Floods a wake-up call - Prescott

Floods in York - local agencies are coming under the spotlight

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has criticised local agencies who failed to make use of funding to implement flood defence systems.

Mr Prescott said the latest floods had been a "wake-up call" and he called for a "complete reassessment" over the issue of flood defences.

Having seen the situation for himself, John Prescott is now accepting the need for additional funding for flood defences

Don Foster

He said: "There's money available for these schemes. And in some cases, the recommendations and the money was there and people in the area decided not to implement them.

"I understand the reasons why ... but it's not good enough, and I now want to make a complete reassessment of that."

Flooding incidents of the kind that have disrupted part of the UK in recent weeks were "not infrequent and they are going to be more frequent and I want you now to seriously implement such measures," he told the agencies.

Recovery teams

In an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme, the deputy prime minister said he was to establish "recovery teams" in order to provide assistance to householders with the task of restoring their flood-damaged properties to their former habitable states.

And he rebutted reports that the government had been warned several months ago that existing flood defences were in need of huge additional investment.

Mr Prescott said he had not seen the claims in an independent report and in any case "what we are giving at the moment is more than was recommended in the report".

£51m for flood defences

The deputy prime minister, who runs the Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, announced on Saturday that the government would be making available an extra £51m for flood defences.

Liberal Democrat environment spokesman Don Foster criticised Mr Prescott for his "belated" recognition of the problems.

He said: "Having seen the situation for himself, John Prescott is now accepting the need for additional funding for flood defences.

"He has recognised that climate change really does exist, that this is creating problems in the UK and that something must be done about it."

Prescott touring the floods

Environment Agency chief executive, Ed Gallagher called for a "stronger presumption" against planning authorities granting permission for developments in areas at risk from flooding.

Mr Gallagher said: "We have always felt frustrated that our advice against development in the flood plain, for example, is only advice."

Agreeing that his agency was not democratically accountable, he conceded that planning issues were best left to councils.

Two million homes in flood plains

But there were already two million homes in flood plains and plans to build more were still in existence, he said.

"We have already got two million homes in the flood plain, and a number of the homes that are planned to be built in the future are in flood plain and flood risk areas.

"That really should not be allowed to happen if we are to expect the sort of weather that is occurring now," Mr Gallagher said.

The weather conditions currently experienced by the UK were "highly unusual" and could prompt further flooding.

He said: "We are into uncharted territory. It is very unusual to have such severe weather systems, of such intensity, coming together."