We all know about burying bad news, the EAC and Parliament have done their work in holding Government to account.
The Environmental Audit Committee publishes the 2014 review of the Government’s Flood and Coastal Risk Management (FCRM) (the “Worsfold Review”).
The Worsfold Review was commissioned by the Government following the flooding of winter 2013-14 and completed in September 2014 but has not been made public until today (April 13th).
EAC Chair’s comments: Mary Creagh, Chair of the Committee said:
“It has taken 18 months and an intervention from my Committee to get this Review published and into the public domain. Mark Worsfold’s Review showed that the condition of the Environment Agency’s vital flood defence assets showed a worrying decline in 2014. It raised concerns that the Government’s partnership funding model for flood defences could “distort economic delivery decisions or create delivery inefficiencies”. The independent peer review was conducted by Mark Worsfold, Chief Engineer at Ofwat. It looked at the maintenance of the Environment Agency’s flood and coastal risk management (FCRM) assets. The Review compared and contrasted the asset management practices, policies and procedures with those in place by the Water and Sewerage companies in England and Wales. Based on this work the Review made 33 observations and made 11 key recommendations. To see more click here