11:00 Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)

When the flood defences were built, they provided Exeter with protection from a major flood at a rate of around once in every 75 years. However, the current Environment Agency estimate is that, because of climate change, the rate of flooding has increased to around once in 40 years. It does not take a genius to work out that, given it is now 2012, we are already overdue a major flood in Exeter. Indeed, I have noticed a couple of occasions in recent years when the water has got very close to the top of our flood defences.

The recent study by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on flood risk in the light of climate change predicted that damage from floods could rise tenfold to more than £10 billion in the coming decade. We have already seen the impact of the huge cuts—a 27% cut in their first year in office—that the Government have made to investment in flood defences. A number of schemes that back in 2010 had indicative funding for the next financial year, 2012-13, now do not have funding at all and will not go ahead.

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