HC Deb 08 March 1990 vol 168 cc993-4
9. Mr. Key

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he has made a recent assessment of the state of flood defences.

Mr. Maclean

The state of the country's flood defences is kept under continual review, and we have greatly increased the grants in recent years. The effects of recent storms are likely to lead to changes in the National Rivers Authority and local authority programmes. We intend to ensure that Government funding is sufficient to take account of necessary adjustments to programmes and priorities.

Mr. Key

That is very good news. I hope that my hon. Friend will never lose sight of the fact that underneath every flood lies someone's home or livelihood. Will he listen sympathetically to the National Rivers Authority, which may wish to reorder its priorities for the funding of our defences? It is not just that there have been coastal floods; there have been massive inland floods—for instance, from Salisbury Plain to the Solent. When the National Rivers Authority has undertaken hydrological surveys, I hope that my hon. Friend will listen sympathetically to what it has to say about its needs.

Mr. Maclean

My hon. Friend is right to point out that flooding causes awful problems for the unfortunate victims. I sympathise with his constituents because of the problems that they are having to endure. I assure him that MAFF flood engineers are anxious to listen to the National Rivers Authority's representations. We should like to encourage the relevant local authorities, with which we also work in partnership, to let us have their assessment of their needs. We shall happily listen to any request to reorder our priorities so that the massive amount of extra funding that we are making available for flood defence can be spent in the best possible way.

Mr. Loyden

Will the Minister draw to the attention of the NRA the fact that land erosion on many of our river banks contributes to the problems of flooding and, quite frankly, appears to have been grossly neglected for many years?

Mr. Maclean

I shall certainly draw the attention of the NRA to the hon. Gentleman's remarks. The Ministry, in conjunction with the NRA and the local authorities, makes an assessment of priorities. We have funding available and if the NRA and the local authorities determine that there is a substantial flood problem, the Ministry will make grants available.

Mr. Robert Hicks

Does my hon. Friend agree that we all have a responsibility to protect Britain's coastal heritage? Will he look particularly at the problems of smaller local authorities in putting together coastal protection schemes in conjunction with flood protection?

Mr. Maclean

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We are particularly aware of the needs of local authorities. That is why next year we intend to increase the maximum amount of the staggered grants available to local authorities to 75 per cent. We usually operate a policy that if a small authority with small resources requires a large flood prevention scheme, we make more grant available than if a large authority with large resources requires a small scheme.