§ Mr. GoodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the Environment Agency's report into flooding in the Marlow and Medmenham area will be completed; and whether it will be published in full. [93208]
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 27 January 2003]I understand that the Environment Agency have already started to compile and analyse data and information relating to the flooding that occurred throughout the Thames catchment during January 2003. As with previous floods there will be an analysis of what happened and the agency will make available to the public the lessons learnt from this information.
§ Mr. GoodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans the Environment Agency has to meet residents in the Marlow and Medmenham area during its inquiry into recent flooding in the area. [93209]
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 27 January 2003]The Environment Agency held a "open surgery" on 20 January from 9.00 am to 9.00 pm at Shepperton. It invited all those residents from Chertsey who had been flooded and advertised the event in local newspapers and over 500 people attended. Staff spoke to individuals about the cause of the flooding and the agency's plans for managing flood risk.
A further surgery was held on 23 January at Egham, to which residents flooded from the River Thames downstream of Windsor were invited, and a surgery has been arranged for 30 January for residents living between Hurley and Maidenhead.
§ Mr. RedwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what guidance she has issued to the Environment Agency concerning priorities for capital projects to tackle flooding. [93601]
§ Mr. MorleyIn order to be eligible for DEFRA grant aid a capital flood defence project must satisfy fundamental economic, technical and environmental criteria and achieve an appropriate priority score based (from April 2003) on a combination of three elements—(i) benefits as compared to cost, (ii)the number of people protected as measured by the number of households at risk, their vulnerability and the extent to which adequate advance warning of flooding can be given, and (iii) environmental protection and enhancement.
733WIn addition to guidance on the above priority scoring system, DEFRA publishes detailed guidance on aspects of project appraisal (strategic planning, economic, environmental, approaches to risk). The documents are intended to assist knowledgeable practitioners; they are not comprehensive manuals or textbooks and they do not define Government policy. However, compliance with this guidance is likely to produce projects that are acceptable for central Government support.
The above are published on the DEFRA website and the Department also provides the Environment Agency with a Memorandum setting out the conditions for grant and which has further information on the Government's priorities for flood defence projects.