WIDER lessons can be drawn from the way Morpeth has tackled flooding, according to a senior councillor.
Andrew Tebbutt, who represents the town on Northumberland County Council, praised the way the town had pulled together since 2008 as a new report on flood defences by MPs was published today.
The Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) expressed concern the Government was being “over-optimistic” in expecting local funding for schemes – although officials told MPs that has happened in Morpeth.
In a new report, it said the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) wanted to encourage more funding from sources such as businesses and councils – up from £13m in the last spending period to £43m, but had not yet secured that.
The committee added central funding was being cut by 10% during the current spending period despite the Environment Agency’s 2009 prediction that its flooding budget needed to rise by 9% to maintain levels of protection.
Fears had been raised work might not go ahead in Morpeth because of Government cost-cutting, until Northumberland County Council pledged up to £12m last October. The £21m project now looks certain to start in early 2013 after the Environment Agency’s regional committee confirmed it is moving towards finalisation. Coun Tebbutt, county council executive member for corporate resources, said: “We grasped the nettle of shared funding as soon as the Government said it was going that way. We re-profiled our medium-term financial plan so we have got our side of the money.”
But the Liberal Democrat acknowledged that meant money was not available for other projects, but stressed the Morpeth scheme was a public priority.
He warned worries about insurance remained – and MPs said uncertainty was being fuelled by the potential funding gap.
The current agreement between the Government and insurers to provide cover to at-risk households ends in 2013 and the committee urged ministers to secure a new deal urgently.
Coun Tebbutt paid tribute to the work of the Morpeth Flood Action Group and local agencies, adding: “People could learn from how we worked together. I wouldn’t say we got everything right but we got a lot right.”
Flood action group chairman Alan Bell said community action had been a success. His group has proposed a community insurance levy on all household insurance bills, with the money going into a pool. People would pay their flood insurance premiums up to a certain level. But once above that, they would only pay a proportion – with insurance companies able to dip into the pool to pay claims.
Defra said efficiency savings and improved use of resources would mean capital expenditure on flood defences would not be cut – although the Environment Agency has not yet adjusted its longer-term investment strategy and could not tell the committee what the long-term funding gap would be.
A Defra spokesperson said: “Defra has reformed the flood defence funding system to protect more towns like Morpeth and give local people greater say in how the money is spent.”
