The Association of British Insurers (ABI) Tuesday urged the government to develop a long-term strategy to manage the country's growing flood risk.
In a report published Tuesday, which was commissioned after this summer's floods in Yorkshire, Gloucestershire and Worcestershire, the ABI said the government should set out a 25-year strategy to tackle the "real" flood risk from rivers, coasts and drainage.
Describing the summer's floods as a "final wake-up call" to the government, the association wants a comprehensive assessment of flood risk and a program of "sustained" long-term investment.
The Environment Agency should be given more responsibility to manage and tackle flood risk, and the planning system should be reformed to ensure housing developments are not built in high risk areas, it said.
"This summer's devastating floods highlight the urgent need for a long-term strategy based around more investment, national co-ordination and better land use planning," said ABI director general Stephen Haddrill.
The right decisions from the government will ensure that flood insurance remains widely available and affordable in Britain, Stephen Haddrill said, adding insurers want to continue to provide flood insurance.
A spokesman of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said the government is committed to effectively managing flood and coastal erosion risk and is working with the Environment Agency with a view to producing a 20-year long-term program.
As the government announced earlier, the Environment Agency will become responsible for the "strategic overview" of coastal flooding and take on the same role for all inland flooding too.
According to the DEFRA, investment in flood defenses has doubled in the past 10 years. And in October, chancellor Alistair Darling announced the government will spend 2.15 billion pounds (about 4.45 billion U.S. dollars) between 2008 and 2011, with the annual flood spending budget rising from 600 million pounds this year to 800 million pounds in 2011.
The floods in June were expected to cost around 3 billion pounds.
The ABI members are due to pay out the amount in respect of 165,000 claims. (1 U.S. dollar = 0.483 pounds)
Source: Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article