After the floods that hit the news in much of England last summer, the Government appointed Sir Michael Pitt to lead a review of 'the lessons learned' from the flooding. The review team published an interim report in December and will publish a final report in the summer.

The director of the review team gave a briefing to a meeting at the Local Government Association, where I was present. Bearing in mind Staple Tye's experience of flooding in 2006, I asked him about the problems caused by agencies such as the water companies, who aren't as answerable to the public as local councils - we can't go along to their meetings, demand answers, or change them if we don't like them. They can be difficult to pin down after events such as floods, as many local residents have found.

I was encouraged to hear from the review director that his team has been very aware of this problem. It would be good if the review resulted in such bodies being placed under a 'duty to co-operate' so that they would be required to work with district and county councils and local communities in sorting out the dreadful problems that floods cause.