Emergency Preparedness

The Government are taking a range of measures to strengthen our emergency preparedness. Later this year, we will update a national pandemic response exercise and undertake a full test of our emergency alert system. In April, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster also opened the new UK Resilience Academy, which will train up to 4,000 people a year. The Government will shortly publish our updated resilience strategy.

We seem to get once-in-a-generation weather events once every couple of years these days. Although some parties on the Opposition Benches do not want to take their responsibilities in that regard seriously, I know that this Government will. On flooding, the village of King’s Bromley in my constituency has suffered on several occasions over the past few years, because all of the roads leading to the village have been cut off—although there has been no property flooding. What steps is the Minister taking to measure and mitigate the impact of that type of serious flooding?

I thank my hon. Friend for that question and for raising the issue in King’s Bromley. We are working closely with our colleagues in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, who are responsible for managing significant flooding. This includes the floods resilience taskforce, which I co-chair with the Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice (Emma Hardy). Earlier this year, we announced that we would commit a record £2.65 billion to build and maintain around 1,000 flood defences to protect lives, homes and businesses, which is a 26% uplift per annum on what the previous Government were spending.

I thank the Minister for her answer. When it comes to strengthening emergency preparedness, I have to point out that floods do not just happen in London or Cardiff; they also happen in Northern Ireland, which has the same problems. Has the Minister had the opportunity to talk to her counterparts in the province to ensure that, when it comes to emergency preparedness, the Department and the councils that have responsibilities in this area work together as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, so that we can do the same thing wherever we live?

We like to work with the Northern Ireland Executive on this issue. It is important that we share best practice and deal with the problems across the board.