After the disastrous 2007 floods that swamped 55,000 homes, the government commissioned the Pitt Review to ensure it didn’t happen again.
The review was chaired by Sir Michael Pitt, a career civil servant with a first-class degree in civil engineering. On the back of its recommendations, the government did take action, and the Environment Agency says its flood defences are now protecting 1.3 million homes.
Yet tracts of the UK lie under water, and scientists warn this is likely to happen more often with man-made climate change.
So it seems more must be done – by government and people alike.
The coalition government cut flood spending as an austerity measure; it scrapped a cabinet flooding committee; and Environment Secretary Owen Paterson removed flood protection from his department’s key priorities. However, spending this year has risen and is set to rise further in 2014-15.
Meanwhile, many people living in flood-risk areas have declined to adapt their homes to rising waters, believing that the authorities should take responsibility.
