Minister is thrown in at the deep end

JOHN Healey's first full day as local government minister was – to say the least – a baptism of fire.

Within hours of finding his new Whitehall office, Gordon Brown had asked the Wentworth MP to head the Government's flood recovery efforts.

The scale of the task was enormous.

Large swathes of South Yorkshire had been left devastated, including Parkgate, Rawmarsh, Wath-upon-Dearne and Catcliffe in his own constituency.

The stricken village of Toll Bar near Doncaster was still swamped by a 10km square expanse of water, while anger was growing that the plight of Hull – dubbed "the forgotten city" – was being ignored by the Government.

Mr Healey was undaunted to find himself as the Government's "point-man" charged with sorting out the crisis.

He said: "Having visited, the previous week, constituents – both householders and businesses – that had been hit by floods, I turned up for my first full day in the job here to be given the nationwide job of flood recovery minister.

"Over this first month part of my anchor has been what people in South Yorkshire have been going through and how they have been responding."

Since those June floods, and the disaster in July in the west of England, Mr Healey has raced around the country on 10 separate visits to the worst affected areas.

He said he has been heartened by the way affected communities have rallied together.

He gives the example of local mosques in Rotherham which raised 5,300 for 200 flooded homeowners in Catcliffe – the first time they had raised money for a non-religious cause. "People they didn't know, a different part of Rotherham, a different community but nevertheless that strong South Yorkshire solidarity coming through."

But inevitably, tough questions have been asked of the Government as communities slowly recover from the effects of the disaster.

Is enough being spent on flood defences? Has enough emergency cash been sent to the worst-hit places? And in the longer term – will council tax soar as local authorities attempt to repair the broken infrastructure?

Sheffield Council believes it will need to spend about 30 million, including around 20 million on roads and highways and more than 3 million on housing costs.

As the minister responsible for keeping council tax hikes in check – and capping local authorities if they attempt excessive increases – Mr Healey has given this last question a lot of thought.

"I don't see there will be a necessary hit on council tax from the floods. There will be decisions that local authorities will need to make, particularly about their capital programme and their investments.

He said: “Do they adjust those? Do they change the emphasis on those? But I don’t see that there should be a necessary hit on council tax.”

Questions have also been asked about plans to build new houses on flood plains – including the 130 million housing and leisure Yes Project on the former Brookhouse pit site in Rotherham.

Given recent events, is Mr Healey confident that such schemes will be safe in the future?

He said: “I am confident to the extent that planning permission now has to go through a tough process in which any development in an area which may be at risk of flooding must be assessed by the Environment Agency.

“In something like 19 out of 20 cases where the Environment Agency advises against it, planning permission doesn’t go ahead.”

Mr Healey, 47, has been seen as a leading “Brownite” since working as parliamentary private secretary for the then Chancellor in 1999.

For the last five years he has been working mainly behind the scenes as a Treasury minister.

“My job was really the political and policy ground clearing for the chancellor, and if things hit the headlines then I was not doing my job,” he said recently.

He first entered the Commons in 1997 after a strong background in the Labour movement, having worked as director of campaigns and communication for the TUC.

He admits that during the working week the Government has him busy “night and day” but he still insists on returning home at the end of the week to his family and constituency.

And a typical Sunday in the summer will involve spending time in the cricket nets with his 12-year-old son.

He said: “On Thursday evening – sometimes quite late – I am on the train and on my way home. Because I am an MP but I am also a Dad.”A week in the life of floods minister John Healey

Monday July 23

Travel from Wentworth to London.

Meetings on flood recovery.

Meeting with Local Government Association.

Attending Parliament for oral statements on flooding and Housing Green Paper.

Meeting MPs on unitary council decision.

Votes in Parliament until 10pm.

Tuesday July 24

Visit to Tewkesbury to see flood recovery operation.

Meeting ministers and Yorkshire MPs about flood recovery.

Interview with Local Government magazine.

Meeting Financial Secretary on business growth grants.

Votes in Parliament until 10pm.

Wednesday July 25

Announcement of councils moving to unitary status, press briefing and interviews with regional TV and Radio.

Chairing London Resilience Forum.

Attending PMQs in Parliament.

Meeting Sheffield and other MPs to update on flooding recovery.

Meeting with Fire Brigades Union.

Votes in Parliament until 10pm.

Thursday July 26

Chairing cross-government ministerial meeting on flooding response.

Meeting Regional Development Agencies.

Meeting on role of voluntary groups.

Further interviews on unitary councils and sub-national review.

Travel to constituency.

Friday July 27

Constituency activity in Wentworth including visit to Rotherham Museum archive affected by flooding.

Rotherham Chamber of Commerce Board Meeting.

Constituency work.

Meeting with Chair of South Yorkshire Business Link.

Saturday July 28

Meeting constituents and conducting surgeries in Wentworth constituency.

Sunday July 29

Time with family and at the cricket nets with son.