{"id":2877,"date":"2025-11-05T12:45:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T12:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/?p=2877"},"modified":"2025-11-06T08:32:05","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T08:32:05","slug":"report-flood-resilience-in-england","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/?p=2877","title":{"rendered":"Report – Flood resilience in England."},"content":{"rendered":"

The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee has taken evidence and produced a report on flooding that is awaiting a Government response.\u00a0 My response is below the Committee Report.<\/p>\n

\n

Fourth Report of Session 2024\u201326 HC 550<\/strong><\/p>\n

Environmental Audit Committee<\/p>\n

Summary<\/strong>
\nFlooding in England is a systemic and growing climate risk. River, coastal, surface water, and groundwater flooding are increasing in intensity and frequency under climate change, compounded by urbanisation and land-use change. Communities face repeated disruption, with long recovery times, emotional distress, damage to homes and businesses, and rising costs.\u00a0 Vulnerable households risk displacement and financial hardship, while repeated flooding produces profound social, economic, and health impacts,
\nincluding anxiety, loss of livelihood, and disruption to education and essential services. High-risk properties create affordability and insurance challenges for their owners, leaving markets and mortgages exposed.<\/p>\n

While the Government has committed new capital funding, a welcome step, the scale of investment remains insufficient<\/strong><\/span> relative to overall flood risk.\u00a0 The current system, though delivering important defences, is fragmented and reactive, leaving major gaps in long-term resilience<\/strong><\/span> that must be urgently addressed.
\nA strategic, integrated approach is needed. Investment should shift from reactive, property focused schemes to long-term, locally led solutions at the level of entire river catchments, designed to reduce flood risk across communities and strengthen overall resilience. Residents need a single, trusted reporting line during flooding, while resilience should be built into homes through improved new-build standards and support for retrofitting existing properties. Development in high-risk areas must be carefully
\nmanaged………………….<\/p>\n

The full 85 page report can be found here<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

https:\/\/committees.parliament.uk\/publications\/49649\/documents\/265803\/default\/<\/p>\n

\n

MY RESPONSE<\/span><\/strong> dated 5\/11\/2025<\/p>\n

Good afternoon<\/p>\n

OPEN LETTER to the Committee<\/p>\n

I am writing in response to your recent report HC550.<\/p>\n

My concern is not about what your report says – but more about what has not been considered.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Briefly:
\nThe Environment Agency (EA) completed the \u00a3100m [\u00a3110m] world-class, award-winning MWEFAS project in 2002.\u00a0 Poor design and construction led to the majority of structures being damaged on first use at only 2\/3rds capacity.\u00a0 I have no doubt that the new channel just relocated and exacerbated flooding of the undefended villages downstream.
\nA new project (the LTFRMS) was launched around 2008 to extend the MWEFAS.\u00a0 This was superseded by the River Thames Scheme (RTS).
\nThe RTS consisted of three new channels and some weir improvements – but in 2020 RTS Channel One was removed from the project simply because the local authority (RBWM) was unwilling\/unable to make a \u00a353m partnership funding contribution.\u00a0 \u00a0Consequently, the EA raised a new project, the DHEFIM [Datchet to Hythe End Flood Improvement Measures]
\nToday – the MWEFAS has never been able to carry its design capacity of 215 cumecs, is falling apart and eats maintenance money.\u00a0 The cheap timber footbridges are collapsing.
\nWhat remains of the RTS project is dormant, incoherent, has no DCO and has consumed \u00a3100m.
\nThe DHEFIM project that connects the MWEFAS to the RTS is stuck at an early stage.
\nI am concerned that these matters are not considered in your report and in particular that nobody appears to be aware of the issues, let alone accountable.<\/p>\n

Regards<\/p>\n

Ewan Larcombe
\n67 Lawn Close, Datchet SL3 9LA<\/p>\n

\n

After submission – I asked Claude Ai to consider my response to the report.\u00a0 Claude concluded as follows: Your core argument – that there’s a pattern of expensive, poorly executed flood schemes with inadequate accountability – is well-supported by the evidence.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee has taken evidence and produced a report on flooding that is awaiting a Government response.\u00a0 My response is below the Committee Report. Fourth Report of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[273,24,162],"class_list":["post-2877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-flood-resilience","tag-partnership-funding","tag-partnership-funding-policy"],"yoast_head":"\nReport - Flood resilience in England. - DHWNEWS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/?p=2877\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Report - Flood resilience in England. - DHWNEWS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee has taken evidence and produced a report on flooding that is awaiting a Government response.\u00a0 My response is below the Committee Report. Fourth Report of...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/?p=2877\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"DHWNEWS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-05T12:45:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-06T08:32:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ecwlarcombe\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ecwlarcombe\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dhwnews.com\\\/?p=2877#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dhwnews.com\\\/?p=2877\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"ecwlarcombe\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dhwnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2f696cd1eb9c322931f8d0e39fdf8017\"},\"headline\":\"Report – Flood resilience in England.\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-05T12:45:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-06T08:32:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dhwnews.com\\\/?p=2877\"},\"wordCount\":570,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dhwnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"flood resilience\",\"partnership funding\",\"partnership funding policy\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Uncategorized\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/dhwnews.com\\\/?p=2877#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dhwnews.com\\\/?p=2877\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dhwnews.com\\\/?p=2877\",\"name\":\"Report - Flood resilience in England. - DHWNEWS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dhwnews.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-05T12:45:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-06T08:32:05+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dhwnews.com\\\/?p=2877#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/dhwnews.com\\\/?p=2877\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dhwnews.com\\\/?p=2877#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dhwnews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Report – Flood resilience in England.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dhwnews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dhwnews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"DHWNEWS\",\"description\":\"Datchet, Horton & Wraysbury News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dhwnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dhwnews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dhwnews.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"DHWNEWS\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dhwnews.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dhwnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/dhwnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/dhwlogo1.png?fit=357%2C334&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/dhwnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/dhwlogo1.png?fit=357%2C334&ssl=1\",\"width\":357,\"height\":334,\"caption\":\"DHWNEWS\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dhwnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dhwnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2f696cd1eb9c322931f8d0e39fdf8017\",\"name\":\"ecwlarcombe\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0ec4f2fe12dab3e1b48c39a4b0633913d283908bffb9e52165186f1dc7fcee8d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0ec4f2fe12dab3e1b48c39a4b0633913d283908bffb9e52165186f1dc7fcee8d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0ec4f2fe12dab3e1b48c39a4b0633913d283908bffb9e52165186f1dc7fcee8d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"ecwlarcombe\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dhwnews.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Report - Flood resilience in England. - DHWNEWS","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/?p=2877","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Report - Flood resilience in England. - DHWNEWS","og_description":"The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee has taken evidence and produced a report on flooding that is awaiting a Government response.\u00a0 My response is below the Committee Report. Fourth Report of...","og_url":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/?p=2877","og_site_name":"DHWNEWS","article_published_time":"2025-11-05T12:45:07+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-11-06T08:32:05+00:00","author":"ecwlarcombe","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"ecwlarcombe","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/?p=2877#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/?p=2877"},"author":{"name":"ecwlarcombe","@id":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2f696cd1eb9c322931f8d0e39fdf8017"},"headline":"Report – Flood resilience in England.","datePublished":"2025-11-05T12:45:07+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-06T08:32:05+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/?p=2877"},"wordCount":570,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/#organization"},"keywords":["flood resilience","partnership funding","partnership funding policy"],"articleSection":["Uncategorized"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/?p=2877#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/?p=2877","url":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/?p=2877","name":"Report - Flood resilience in England. - DHWNEWS","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-11-05T12:45:07+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-06T08:32:05+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/?p=2877#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/?p=2877"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/?p=2877#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Report – Flood resilience in England."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/","name":"DHWNEWS","description":"Datchet, Horton & Wraysbury News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/#organization","name":"DHWNEWS","url":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dhwnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/dhwlogo1.png?fit=357%2C334&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dhwnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/dhwlogo1.png?fit=357%2C334&ssl=1","width":357,"height":334,"caption":"DHWNEWS"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2f696cd1eb9c322931f8d0e39fdf8017","name":"ecwlarcombe","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0ec4f2fe12dab3e1b48c39a4b0633913d283908bffb9e52165186f1dc7fcee8d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0ec4f2fe12dab3e1b48c39a4b0633913d283908bffb9e52165186f1dc7fcee8d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0ec4f2fe12dab3e1b48c39a4b0633913d283908bffb9e52165186f1dc7fcee8d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"ecwlarcombe"},"url":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/?author=1"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2877"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2877\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2884,"href":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2877\/revisions\/2884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}