Labour has pledged to establish a 'COBRA-style' Flood Resilience Taskforce that would meet every winter, as the UK is rocked by extreme weather and flooding.
The Environment Agency (EA) has said that 1,000 homes have been left flooded after the recent bad weather in England, with disruption across the rail network, and a major incident declared in Nottinghamshire, where the rising waters of the River Trent hit more than 100 properties.
Oxford has also seen widespread flooding as authorities struggled to contain the fallout in the wake of Storm Henk.
The opposition party claimed the Government’s failure to act against the risk of floods has cost the economy around £3.8bn, based on the damage done by the four major floods to have hit Britain since 2010.
'The Government slashed the resources of the Environment Agency – the agency tasked with flood preparedness and response – by two-thirds since 2010, leaving families and businesses to pay the price for extreme floods. One in six UK properties are now at risk of flooding,' Labour said.
A recent report from the National Audit Office found that a reduction in flood defence projects would leave 136,000 more homes at risk of flooding since EA protection plans were drawn up in 2020.
Labour's plan is to use a taskforce to 'co-ordinate flooding preparation and resilience between central government, local authorities, local communities, and emergency services'.
It would also create a 'minister for Resilience within the Cabinet Office and overhaul local resilience forums, so they are more ready to respond to emergencies such as floods'.
Steve Reed MP, Labour’s shadow secretary of state for the environment, said: 'My heart goes out to all families and businesses whose lives and livelihoods have been damaged by these floods.
'The Conservatives’ sticking-plaster approach has left communities devastated and cost the economy billions of pounds.
'In government, Labour will set up a Flood Resilience Taskforce that meets before every winter to make sure there is better coordination between national and local government and emergency services on the ground, so we give communities and local economies far better protection against flood damage.'
As all principal local authorities are category 1 responders under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, roads authorities have a statutory duty to respond and prepare for flood events.
Labour's taskforce would 'ensure that vulnerable areas are identified and protected – including drainage systems, flood defences and natural flood management schemes in communities, completed on time'.
It would also provide accountability for progress on flood prevention in areas at risk before floods take place.
