HC Deb 24 June 2004 vol 422 cc1449-50
12. Mr. Andrew Dismore (Hendon) (Lab)

If she will make a statement about progress with the Silkstream flood defence project. [180217]

The Minister for the Environment and Agri-environment (Mr. Elliot Morley)

The Environment Agency expects construction work at Prince Edward's playing field in Harrow to start later this year. This site is the first of six flood storage reservoirs to be constructed in the Silkstream catchment. All other work on the project is expected to be complete in the next three years, subject to securing the necessary funding and successful negotiations with landowners.

Mr. Dismore

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that reply. He will know that the issue has been outstanding since 1992 when the problems were first identified. There is some local concern that the standards to which the scheme is being developed will not provide for the once in 100 years flood. Can he assure me that the scheme is the best that can possibly be designed? Will any financial assistance be available to Barnet council, which has to provide a significant share of the finding?

Mr. Morley

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend. He is right. I know from many years of standing at the Dispatch Box that he has been a doughty campaigner for the scheme on behalf of his constituents. It is a £7.2 million scheme that will protect more than 1,100 households in his constituency. I understand what he says about the standards, but they are subject to a range of independent assessments and re views and the scheme will go ahead only if it meets the three criteria of cost-benefit, environmental impact and technical specification. There is a formula for funding, and the local authority will receive a share of the funding under it.

Mr. Nick Gibb (Bognor Regis and Littlehampton) (Con)

As a result of the Government's decision a few years ago to prioritise flood relief schemes such as the worthy Silkstream project, important projects to protect against coastal erosion such as the one at Middleton-on-Sea in my constituency have been put off. Given that we have had a few years of focusing on flood relief, is it not now time to restore a more equitable point scoring system that will enable a number of delayed coastal erosion schemes to proceed?

Mr. Morley

The whole point of the scoring system is to have an open, transparent and coherent system for prioritising schemes. It is not right to say that it discriminates against coastal schemes. In the past 18 months, the bulk of our expenditure has been on coastal schemes because they have come highest on the priority scoring system and met the criteria. Decisions will always have to be taken on priorities and which schemes to take forward. I strongly believe that a point scoring system that allows people to understand where they are in the priorities is the best approach.