§ Mr. WillisTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what support his Department offers to private landowners to repair damage to river banks caused by flood water. [137518]
§ Mr. MorleyNone. Grant aid from this Department for new and improved capital schemes is directed to the flood and coastal defence operating authorities—the Environment Agency, Local Authorities and Internal Drainage Boards.
§ Mr. WillisTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what effect the installation of new flood defences at Pateley Bridge has had on water levels in the River Nidd at Knaresborough during the early November floods; [137517]
(2) what action the Environment Agency took to alert riparian businesses and home owners on the River Nidd at Knaresborough about the probability of flooding in advance of the recent floods; and how many properties were affected by the floods. [137519]
§ Mr. MorleyThe Environment Agency's staff in the north-east are still fully committed to dealing with the impact of the floods in that region, and it would be inappropriate to divert them at this point of time. I have asked the Agency once the immediate work is completed, in conjunction with their partners, to produce a full report on the flooding, its effects, how the flood warning and emergency response worked and what lessons we can learn; this report should be available by Easter. In terms of the specific questions I will write to the hon. Member as soon as the information can be obtained.
§ Mr. FlightTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Defence concerning the deployment of troops to assist in areas of West Sussex disrupted by recent flooding; and if he will make a statement. [137616]
§ Mr. MorleyThere are standing arrangements in cases of serious flooding for the Environment Agency to request for military assistance from the Ministry of Defence. In the case of West Sussex, the military has been used in the Chichester area for sandbagging duties and is on standby for bridging work around the City. It has not yet been deemed necessary to call upon the services of the military elsewhere in West Sussex.
§ Dr. StarkeyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will instruct the Environment Agency to re-assess the risks of flooding in Buckinghamshire. [138003]
§ Mr. MorleyMAFF has set in place a series of high level targets one of which is for the Environment Agency to ensure that inspections of flood defences, main rivers and critical ordinary watercourses are undertaken and, as 681W a result of these inspections, to report to the Ministry on its assessment of flood risk. These reports are due to be provided by April 2001.
To this end the Environment Agency is undertaking surveys of all defences and structures on main rivers within Buckinghamshire. Local authorities and internal drainage boards are in the process of identifying critical ordinary watercourses, and inspecting flood defences upon these, assisted by the agency teams.