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Flood and Water Management Bill

I support the proposals of my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Mr. Drew) and others. During this and a number of other Sessions I have found it difficult to support some of what the Government have done, but I fully support this Bill, and I commend the Minister on what has been a model process in many respects. The genesis of the Bill lies in the floods of 2007, which affected a number of hon. Members personally. They stood by their constituents and worked hard on their behalf, and I remember the Government's response as well. Ministers made visits within hours of the floods being seen as major disasters, as they did at the time of the Cumbria floods last year. They talked to people on the ground, and soon afterwards instigated the reviews that led to this Bill. Sir Michael Pitt did an excellent job in conducting his review. His recommendations to the Government were very explicit. As was mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud, who quoted from the report, what Pitt wanted was absolute clarity about the legal responsibilities and duties relating to flooding, which is why he strongly recommended that a legal duty should be placed on the relevant authority. Along with my hon. Friend and other hon. Members, I work with members of the Fire Brigades Union. At the time of the floods we heard about not just the heroism of firefighters and others, but the constraints that hampered them and the problems that they encountered. The issue that arose time and again was the need—as echoed in the Pitt report—for absolute clarity about their responsibilities and the duties placed on fire authorities. So far so good, but when the legislation was produced, my colleagues and I were disappointed to note that it made no reference to those duties. The legislation is appropriate, but I fear that if we do not include that duty now, we shall not have an opportunity to include it for some time. How often does a Bill of this kind appear? Notwithstanding all our commendations of those who were involved in the Cumbria experience, from firefighters to local authorities and others, I have to say—again echoing my hon. Friend, along with reports that we received from firefighters—that there was concern at the time about lack of equipment and training. There was also concern about co-ordination, although I agree with the Minister that that seems to have improved dramatically. Firefighters turned up and found that the necessary equipment was not there or that the equipment was not appropriate, or in the wrong place. That is why I believe that the Pitt recommendations should be installed in the Bill, and that a duty should be placed on fire and rescue authorities to provide for major flooding incidents.