'Now isn't the time to change personnel,' says Cameron on Environment Agency boss Lord Smith

 
10 February 2014
WEST END FINAL

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David Cameron today hinted for the first time that Lord Smith could be sacked as head of the Environment Agency.

Asked if the Environment Agency chairman should resign, he said during a tour of flood spots in the West Country: "This isn't the time for a change in personnel, this is the time for getting on, everyone has to get on with the job they are doing.”

He added: "There will be time later on for talking about such things."

Mr Cameron’s response was interpreted at Westminster as saying Lord Smith might have to go once the crisis is over and blame is apportioned.

It came as the Government and the Environment Agency showed divisions over who was to blame for the widespread flooding, even as the Environment Agency warned lives were at risk along the Thames.

Peer Lord Smith gave an apology for not “persuading others” to put up money for dredging the Somerset Levels.

But he blamed strict Treasury cost-benefit rules for limiting the amount his agency could spend on protecting the countryside.

He angrily attacked “personal sniping” at him and “grossly unfair” criticism of his staff, following criticism made yesterday by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles.

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson reportedly accused Mr Pickles of “grandstanding” with those attacks - and was revealed to have sent supportive texts to Mr Smith. David Cameron set off on a second visit to the West Country. Downing Street said he agreed with Mr Pickles that the Environment Agency had been guilty of a “ culture which has leaned against dredging” since the 1990s.

As politicians and Lord Smith traded blows, the number of severe flood warnings - which mean water levels pose a “significant threat to life” - in the south of England swelled to 16.

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In a combative performance, Lord Smith admitted that his agency should have done more to get dredging restarted. It put up £400 million last year but then waited for more funding from others. “I certainly apologise for not having done enough last year to persuade other people to come to the table,” he said.

“I probably should have done more to twist arms with the various councils, with the drainage boards, with other land owners.”

But he pointed the finger at Treasury rules that required £8 of “ benefit” for every £1 spent on flood protection and said he would not “sit idly by” while his staff who knew 100 times more than any politician were traduced. “I can’t apologise for ... the government rules that restricted absolutely what the Environment Agency was able to do,” he said. He said he had “absolutely no intention of resigning”.

Mr Pickles yesterday implied that Lord Smith should resign - joking that he would not wear a “save Chris Smith T-shirt”. He added: “We perhaps relied too much on the Environment Agency’s advice ... we thought we were dealing with experts.”

Deputy Premier Nick Clegg called on everyone to “pull together” and added: “I don’t think now is the time to point the finger of blame.” But asked if he had confidence in Lord Smith, Mr Clegg publicly reserved judgment, saying: “We can in the future look back and decide what went right and what went wrong.”

Asked if the Prime Minister had confidence in Mr Smith, Mr Cameron’s spokesman replied: “Yes.” But he agreed that the agency had made mistakes. “Since the formation of the Environment Agency in the late 1990s there has been a culture which has leaned against dredging,” he said. “The pendulum needs to swing back the other way and that’s what is happening.”

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