PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES - United Kingdom Parliament
PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES - United Kingdom Parliament
PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES - United Kingdom Parliament
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1543 Flood Insurance<br />
26 MARCH 2013<br />
Flood Insurance<br />
1544<br />
[Richard Benyon]<br />
make an announcement that we have a value for money,<br />
deliverable solution and one that is legal within the<br />
constraints of state aid, but I can assure hon. Members<br />
that we are working extremely hard to achieve that.<br />
Mr Gibb: The Minister has been assiduous on this<br />
issue, and we are looking forward to seeing him in<br />
Pagham in my constituency in late April. Will he be able<br />
to make an announcement on this issue before 30 June?<br />
Richard Benyon: I hope that we will be able to do so,<br />
and I will give more details on that later. I am looking<br />
forward to meeting my hon. Friend’s constituents and<br />
to understanding the daily threats that they live with.<br />
Let us be clear: the availability and affordability of<br />
home insurance in flood-risk areas beyond the expiry of<br />
the statement of principles on 30 June are vital for hon.<br />
Members and the Government, and I firmly support<br />
the motion.<br />
Flooding has a significant and long-lasting impact<br />
on local communities, which I have seen first hand in<br />
my constituency. The availability of home insurance in<br />
flood-risk areas provides important financial protection<br />
and peace of mind to such communities. The Government<br />
remain committed to ongoing negotiations with the<br />
insurance industry and others on what replaces the<br />
statement of principles agreement. We want to find a<br />
solution that ensures the availability and affordability<br />
of flood insurance and will endeavour to continue<br />
working with the industry towards that goal.<br />
Naomi Long rose—<br />
Ian Lavery rose—<br />
Richard Benyon: I am really short of time, but I will<br />
respond to the point that I believe the hon. Gentleman<br />
wants to make. If I have time to give way at the end, I<br />
will do so.<br />
As Ministers have repeatedly made clear, the main<br />
aim of our work has always been to reach an agreement<br />
whereby insurance bills remain affordable, without<br />
placing unacceptable and unsustainable costs on wider<br />
policyholders. The Government have been doing a lot<br />
to support the continued availability of affordable insurance.<br />
Reducing flood risk will always be the best and most<br />
sustainable solution. Despite difficult times, we are on<br />
track to spend more than £2.3 billion to deliver better<br />
protection from flooding and coastal erosion to more<br />
than 165,000 homes over the four years to 2015. Our<br />
new system of partnership funding has brought in an<br />
additional £148 million on top of that from external<br />
partners. Many hon. Members, including the hon. Member<br />
for Wansbeck (Ian Lavery), have benefited from that in<br />
their constituencies. I give full praise to him and his<br />
constituents for the leadership that they have shown.<br />
The hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull North<br />
(Diana Johnson) asked why there was nothing in the<br />
Budget, but £120 million of investment was announced<br />
in the autumn statement. Many of those schemes are<br />
shovel-ready and proceeding, and they are a great comfort<br />
to constituents.<br />
Despite last year being the second wettest on record,<br />
more than 200,000 homes were protected from flooding<br />
because of defences already in place. The Environment<br />
Agency’s flood warning service provided additional support;<br />
evidence is emerging that many houses avoid flooding<br />
because of the better flood warning system. We have<br />
estimated that, for every property that suffered flooding<br />
last year and in January, more than 25 homes were<br />
protected because of flood defences and maintenance<br />
work and because of the work of the Environment<br />
Agency, local authorities and other front-line responders.<br />
More than 200,000 householders are therefore benefitting<br />
from the Government’s continued investment in managing<br />
flood risk.<br />
Many hon. Members are impatient for information on<br />
the Government’s discussions. I am impatient to share<br />
the details, but it would be quite wrong to go into too<br />
much detail.<br />
I join my hon. Friend the Member for South East<br />
Cornwall (Sheryll Murray) in offering commiserations<br />
to her constituent and her family for their loss. I entirely<br />
agree with her that all available information must be<br />
made publicly available, so that we can get to the<br />
bottom of what precisely happened.<br />
Mr Andrew Smith: Will the Minister give way?<br />
Richard Benyon: If I can, I will try to give way in a<br />
moment.<br />
We have recently announced a flood resilience community<br />
pathfinder scheme for Cornwall and a number of other<br />
parts of the country. In my hon. Friend’s case, £476,000<br />
will be spent in Cornwall.<br />
The hon. Member for Luton South (Gavin Shuker)<br />
said that the statement of principles was universal insurance.<br />
Gavin Shuker indicated dissent.<br />
Richard Benyon: Perhaps that is not what the hon.<br />
Gentleman said. The statement of principles is not universal<br />
—not by a long chalk—which is part of the problem.<br />
Everything he said in his quote from the Prime Minister<br />
is absolutely right, and I thank him for pointing it out.<br />
When Conservatives were in opposition in 2008, it<br />
was agreed that a successor to the statement of principles<br />
would be required. The previous Government agreed<br />
that a market could emerge after the end of the agreement.<br />
The statement of principles says that there will be no<br />
need for specific agreements after June 2013. All hon.<br />
Members disagree with that and believe that we need a<br />
follow-up.<br />
My hon. Friend the Member for Esher and Walton,<br />
to whom I want to give time to make a winding-up<br />
speech, asked about the Government’s view of a flood<br />
mutual, which is an important question. We are looking<br />
very closely at the proposal, which is a possible alternative<br />
to “Flood Re”. We are working closely with those who<br />
are making that proposal.<br />
Mr Andrew Smith: Will the Minister give way?<br />
Richard Benyon: The right hon. Gentleman will have<br />
to be very brief.