16:56 Emma Hardy (Labour)

Climate change will inevitably lead to more severe weather of the kind we have seen this weekend, but I reassure the House that flooding is a personal priority for me and a top-five priority for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. This Government inherited flood defences in the worst condition on record, following years of under-investment. Due to the impacts of inflation, an ageing asset base and the previous Government making no additional funding available to repair storm damage, flood defence integrity is at its lowest level since 2009-10, with approximately 60,000 properties less well protected than if flood defences were at optimal condition. That is why we are investing £2.4 billion over the next two years to build and maintain flood defences.

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17:04 Neil Hudson (Conservative)

Over the past 24 hours, heavy rainfall has led to flooding in my constituency in Loughborough, Quorn and Hathern. A year ago, the Prime Minister visited Loughborough when that bout of flooding ruined homes—we were both deeply moved. The Secretary of State, my right hon. Friend the Member for Streatham and Croydon North (Steve Reed), has also visited those homes. I am grateful that the Minister has strengthened flood defences since she was appointed. I am incredibly grateful that this time the flood has left less damage, but heavier rainfall will come due to climate change. Will the Minister set out how this Government will protect homes in my community, and will she meet me to discuss how we can do everything we can to protect our homes?

In her statement, the Minister mentioned the fact that climate change means that these incidents will become more frequent and severe, but there was no explicit mention of climate adaptation in the measures she set out. In our response to this issue, we surely have to take the challenge of climate adaptation seriously as a whole-of-Government challenge. The chair of the Climate Change Committee has said that the UK is “not ready”, so what is the Minister doing with colleagues across Government to ensure we take the challenge of climate adaptation as seriously as possible? Otherwise, we will be back here month after month.

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