§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the(a) duration of and (b) reasons for the recent suspension of public access to the Environment Agency's website. [89617]
§ Margaret BeckettThe Environment Agency's website suffered problems in its service between 1–6 January. This was primarily because of the excessive load during that period and in spite of previous testing to ensure that flood incident loads could be met. A number of technical changes have now been carried out to improve the site's performance.
While this reduction in service was regrettable, the agency's website is not the primary means of providing flood warning. The main flood warning systems operated effectively, including the agency's Floodline telephone service, automatic voice warning systems, news media information and direct manual warnings in flood warned areas.
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what reports she has received from the Environment Agency in pursuance of its duty under High Level Target 5b. [89746]
§ Margaret BeckettThe Agency has provided a draft report under this target for 2001–02 but information in it is still being validated between the Agency and the Local Government Association.
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much public money(a) was and (b) is planned to be allocated to the Environment Agency for each year from 2000–01 to 2005–06 in respect of (i) flood protection and flood management and (ii) coastal defence. [90630]
§ Margaret Beckett[holding answer 14 January 2003]: The two sources of public funding to support the Environment Agency's work in England in managing the risk of flooding from main rivers and the sea are levies on local authorities as agreed by Flood Defence Committees and grant for specific capital projects and contributions to national initiatives provided by Defra. The former are reimbursed to a large extent by funding to local authorities from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM). Figures for public monies allocated in the current and two past years are:
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£million 2000–011 2001–021 2002–032 Defra capital grant for specific projects and contributions to national initiatives 41.9 61.5 70.0 Local authority levies 214.6 233.6 247.8 Total 256.5 295.1 317.8 I regret an analysis of the above by (a) flood protection and flood management and (b) coastal defence could not be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.
For future years, provision is:
£ million 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 Defra capital grant for specific projects to all operating authorities and contributions to Agency national initiatives1 126 129 154 ODPM funding to support local authority levies to the Agency and their own spend on management of flood and coastal erosion risk 295 332 382 1For all flood and coastal defence operating authorities—the Environment Agency, local authorities and Internal Drainage Boards. I cannot be more specific about these years as Defra capital allocations and local authority levies are still being decided for 2003–04 and have not been considered at all yet for the later years.
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what criteria are used by the Environment Agency to decide which flood defence assets to inspect in accordance with High Level Target 4. [89742]
§ Margaret Beckett:High Level Target 4 relates to the development of the National Flood and Coastal Defence Database and does not require the inspection of any flood defence assets.
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what(a) flood defence assets, (b) main rivers and (c) critical ordinary watercourses were inspected by the Environment Agency during (i) 2001–02, and (ii) 2002–03, in accordance with High Level Target 5a. [89744]
§ Margaret BeckettThe Agency has provided a draft report under this target for 2001–02, but information in it is still being validated between the Agency and the Local Government Association.
The report for 2002–03 is not due until April 2003.
§ Mr. Lidington:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she has received the Environment Agency's report on flood warning service standards, due in September 2002. [89611]
§ Margaret BeckettHigh Level Target 2 requires the Environment Agency to report to Defra annually in April on achievement of their flood warning service standards. The latest report to Defra, covering April 2001 to March 2002, was published in May 2002 and I am therefore not expecting a further report until April 2003.
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what objectives she has set the Environment Agency to improve its performance in meeting its two hour flood warning target. [89740]
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§ Margaret BeckettAll High Level Targets are to be reviewed this year, including those relating to flood warning under target 2.