Flood victims tell Environment Agency bosses to hand back five-figure bonuses

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Bonus: Baroness Young

They are furious that the executives, who are responsible for flood defences, are cashing in while householders face higher bills to avert future disasters.

The agency has been severely criticised for failing to deal with what have been the worst floods in modern history.

Yet its bosses have won performance payments for hitting targets on water management, flood defences and pollution levels.

Baroness Young, the agency's chief executive and a Labour peer, is believed to have been paid the biggest bonus - an extra £24,000 on top of her £163,000 salary.

A further eight senior executives also gained - pocketing an average bonus of between 10 and 15 per cent of their annual salaries last month.

Seven people have died and thousands of homes and businesses have been wrecked by flooding. More than 140,000 people in Gloucestershire still lack running water. Although their supply is expected to be restored by Thursday, it could be another two weeks before the water is safe to drink.

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Stranded: Tewkesbury Cathedral in Gloucestershire

John Edwards, 63, who spent yesterday morning queuing for water in Quedgeley, near Gloucester, said the bonuses were "disgusting".

"They should hand it back and use the money for flood defences or to help people who have lost everything," he said.

Another Quedgeley victim, Dave Calcutt, 33, said: "These bonuses are really going to annoy everyone.

"There's been a lack of investment in the infrastructure and flood defences and for them to pay themselves a big bonus is a bit cheeky."

Professor Dieter Helm, a flood expert at Oxford University, said: "The management of flood defences in recent years has been a sorry tale of budget cuts, failure to act on planning policies and inadequate precautionary measures.

"At the centre of this lies the Environment Agency."

Baroness Young has warned that water bills are likely to rise in order to protect against further flooding.

She insisted that infrastructure - including switching stations and water plants - had to be protected, saying: "Utilities will have to pay for this protection and undoubtedly they will have to pass that on to their customers."

An agency spokesman said last week's storms were much more severe than could reasonably have been expected.

She said the agency planned for conditions that would be seen once a century - but that last week's weather was likely to be experienced only every 400 years.

"The demand for flood defences continues to outstrip the finances we have to build with," she added.

Peter Ainsworth, Tory environment spokesman, said: "The timing of these bonuses is unfortunate to say the least but it's clear that the agency recognised that flood defences are not up to scratch and their principal failure was their inability to persuade the Government of the seriousness of the situation and to be able to handle it."

In the past ten years, 25 official reports have called for tougher flood defences. However, in real terms, funding has fallen 15 per cent.

Estate agents are warning that flood-hit homes could fall in value by up to 80 per cent.

Insurers may start to refuse to cover properties in flood zones, making them much harder to sell.

Chris Jordan, of Bureau Insurance, said: 'Those who have been hit by the recent floods won't have problems now - it's when they come to renew their insurance or sell their houses that they'll face big problems."

• The chief constable of Gloucestershire Police called on the Government to make a "special exception" of the emergency services to help them pay for the cost of the floods clean-up operation.

The county is finally beginning to return to normality as water is restored to tens of thousands of homes for the first time in over a week.

The county council last week estimated the cost of repairing the region's battered roads and public buildings at £50 million, while the emergency services also face huge bills.

Tim Brain, who has co-ordinated the relief effort, said today all the agencies involved needed financial help.

"This is going to be recorded as the largest peacetime operation the country has seen.

"We've played a crucial role in that operation. There are special grants available, which mean organisations like ourselves are expected to bear the first few hundred thousand pounds or possibly million in this case in costs.

"That's a very large sum of money to be taken from our annual budget. I'm hoping for the police and other emergency services that these rules are waived because of the extraordinary nature of this emergency."

The police officer also warned the cost of the crisis, which left 140,000 homes without water after a treatment plant flooded, would have funding implications for years to come.

"I'm hoping we will be treated as a special case for the funding for 2008/09," he said.

"We have got every indication from central government that they will give the support and help we need and I hope that continues."

The Prime Minister has already pledged to compensate councils affected by floods for the full cost of the clean-up.

Around £46 million had also been made available by the government in the immediate future.

 

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