Floods Update - 1

The Observer has found that earlier this year:

The Met Office and risk planners in Whitehall told ministers that because of El Nino, this summer would have much wetter weather than usual. However, at the same time, the government was planning to cut jobs at the Environment Agency, which deals with flood defences. Water companies had also been prevented from building larger storm water drains and sewage systems because of the risk of rising water bills.

Furthermore, the Sunday Telegraph says that:

The RAF said it was its largest deployment of rescue helicopters in peacetime. Gordon Brown claimed that the flooding was an "emergency that no one could have predicted". But forecasters had warned officials at the Environment Agency, which is responsible for co-ordinating flood response, about the risk on Wednesday - two days before the first downpour. A National Audit Office report found that 63 per cent of flood defences were not properly maintained and more than £1 billion of flood defence spending did not reach areas most at risk.

What seems clear is that there needs to be one minister in charge of flood policy, preferably the Environment Secretary. Right now, it is split between four departments (the Environment Secretary, the Cabinet Office, the Communities Secretary, the Home Secretary).