- Conference
- 2014 Water, Environment & Transport Service Group
- Date
- 18 February 2014
- Decision
- Carried
This Conference is alarmed at the scale of job losses that are ongoing within the Environment Agency.
It notes that since the Tory led coalition came into power nearly 25% of the workforce will have been lost as a direct result of the Government spending cuts.
These cuts are a disaster for our members, for the communities they serve and for the environment in England.
They are a false economy, as investing in the prevention of environmental harm and flooding is a much better use of public money than having to subsequently meet the inflated costs of responding to and dealing with the aftermath of incidents.
The work of the Environment Agency is varied and not simply flood related. Members also work in water quality and resources, waste regulation, climate change, fisheries, pollution control, contaminated land, conservation, ecology and navigation. The Agency is also a category one responder and delivers services around the clock during a wide range of environmental incidents.
Conference therefore calls on the Service Group Executive to:
i) Continue to support the campaign built around the Early Day Motion 947, calling for a moratorium on any funding cuts and a full risk analysis of the likely damage that will be caused as result.
ii) Raise the profile of the full range of activities undertaken by Environment Agency employees and recognise the dedication shown during this winter’s crisis, despite the puerile attempts to discredit our members by Tory politicians.
iii) Lobby the Government and opposition to invest more resources in the Environment Agency to take account of the increasing risks present, owing to climate change.
iv) Map the net impact of the cuts on members and the services they provide to ensure reductions in services are accounted for and that the negative impacts are recorded and publicised.