that “water does not respect boundaries” after downgrading a planned Yorkshire- wide summit on flood prevention and protecting vulnerable areas.
It comes after Yorkshire political leaders wrote to Environment Secretary George Eustice – and Floods Minister Rebecca Pow – to express disquiet over the status of next Thursday’s meeting.
A county- wide summit was agreed by Boris Johnson 10 months ago after he visited Fishlake following criticism of the Government’s slow response to last November’s floods.
The commitment was then reiterated by Mr Eustice when he toured flood- hit York in February just days after his elevation to the Cabinet. But, after months of
pressure, a date for the gathering of key politicians and stakeholders – October 8 – was only set on Tuesday just 24 hours before Sheffield City Region mayor Dan Jarvis prepared to lead a Commons debate.
It also emerged that the summit will only cover South Yorkshire, prompting dismay from MPs and local authority leaders who also viewed Mr Eustice’s absence from the Commons exchanges as a ‘ snub’ to the North.
The letter from the Yorkshire Leaders Board tells Ministers: “As you know, water does not respect boundaries. We believe it is vital that local and regional leaders and stakeholders from right across our county take part in order to inform a wider discussion about how to protect homes and businesses.”
They also say they’re amenable to a short delay if it helps officials with preparatory work. Last night Mr Jarvis welcomed the intervention. “Yorkshire knows first- hand that water doesn’t respect boundaries,” he said. “The voices of all our communities that were devastated deserve to be heard.”
Ms Pow ignored questions over the summit’s status in the Commons, telling Barnsley Central MP Mr Jarvis, that “the meeting that the letter has gone out for is for South Yorkshire, and a raft of MPs have been invited to it.”
She added: “We have had a great deal of engagement with other MPs.”