HC Deb 17 December 2003 vol 415 cc901-3W
David Davis

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much money was invested in flood defence schemes in the Yorkshire and Humber region in each of the past five years. [143306]

Mr. Morley

Defra provides grant aid to the flood and coastal defence operating authorities to support their capital schemes to reduce flood risk. These projects must meet specified criteria and an appropriate priority score to attract Defra funding but decisions regarding which projects to promote and their timing rest with these authorities. The principal operating authority for flood risk is the Environment Agency (EA) but local authorities (LAs) and, in areas with special drainage needs, internal drainage boards (IDBs) also carry out works on a much smaller scale overall.

Investment in flood defence schemes in Yorkshire and Humber was as set out in the table. For the Agency, this represents their total capital expenditure; for LAs and IDBs the figures represent grant payments from Defra which form a proportion of the total grant eligible cost (25 per cent. (45 per cent. for tidal or sea defence schemes) up to April 2001 and 45 per cent. thereafter). Local authorities are eligible for further support for their balance of grant costs from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister through its local authority funding mechanism.

£000s
Year EA LAs and IDBs
1998–99 8,368 125
1999–2000 8,320 196
2000–01 9,108 74
2001–02 15,482 733
2002–03 23,733 577
Note:Maintenance and running costs for existing defences are incurred in addition to the above sums

Norman Baker

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what guidance has been given to local authorities in receipt of DEFRA funding for coastal and inland flood protection projects on the use of timber from legal and sustainable sources; and if she will make a statement. [142229]

Mr. Morley

On 28 July 2000 the then Environment Minister, the right hon. Michael Meacher, announced the Government's policy that central departments and their agencies will actively seek to procure timber and timber products from sources independently validated as legal and sustainably managed. Mr. Meacher also wrote to all English Local Authorities in 2002 exhorting them to adopt responsible timber procurement policies.

Concern over the use of tropical hardwoods was identified in the mid 1990s. In 1994 the Chief Engineer of the former Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, a predecessor of this Department, wrote to Maritime District Councils to encourage them to consider the use of alternative materials and to procure timber from well-managed and sustainable sources.

The Department's Flood Management Division also organises an annual conference that is well attended by local government representatives. One of the papers in this year's conference was 'Responsible Use of Timber in Coastal and Fluvial Engineering' which covered the selection and procurement of timber and made the government position clear.