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policy defra inundation action stations through the night to build a mile- long wall of sandbags to protect the 1,000 homes in the Leeman Road area of the city, where water threatened the flood defences. A 24-hour information helpline was set up, and two community centres were opened up to provide temporary food and shelter for victims. Workers in two Lincolnshire factories came in at the weekend to sew sandbags. The response was used by the government as a best-practice model for handling natural disasters and helping victims to recover afterwards. Whilst the effects of the November 2000 floods were devastating, the city benefited greatly from the existing flood defences such as the Foss Barrier. The water came within an inch of overtopping the flood defences, which were built to last for 48 hours but held back water for a week. If they had failed, thousands of homes and businesses would have been engulfed. When the water subsided, people naturally asked what could be done to reduce flood risks in the future. The Environment Agency spent 1m immediately repairing Yorks flood defences and providing protection for about half of 500 homes which were flooded. But protecting other parts of the city is technically challenging. It can take years to design and install defences, and some buildings close to the river are very hard to protect. The government, Environment Agency and local authorities need to do more to keep the public informed about their plans. The draft Flood and Water Management Bill sets out the governments response to the 2007 Pitt Review, which identified the problems in our flood- management systems. The bill will make the roles and responsibilities of everyone involved in flood- risk management much clearer, and will give local authorities the power to manage the risk of the local causes of floods. This will help protect homes and businesses in flood-prone places like York by improving communication about weather warnings, and delivering better planning controls so that new buildings are better protected against flooding. Yorks flood protection is constantly being improved. This involves work upstream in the Pennines to slow the run-off of heavy rain and melting snow to reduce the peak height of a flood, as well as flood barriers in the city. This year I visited an Environment Agency project in Ripon, which works with farmers to manage water flows in the whole of the River Ouse catchment, to reduce flooding downstream in cities like York. This includes building dams and ponds to store water upstream and planting vegetation to prevent the erosion of the river banks. York was fortunate to receive a donation from a local inventor, who designed a removable flood barrier system, the Aquabarrier, made from hollow plastic chambers which fill with water during flooding to create a rigid defence. As a flat plain between the Pennines and the North York Moors, the Vale of York has always been prone to flooding. The problem will only get worse with climate change, and will have severe consequences if we fail to act now. The Flood and Water Management Bill will help us cope with the effects of climate change, and strengthen the UKs resilience to the threat of flooding. Local view Hugh Bayley looks at the lessons that are still being learned nine years on from the York floods ine years ago in November 2000, York experienced its worst flood in 400 years. Few events in my 17 years as the citys MP have been as memorable as these catastrophic floods, which brought the water level of the River Ouse nearly 18 feet higher than normal, and flooded over 500 homes. I left Westminster for ten days and joined the police-led Silver Command, which managed the crisis. The response to the floods was magnificent, and involved the whole community from the emergency services and the army to the local radio station, which became a lifeline for people when the power went down. Hundreds of citizens and soldiers worked N . Hugh Bayley is Labour MP for City of York Engineers assemble an Aquabarrier of the kind that could be used to prevent future flooding in York 36 The House Magazine 19 october 2009 The parliamentary weekly No 1318 Vol 34 October 19, 2009 Branching out Profile: Forest of dean MP Mark Harper my week Wales Office minister Wayne David policy focus Environment, food and rural affairs win tickets to David Hares new play Electronic Training Collars the welfare implications Defra is researching the welfare implications of e-collars and is due to report its findings in 2010 or 2011. This is what we found from a survey of collar owners: of those questioned said their pet was either happy with, or neutral about, the col No 1318 Vol 34 19 October 2009 The House Magazine offers an online political news and information service at ePolitix.com Publisher Gerry Murray Managing Editor Richard Hall Features Editor Sam Macrory Chief Sub-editor Andrew Schofield Head of Production Jearelle Wolhuter Special Projects Editor S people people commons diary 6 Commons Diary Wayne David Arriving at the House, I immediately sense the feeling of anticipation in the air 8 Lords Diary Lord Tyler I am sure that, had he remained leader of the Commons, Robin Cook would have achieved a real clean-up 10 Profile Mark Harper I think it i people commons diary Sunday 11 October In traditional, non-conformist Wales, this is supposed to be the day of rest. Not for government ministers. Much of the day is spent going through the ubiquitous red box, trying to work out which are the more important papers as I go along. In the afternoon, I people lords diary hail fellow not so well met Saturday 10 October My wife and I are trying to cut down on our carbon footprint, so we have chosen to travel by Eurostar and TGV in both directions: Perpignan to St Pancras via Lille in about 10 hours; rather more expensive than Ryanair, but so much mo Were the UKs biggest manufacturing sector You may be surprised to hear that the food and drink sector is the UKs biggest manufacturing industry, offering world class capabilities in areas of production, logistics, sales, marketing and innovation. Here some other facts you should know: We directly em people profile forest lodge for a fast learner My story Forest of Dean MP Mark Harper was quick to get front bench recognition in David Camerons Conservatives and now hopes to convert opposition expertise into ministerial action The Forest of Dean is an area which I absolutely love, and once I got people profile Being an MP is not a job or a career, and anybody who thinks that it is shouldnt really be doing it 19 12 october 2009 The House Magazine 11 people profile similarity on welfare reform policy. Labour has had 12 years and hasnt done very much, and there is a big opportunity for us, if were fortunate enough to come into government, to really do that job properly. Iain Duncan Smiths proposals on welfare are very interesting and detailed, an YOUR SUPER-FIT CAN Its no accident that metal cans are the sustainability force they are today. Over the past two decades, some 500 million has been invested in metals environmental credentials probably more than any other packaging material, and with stunning results. Todays can is 35 lighter, but agenda agenda pollwatch/bill briefing 14 Week in Westminster MPs expenses 15 Pollwatch The economy 15 Bill briefing Coroners and Justice Bill 16 Commons Gallery 18 Lords Gallery 20 Feature story Shadow cabinet with auditing MPs accounting skills, has infuriated many with his decision to impose a ret agenda pollwatch/bill briefing October 19-23, key events Monday: Work and pensions questions (Commons) Tuesday: Treasury select committee session on women in the City. Harriet Harman among the witnesses Wednesday: Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Statutory Storage Period for Embryos and Gametes agenda commons gallery Sam Macrory reports on proceedings in the Commons chamber and committee corridor Asset sales Cable comes unstuck spending. The point was rather lost when Hammond accidentally accused the government of attempting to sell off the Tate an error seized on by excitable Labour MPs agenda commons gallery PMQs No careless talk: theres a war on In brief Tobacco A Conservative attempt to block government plans to ban the display of tobacco products and advertising in shops across England was defeated by 288 votes to 180 last Tuesday. Shadow health minister Mike Penning said the agenda lords gallery Andrew Evans rounds-up the latest news from the upper chamber Lords ministers Gaps in the ministerial ranks Crossbenchers Judges and unionists quit cross benches T B aroness Kinnock of Holyhead (above, with Eddie Izzard and husband Lord Kinnock), who joined the government in Jun agenda lords gallery Investigation Lord Pauls expenses probe In brief Appointment Colonel Ted Lloyd-Jukes, formerly the Lords administration officer, is the new Yeoman Usher of the Black Rod, following the retirement of Brigadier Hedley Duncan. Ports Ministers were defeated on Wednesday when pee agenda conservatives camerons kremlinology Feature story The Conservative leadership is adamant that the election is not in the bag but preparations are being made for the first Cameron cabinet, reports Sam Macrory In Manchester, Cameron felt confident enough to anoint some of his team: William Hag agenda conservatives Clarke wants a role, and if the business brief is deemed too sprawling, then perhaps the role of lord chancellor might be more likely. Other shadow cabinet members failed to appear in the speech, with Caroline Spelman, Cheryl Gillan, Theresa Villiers, Andrew Mitchell and Jeremy policy currently food-secure our food supply is diverse, we produce a significant proportion of it here in the UK, and we have a strong distribution system. However, we live in an interconnected world, where the price of soya in Brazil affects the price of steak at our local supermarket. We need to policy defra Sustenance and sustainability commodities to feed livestock. The backdrop against which this demand must be met is one of rising global temperatures, dwindling water resources, and more severe and frequent weather events. While climate change could offer northern Europe more favourable policy defra food security begins at home question, that the UK was in a secure position in terms of food. Yet a subsequent question showed that only 60 per cent of all food consumed in the UK was domestically produced and, even when discounting products that are not indigenous, the figure was still policy defra no stability on an empty belly World Food Day Farming expertise is key to reducing hunger in sub-Saharan Africa and Britain has a role to play, say David Curry and Ronan Keating also being eroded by the global recession, as the declining incomes of the poorest cannot compete with escala NESTLÉ MAKES CHRISTMAS SELECTION BOXES MORE RECYCLABLE AND APPEALING T The boxes are available in three innovative, eye-catching and targeted formats; a Santa themed selectionandpolar bear themed selectionfor mums buying for younger children, and a larger box designed for a broader demographic. Each policy defra when cocooning isnt caring Wasted resources here in the UK are either left to fester in landfill sites, or burned in incinerators that pollute the air and produce damaging emissions. Neither of these solutions is remotely sustainable. Friends of the Earth recently published research whi policy defra more than a change of topsoil be there to take care of any domestic glitches in food supply. Responding to these events, the UN convened a World Food Security conference at which secretary-general Ban Ki-moon predicted food production would need to increase by 50 per cent by 2030 to mee SCOTTISH SALMON FARMING: A SUCCESS STORY 500 MILLION INJECTED INTO THE ECONOMY 84 MILLION OVER THE LAST IN CAPITAL PROJECTS DURING 2008 THREE YEARS 500 INCREASE LAST 20 YEARS IN EXPORTS IN THE 304 MILLION EXPENDITURE SERVICES IN 2008 ON SUPPLIERS AND Salmon farming is a vital contributor to the Sco meeting the food security challenge Protecting UK farming from exotic diseases Exotic animal diseases increasingly threaten UK livestock farming. In 2007 bluetongue reached East Anglia. Research by the Institute for Animal Health informed the Government response and mitigated the diseases impact. Sc policy defra Housing needs going west nowhere is this failure more obvious than in Cornwall. For decades, Cornish people have had to contend with the twin problems of some of the UKs lowest wages and high local house prices. It has one of the largest affordability problems in the country. This has c 104 elephants are killed every day. Help stop the ivory trade. 38,000 elephants are slaughtered every year to supply the worlds illegal ivory trade. After a steep decline in poaching following the 1989 ban on all ivory sales, poaching is skyrocketing again after a handful of southern African countri policy defra no amnesty for butchery the two defeated the authorities. Only a complete ban would do. And so it is with the trade in ivory. In July 2008 I wrote to Joan Ruddock, then the Defra minister with a seat at the relevant EU table, to seek an assurance that the British government would use it 2009 is the Year of Food Food and food security are right back on the political agenda. Dr Brian Iddon MP and Mr Mark Lancaster TD MP invite you to attend a reception to mark Along with energy, water, and climate change food Royal Society of Chemistrys the chemical sciences is how to create and the policy defra compassion at the checkout 2007 and also European legislation in place. The Treaty of Amsterdam contains a legally binding protocol recognising that animals are sentient beings, and requires that full regard be paid to their welfare when policies relating to agriculture are formulated o policy defra inundation action stations through the night to build a mile- long wall of sandbags to protect the 1,000 homes in the Leeman Road area of the city, where water threatened the flood defences. A 24-hour information helpline was set up, and two community centres were opened up to provide t comment 37 Waddington amendment Lord Dear 38 Medical research Lord McColl of Dulwich 39 Cobbetts Corner Chris Moncrieff Waddington amendment Removing free speech protection from a new incitement law will put the police in a virtual straitjacket, says Lord Dear T he government will soon decide whethe comment heal th Testing conditions T Medical research Human tissues are invaluable for medical research, and we should work to make them more available, says Lord McColl of Dulwich he pressing need for human tissues and organs for transplant has, quite rightly, received much attention. A related iss comment cobbetts corner Chris Moncrieff offers his take on the world of Westminster Never mind the meat, give us the ham The prime minister delivered a make or break speech at the Labour Party conference. And David Camerons speech was hailed, even before it was uttered at his conference, as a key fa adjournment 40 Westminster art Derek Wyatt 43 PPC interview Anas Sarwar 44 Book review Simon Burns 47 Competitions Speech Bubble and Guess the Year quiz art in a gladstone bag Westminster art Already a political hero of Derek Wyatt, William Ewart Gladstone was immortalised in many paintings and stat adjournment westminster art Exchequer. In fact it is made from Parian ware, an unglazed porcelain which was popular because of its resemblance to marble. The artist was Edward William Wyon (1811-1885) a celebrated sculptor whose other sculpted busts include Disraeli and the Duke of Wellington. The b Gender Identity Research and Education Society www.gires.org.uk GIRES supports all those whose gender identity and/or gender expression is not conventional. 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