RICHMOND MP Rishi Sunak has pressed Environment Agency bosses to consider dredging rivers more frequently to lessen the impact of future flooding.
He also urged them to be less remote, to engage more with local people and tap into their knowledge.
Mr Sunak questioned the Agency’s chief executive Sir James Bevan about the EA’s record on clearing rivers of silt and debris during this week’s meeting of a powerful Parliamentary watchdog investigating the flooding which has devastated many parts of northern Britain.
Sir James was giving evidence to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs select committee, along with the EA chairman Sir Philip Dilley and deputy chief executive David Rooke.
Mr Sunak said: “There is a widespread perception that there is not enough dredging going on. Nobody on this committee is suggesting that it is the universal solution but it can have a role in alleviating the severity of flooding.”
Sir James said dredging was a “core part of our armoury in tackling flood risk”, adding that it had spent £20m on dredging in the last couple of years.
“There are places where it works and there are places where it doesn’t,” he said. “Where it works and it is value for money we will do it.”
The Richmond MP said £20m could be seen as a relatively small sum in the context of the Agency’s overall £800m flood defence budget and urged Sir James and his colleagues to be more transparent about how much was spent every year and where.
Sir James promised to publish data about which rivers were dredged and exactly how many miles of river had been cleared in the recent years and to do so in the future.
Mr Sunak also urged the Agency to work more closely with local people. He said many communities affected by flooding didn’t feel the Agency listened to what they were saying and was too remote.
The agency’s deputy chief executive, David Rooke, said it was keen to forge closer partnerships but Mr Sunak added: “I would suggest there is more work to be done speaking to people on the ground.”