Floods: Concerns Budget Cuts May Hit Response

Budget cuts at the Environment Department may affect its ability to deal with emergenices such as the current flooding, MPs have said.

Some £500m has been cut from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' (Defra) budget since 2010 and the department is facing further cuts of more than £300m over the next two years.

Parliament's Environment, Food and Rural Affairs committee says the department's ability to deal with crises such as flooding and the horse-meat scandal must be protected.

A large wave crashes over the promenade at high tide in Aberystwyth

The Government has pledged to increase spending on new flood defence schemes to £370m in 2015/2016, with the money ring-fenced.

:: Send us your weather photos or video to news@sky.com or text your pictures to 84501

However, the Environment Agency, a government body funded by Defra and with a key role in dealing with flooding, is to lose more than 1,500 jobs in the next year.

Committee chairwoman Anne McIntosh said: "Defra is a small ministry facing massive budget cuts and which relies on a large number of arms-length bodies to deliver many significant areas of policy.

Anne McIntosh has warned the Government about cuts

"Ministers must clarify how further budget cuts over £300m over the next coming two years will impact on the funding provided to these agencies and the ability of the department to respond to emergencies."

She added: "Recent flooding events over the Christmas and New Year period reinforce the committee's concerns about cuts to the Defra budget and how these will be realised."

The warnings comes as the country faces another day of stormy weather and remains at risk of more flooding as heavy rain - combined with hail and thunder - and tidal surges continue to batter the southern and south-eastern coast.

A succession of storms means the rain is falling on already heavily saturated ground and swollen rivers, giving rise to difficult road conditions for motorists and causing delays and cancellations to train services.

Flooding in the Somerset Levels has left villages cut off, roads and buildings have been damaged, and waves of up to 27ft have been recorded at Land's End, the most southern tip of the UK.

Britain has been battered by wind and rain for days

A flood siren warning of extreme danger to people and property was sounded in Dorset in the early hours.

The Environment Agency raised the alarm after the sea breached Chiswell Beach in Portland on Monday night, following a severe flood warning in the area.

Dorset Police told families to move to an upstairs room facing away from the sea with flood kits.

A further two severe flood warnings - the highest level of warning - have also been issued by the Environment Agency for nearby Preston Beach and the Lower Stour in Dorset.

More than 120 flood warnings urging people to be prepared for flooding remain in place across the country, including in Dorset, Oxfordshire, south Wiltshire, Hampshire and along the river Thames, while more than 200 low-level alerts have been issued.

The Met Office said that heavy showers, some of them combined with hail and thunder, will continue to affect parts of southern and south-eastern England today and tomorrow.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang

Floods: Concerns Budget Cuts May Hit Response

Dengan url

https://pasukanbaru.blogspot.com/2014/01/floods-concerns-budget-cuts-may-hit.html

Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya

Floods: Concerns Budget Cuts May Hit Response

namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link

Floods: Concerns Budget Cuts May Hit Response

sebagai sumbernya