Review to look at flood defences and preparation

The PM has said that the review the Environment Secretary, Hilary Benn, is due to carry out will look into the causes and lessons learnt of the recent floods in many parts of the UK.

In particular, Mr Benn will look at how changes in the global environment may be impacting on the UK.

Speaking at his first regular press conference, which was also attended by Mr Benn and was dominated by questions about the floods, Mr Brown said:

"Like every advanced industrialised country, we are coming to terms with the issues surrounding climate change.

"It is pretty clear that some of the nineteenth-century structures - we are dealing with infrastructure and where they were sited - that is something we are going to review."

Mr Brown also said that in future the Environment Agency would be consulted to a far greater degree before new homes are built. He said that as well as new, stricter planning guidance being introduced, if the agency objected to any development it could appeal directly to the Secretary of State at any stage of the process.

However, in terms of the country's preparations for the latest floods, Mr Brown insisted that there was little extra that could have been done to avoid the terrible effects of "a month's rainfall in some places in an hour". He said that the emergency services and armed forces had been able to work so well due to the thorough preparations made in advance, and repeated his thanks to them.

Mr Benn originally announced the review on 12 July.

ENDS

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