Dame Harriett Baldwin seeks assurances that the new Government will honour the previous Government’s commitment to spend £5.2 billion on flood defences, including in communities like Severn Stoke and Tenbury Wells.
Dame Harriett Baldwin (West Worcestershire) (Con)
Congratulations on your re-election, Mr Speaker. Will the Leader of the House find time for a statement on flood defences? The last Parliament was on track to spend £5.2 billion on flood defences, including in communities like Severn Stoke and Tenbury Wells in my constituency. There are concerns that the incoming Government may cancel that spending, so will she timetable a statement and reassure us that that is not the case?
Lucy Powell (The Leader of the House of Commons)
I welcome the hon. Lady her to her place and congratulate her on surviving the tsunami that, I am afraid, took out some of her colleagues. She raises a very important matter. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs orals have not yet been timetabled, so the subject would make a good candidate for an Adjournment debate application, should she want to do that. In the meantime, I will get her a response on the Government’s plans for flood defences.