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Debate on bill on Tuesday, 15 December 2009, in the House of Commons, led by Hilary Benn. The answering member was Lord Herbert of South Downs.

Flood and Water Management Bill

Flood and Water Management Bill. Second reading debate. Agreed to on question. Programme motion on proceedings in Committee, on Report, Third Reading and any other proceedings, agreed to on question. Queen's recommendation signified. Money resolution agreed to on question. [Relevant Documents: The Sixth Report of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Session 2008-09, on the Draft Flood and Water Management Bill, HC 555-I, and the Government response, Cm 7741]

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
502 c835-907 
Session
2009-10
Department
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Legislative stage
Second reading
Procedure
Programme motions
Money resolutions
Queen's recommendation
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Related items
Proceeding contributions
Speaker | 502 c852 (Link to this contribution) Order. I remind hon. Members that the 15-minute limit on Back-Bench speeches applies from now.
Speaker | 502 c871 (Link to this contribution) Order. Before I call the hon. Member for Sherwood (Paddy Tipping), I should give notice that after h...
Show all contributions (102)
Paddy Tipping | 502 c836 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Member for East Yorkshire (Mr. Knight) referred to the fire and rescue service. Will ...
Bob Spink | 502 c835-6 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State knows that I support the Bill, and I thank him for introducing it. He will ha...
Hilary Benn | 502 c836 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman will bear with me, I will come to that precise point in a little while. He rai...
Greg Knight | 502 c835 (Link to this contribution) I have read the Bill once—I hope that that is sufficient—I cannot see any provision to give the fire...
Hilary Benn | 502 c835 (Link to this contribution) The Government's view is that it is not necessary for such a duty to be put in legislation because t...
Hilary Benn | 502 c835 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. The Under-Secretary of State for Environmen...
Baroness Kramer | 502 c840 (Link to this contribution) Will the Bill, in its somewhat reduced form, still enable water companies to take the lead on enforc...
Lembit Opik | 502 c839 (Link to this contribution) On that point, does the Secretary of State nevertheless agree that it would not be a sensible strate...
Hilary Benn | 502 c839 (Link to this contribution) That is a very generous offer. The hon. Gentleman illustrates the point that the House acknowledges,...
Christopher Fraser | 502 c838 (Link to this contribution) The Environment Agency has justified its position on where it puts flood alleviation schemes in econ...
Hilary Benn | 502 c839 (Link to this contribution) It is certainly true that a formula is used to make a judgment about where the priorities are. That ...
Mark Simmonds | 502 c840 (Link to this contribution) Can the Secretary of State confirm that his Department will cover all the additional costs that will...
Hilary Benn | 502 c839-40 (Link to this contribution) I am going to make a little bit of progress. It is precisely because one in six homes in England is...
Hilary Benn | 502 c838 (Link to this contribution) From the assessment that we have made, to which I shall turn in a moment, we are certainly confident...
Laurence Robertson | 502 c838 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State is right that what happens in one area can affect another, but under the Bill...
Hilary Benn | 502 c836 (Link to this contribution) With the greatest of pleasure. I know that I speak for all Members in the House in saying that we ar...
Lembit Opik | 502 c837 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State will know that the source of the River Severn is in my constituency. He menti...
Hilary Benn | 502 c837 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the hon. Gentleman, and one important purpose of the Bill is flood risk management. Of ...
Hilary Benn | 502 c837 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the hon. Gentleman, and we have catchment flood management plans for precisely that rea...
David Drew | 502 c837 (Link to this contribution) When we are talking about choices, we have to talk about funds as well. Understandably, the majority...
Hilary Benn | 502 c837-8 (Link to this contribution) I agree with my hon. Friend. Particularly in Sheffield and Hull but also in many other places, surfa...
Martin Horwood | 502 c838 (Link to this contribution) Does the Secretary of State believe that local authorities have the resources to enforce that step a...
Hilary Benn | 502 c838 (Link to this contribution) I recognise the hon. Gentleman's point. The holder of my office will have responsibility for trying ...
Elliot Morley | 502 c852-3 (Link to this contribution) I would like to add my welcome to this Bill, which is an important measure that follows on from a se...
Mark Simmonds | 502 c853 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman is right to emphasise the importance of appropriate managed retreats—there ...
Elliot Morley | 502 c853-5 (Link to this contribution) I have heard all the arguments. Farmers in my constituency make similar points. It is a question of ...
Martin Horwood | 502 c855-6 (Link to this contribution) My test of the Flood and Water Management Bill is whether it will help Warden Hill. It is important ...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 502 c856 (Link to this contribution) For the benefit of the hon. Gentleman and other Members who have commented on my remarks, let me exp...
Martin Horwood | 502 c856 (Link to this contribution) I obviously welcome local action to defend communities against flooding, but that was not the tenor ...
Michael Jack | 502 c856 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 502 c851-2 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is talking a great deal of sense. I was simply making the point that, if at all p...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 502 c849 (Link to this contribution) I support the Government's measures in this respect, but I shall come in a moment to some of our cav...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 502 c850 (Link to this contribution) I agree with my hon. Friend's concern. As food security becomes more important to us, we must rememb...
David Drew | 502 c851 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman understand the dilemma when a community is waiting for a strategic plan to b...
Christopher Fraser | 502 c850 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that there are exceptions for constituencies such as mine, which suffer fr...
Paddy Tipping | 502 c849 (Link to this contribution) Is that not why the Bill is called the Flood and Water Management Bill, rather than the flood defenc...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 502 c845-9 (Link to this contribution) I take my hon. Friend's point. The Secretary of State alluded to the potentially catastrophic effect...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 502 c844 (Link to this contribution) The whole House has seen on the television images of flooded landscapes, but as many hon. Members an...
Jamie Reed | 502 c844 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is making some good points, and he is of course welcome in Cumbria. However, does...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 502 c845 (Link to this contribution) As the Secretary of State said, difficult choices will no doubt have to be made, but I have said tha...
Laurence Robertson | 502 c845 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right to say that the operation in 2007 was the largest in peacetime, but will he ...
Hilary Benn | 502 c843 (Link to this contribution) Given that it is the right hon. Gentleman, I shall give way.
Michael Jack | 502 c843 (Link to this contribution) I am most grateful. Before the Secretary of State moves on to the Scottish Fisheries Committee, may ...
Hilary Benn | 502 c843 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman raises an extremely important point. As he will know, we have only just had...
Michael Jack | 502 c843 (Link to this contribution) Will the Secretary of State give way?
Hilary Benn | 502 c843 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for his kind words, which I echo, about the DEFRA civil servan...
Gerald Kaufman | 502 c842 (Link to this contribution) I thank my right hon. Friend for his Department's excellent work in dealing with usurious charges of...
Brian H Donohoe | 502 c842 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend will know of my interest in horticultural businesses, as secretary of the garde...
Hilary Benn | 502 c842 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate my hon. Friend's point, and I know of his close interest in the horticultural industry....
John McDonnell | 502 c841 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend is being generous; I apologise for interrupting his flow. Recommendation 39 in ...
Hilary Benn | 502 c841-2 (Link to this contribution) I explained earlier to another hon. Member why that was the case: we do not think it necessary simpl...
David Drew | 502 c841 (Link to this contribution) On the issue of internal drainage boards, I welcome the increased flexibility that the Bill will int...
Hilary Benn | 502 c841 (Link to this contribution) I acknowledge my hon. Friend's comments about the work of the internal drainage boards. Over the sum...
Hilary Benn | 502 c840 (Link to this contribution) No, it will not, because we have had to shorten the Bill so that we can get the most important thing...
John Grogan | 502 c894-7 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Sir Alan Beith), who made a...
Lord Beith | 502 c893-4 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry that I missed the first two speeches of the debate, including that of the Secretary of St...
Mark Simmonds | 502 c888-91 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Copeland (Mr. Reed), who is absolutely right to highl...
John McDonnell | 502 c881-2 (Link to this contribution) I wish to return to the statutory duty for flood rescue, which I raised when I intervened on the Sec...
Maria Miller | 502 c878-81 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate. The Bill will be very helpful if the Governme...
Jamie Reed | 502 c885-8 (Link to this contribution) Before I begin, let me thank the Secretary of State for all the work that he has done in Cumbria ove...
David Heath | 502 c883-5 (Link to this contribution) I come from, and represent, a very wet place. Flooding is something that we in the levels of Somerse...
John McDonnell | 502 c882-3 (Link to this contribution) That is another argument for statutory clarity, with statutory duties placed on authorities on flood...
Ian McCartney | 502 c882 (Link to this contribution) Allied to that is a secondary issue, which affects both the FBU and such fire and rescue authorities...
Paddy Tipping | 502 c872-3 (Link to this contribution) That would not be a simple amendment, and social tariffs are not an easy issue. Those of us who will...
Laurence Robertson | 502 c874-6 (Link to this contribution) It is an honour to follow the hon. Member for Sherwood (Paddy Tipping). I should like to start by t...
Paddy Tipping | 502 c874 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has heard it all before. I do not want rhetoric; I want reality. I want action on th...
Ian McCartney | 502 c876-8 (Link to this contribution) I first put on record my thanks to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and his Department fo...
David Leslie Taylor | 502 c868 (Link to this contribution) I thank my right hon. Friend, as I shall call him, for giving way. He has been an excellent Chair of...
Michael Jack | 502 c868-71 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend brings me on to two points that I wanted to touch on. The first is that I think that ...
Martin Horwood | 502 c871-2 (Link to this contribution) I accept what the hon. Gentleman says. Such issues would be difficult to tackle in total during the ...
Paddy Tipping | 502 c871 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Fylde (Mr. Jack), the Chairman of the Select Co...
Michael Jack | 502 c868 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to my hon. Friend in just a moment. The other reason for the Committee's approach wa...
Mike Hall | 502 c866-7 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for my hon. Friend's intervention. I am about to address his point about the water com...
Jamie Reed | 502 c866 (Link to this contribution) Will my hon. Friend join me—and, I am sure, others in the Chamber—in sending a message to the water ...
Martin Horwood | 502 c863 (Link to this contribution) I have put on the record many times my views and those of my party on Ofwat's remit. We have publish...
Michael Jack | 502 c862 (Link to this contribution) Given the hon. Gentleman's interest in amending Ofwat's remit, will he be publishing on behalf of hi...
Martin Horwood | 502 c862 (Link to this contribution) I knew that my hon. Friend had long experience of such matters, but I did not realise that it went b...
David Heath | 502 c861-2 (Link to this contribution) I am glad that my hon. Friend is mentioning this point. Not only should we not build in places that ...
Martin Horwood | 502 c861 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman raises a very interesting point. The interlocking responsibilities and the right ...
David Drew | 502 c859 (Link to this contribution) I complete a triumvirate of Gloucestershire MPs. One of the other problems here is the myth that som...
Mark Todd | 502 c861 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is touching on a subject that I have addressed in the past: whether or not the En...
Martin Horwood | 502 c859-61 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is entirely right, and the situation he describes reinforces the need for some ki...
Martin Horwood | 502 c856-9 (Link to this contribution) Not on that point, I am afraid. The natural environment can be our ally, and our tutor, in providin...
Martin Horwood | 502 c859 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes an excellent point. These companies are getting a double benefit, especiall...
Laurence Robertson | 502 c859 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman also agree that insurance companies should not be increasing the premium to ...
Martin Horwood | 502 c903 (Link to this contribution) Will the Secretary of State give way?
Hilary Benn | 502 c903-6 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman will forgive me, I was generous in giving way to him earlier, and I want to tr...
David Drew | 502 c897-9 (Link to this contribution) I am delighted to make a short contribution, following my hon. Friend the Member for Selby (Mr. Grog...
Hilary Benn | 502 c902-3 (Link to this contribution) With the leave of the House, I wish to respond to the debate. It has been an extremely good one, bec...
Christopher Fraser | 502 c837 (Link to this contribution) Further to the point that the hon. Member for Montgomeryshire (Lembit Öpik) made, flood alleviation ...
Mark Todd | 502 c850 (Link to this contribution) I want to interrupt the hon. Gentleman's Canute-like stance on this issue and ask him to set limits ...
Hilary Benn | 502 c840 (Link to this contribution) As I have already indicated, I will say something in a moment on that very point. I know that it is ...
Mark Simmonds | 502 c849 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making a fundamental point. In my constituency in Lincolnshire, a significant perc...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 502 c850 (Link to this contribution) I suggest that the hon. Gentleman talk to the communities concerned and put that point of view to th...
Mike Hall | 502 c863-6 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the Flood and Water Management Bill. I am pleased that it will receive a Second Reading th...
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering | 502 c899-902 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate all hon. Members who have contributed to the debate. It is a pleasure to follow the h...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 502 c850-1 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that my hon. Friend would not wish to represent a rotten borough. It is true that decision...
Michael Jack | 502 c867-8 (Link to this contribution) This may well be the last speech that I make on a piece of environmental legislation before I retire...
Linda Gilroy | 502 c891-3 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the Bill as a constituency MP, for reasons that I shall touch on later. However, I am also...
EC documents
DIR2007/60/EC
Subjects
Accountability Agriculture Costs Construction Bridges Coastal areas Climate change Coastal erosion Housing Finance Flood control EU law Emergency powers Infrastructure Land drainage Insurance Fire and rescue services Environment Agency Floods Local government Planning Railways Schools Water Water charges Sewage Training Sustainable development Roads Urban areas Water companies Rivers Reservoirs Ground water Regional flood defence committees Social tariffs
Legislation
Flood and Water Management Bill 2009-10
Link
View this Parliamentary proceeding on www.publications.parliament.uk