Housing and Regeneration Bill

My Lords, the amendment is almost the same as the one that noble Lords opposite tabled in Committee. I know that the noble Earl will be a little disappointed, but my response in general will be pretty much the same as the one that we gave then. That is not because I do not recognise the importance of the issues. I certainly acknowledge the real distress that flooding has caused people in many communities in the past few years when places have become susceptible to it. The noble Lord, Lord Brooke, valuably reminded us of that. Some people are still in straitened circumstances as a product of some of the floods last year, so we are all very conscious of these issues. We should be reassured by the words of the noble Baroness, Lady Ford, who obviously acted quickly following the New Orleans floods to ensure that her own organisation at least tried to analyse and understand the essential impacts within the context of our own housing. The amendment would require the Homes and Communities Agency, prior to undertaking any activities in relation to land, regeneration, development or infrastructure, to carry out various assessments of flood risks. No one can dispute the importance of proper consideration of flood prevention and reduction measures. As the noble Baroness, Lady Ford, said, that work continues and has renewed importance. The noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, echoed that. Last summer’s events vividly reminded us of that and brought the point home. The amendment seeks to take the issue of flooding outside the normal planning and development control process. I question whether there is wisdom to that. The noble Earl, Lord Cathcart, referred to the HCA as a planning authority, but we need to remind ourselves that it is such an authority only in rare and exceptional circumstances. It would not be sound to put planning within its remit. The proper place for considerations such as these is within the planning regime. We will have the opportunity to debate this when the Planning Bill comes to your Lordships’ House later this month. Indeed, guidance now states that it is obligatory to consult the Environment Agency on planning applications in flood risk areas, and the Government will intervene where councils ignore the agency’s advice on major developments. The Environment Agency is the body that must work with local authorities, which must carry out flood risk assessments. That is not the proper job of the HCA; it is not within its realm of competence. The amendment would in a sense transport that competence into the HCA, but that is not its primary purpose. The planning system already provides for what the amendment sets out. Noble Lords will remember that we have always maintained that the HCA will be subject to the planning regime in the same way in which any other body is. More generally, the noble Earl referred to the Pitt review. We welcome the review, which will make a significant contribution to managing future flood risks in England and Wales. It is for government properly to consider the recommendations in full, as the Secretary of State for the Environment made clear in his Statement to the House. To that effect, a full implementation plan will be published this autumn. It is right that we consider the review’s recommendations seriously and respond fully in the autumn rather than give what some might consider to be a knee-jerk response to proposed amendments to the Bill, although I do not deny the good spirit in which the amendment has been tabled. We are, as ever, happy to have further discussions with noble Lords opposite because this is a technical issue as much as a human one. There are technical issues to be considered, but putting this into the Bill, as the noble Earl suggests, is not the right way to address the problems that have arisen in the past few years. There will always be a case for some building on flood plains. I think that some 10 per cent of all developments are built on flood-plain areas. It is important that proper measures of resilience are put in place, as the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, made clear, to ensure that residents who occupy those homes are provided with proper protection. I am grateful to the noble Earl for his amendment, but it is not the right way in which to approach the issue. I believe that we have got right the planning context of the issue. We are happy to facilitate discussions in more detail on the Pitt review with those who are leading for the Opposition, but we should not amend the Bill in the way in which noble Lords opposite have suggested. The amendment would not add anything, and could in some ways question the way in which the planning regime should properly work, which would be very unwise.