Mayor convenes roundtable of key players in response to flooding

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, is today meeting with key partners, including London Councils, Transport for London (TfL), the London Fire Brigade, water companies and the Environment Agency to ensure everything possible is being done to prevent and reduce the impact of flooding in the capital.

London has seen increasing incidents of extreme weather over the last few weeks with flash flooding impacting homes, businesses, train stations, the TfL network and bringing life in parts of the capital to a halt.

The Mayor has no direct responsibilities for managing flood risk but is acting to urgently bring together those who do. The Environment Agency holds the strategic overview role for all forms of flood risk on behalf of Defra and boroughs, as ‘Risk Management Authorities’ are the lead local flood authorities with responsibility for managing surface water flooding. The Mayor supports these organisations using his convening and advocacy role and through his projects and programmes including the London Sustainable Drainage (SUDS) Action Plan and his green new deal.

City Hall has invested £13 million in green infrastructure projects to help London adapt to climate change, including £1.8 million in 40 projects specifically addressing surface water flood risk. A further £4 million is helping to tackle the climate emergency by reducing the risk of floods through the Mayor’s Green and Resilient Spaces Fund.

The Greater London Authority has recently produced guidance on how to prepare for climate change and flooding in schools and early years settings, social housing, hospitals, commercial and retail buildings, parks and green spaces. The Mayor’s new London Plan has specific guidance to reduce surface water flood risk in every new development.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “The serious flash flooding in London over the last two weekends will have caused major concern and anxiety for many Londoners and it shows that the dangers of climate change are now moving closer to home. I’d like to thank partners including the London Fire Brigade, the Met Police and local councils who responded to hundreds of calls throughout Sunday afternoon and evening.

“Despite having limited powers in the area, it remains a key priority for myself and London’s council leaders that more is done to urgently tackle flooding and the other impacts of climate change. This is why I have brought together all of the key partners to see what more can be done, including the water companies who have to address the localised issues with infrastructure that may exacerbate the impact of flooding.

“I continue to lobby the Government to devolve more funding and powers to local leaders to enable us deal with both flooding and the wider impacts of climate change.

“COP26 this year provides an opportunity for the Government to show global leadership and give us the powers and resources we need to take even bolder action on climate change.”