The inaugural Norfolk Flood Summit held on 31 January 2025 at County Hall marked a significant step forward in addressing the pressing issue of flooding that has in recent years affected many towns and villages across Mid Norfolk. During the summit I presented my plans for a parliamentary bill that will tackle some of the challenges faced with inland flooding; the current framework for flood prevention, mitigation and compensation is a mess and needs radical reform.

I called for this summit after witnessing first hand the terrible devastation that flood waters and overwhelmed sewage systems can wreak on homes and businesses in communities like Mill Lane in Attleborough. The heavy rainfall of December 23rd-24th 2020, and again in the early part of 2021, resulted in a record number of call outs for Anglian Water, the Environment Agency and Norfolk County Council alike. Further severe storms in late 2023 reminded us that we need effective flood mitigation measures in place.

Many households saw their gardens and homes flooded with surface rain water and in some cases, raw sewage. Many more reported being unable to use toilets and showers as drainage systems and nearby pumping stations were overloaded. Sadly for some, it was the second/third/fourth time this had happened in the previous year (following similar flooding in previous years) and, quite understandably, people are at the end of their tether – feeling hopeless, and angry and distrustful of the local agencies that take their money, but provide a service well below the standard promised and which would be reasonably considered acceptable.

That is why I was pleased to see the summit bring together key stakeholders, including fellow MPs, local authorities, environmental agencies, water companies and community representatives. I very much welcome the support from the county council and Norfolk Strategic Flood Alliance led by Henry Cator in helping convene the event. There are currently around 30 organisations involved when a flood occurs; this needs to be streamlined and increased accountability, as well as resources, allocated to the appropriate bodies. Current legislation is not addressing the needs of our communities, so action must be taken which is why I am introducing my Private Member's Bill - Inland Flooding and Prevention (Responsibilities and Liabilities) in parliament that address four key areas- 

1) Responsibility - who does what. Sort out the chaotic duplication of responsibilities, strength statutory accountability from Whitehall to local flood authorities including IDBs.

2) Funding - ensure adequate funding goes to the organisations that can deliver effective measures on the ground.

3) Liabilities - provision to impose serious liabilities on developers, water companies and other statutory bodies who fail to make adequate provision for flood prevention and mitigation.

4) Data collection and reporting - ensure proper collection and mapping on flood risk, incidence and costs, nationally, regionally and locally.

Tackling the impact of flooding has always remained a key priority for me and in 2021 I joined together with local councillors, community groups and officials of NCC, Anglian Water and the Environment Agency to form a Mid Norfolk Flood Partnership. This is an open forum in which specific flooding issues, historic wider issues and how the system for responding to and mitigating flooding events needs improving.

The MNFP pulled together a 14 point letter that was among the very first submissions to Lord Dannatt (then Chair of the Norfolk Strategic Flooding Alliance) and we have continued to lobby hard for assistance and reform, which led to the first Norfolk wide flood summit.

We were delighted when the NSFA’s first recommendations included most of the 14 points that we had ourselves suggested in our letter to Lord Dannatt. The NSFA’s news that they would tackle ‘tranches’ of the worst affected communities was also greatly welcomed – with the first tranche including 16 towns and villages hit especially hard (of which 6 were located in Mid Norfolk). This came as a tremendous relief – and, following Lord Dannatt’s assurance that further tranches would follow, I have welcomed subsequent announcements of targeted support for other communities with specific issues in the years since (including additional targeted support packages for towns like Dereham).

The next steps post the flood summit will be to follow up with the relevant agencies to ensure accountability and action, to further develop my private member's bill in consultation with the key stakeholders for presentation to parliament, and to ensure that the state delivers on its responsibilities for households and businesses.