Sub-Contracting Risk: Neoliberal Policy Agendas and the Changing Perceptions and Practices of Flood Risk Management

This ESRC project runs from September 2008 to February 2010. It involves three lead investigators from Hull University, Prof Graham Haughton (Human Geography), Prof Tom Coulthard (Physical Geography) and Prof Greg Bankoff (History).

Our work explores how our understanding of flood risk in the UK has changed over the past 60 years, and the causes and consequences of the fragmentation of flood risk management. In exploring these issues the project explores changing attitudes to flood risk in Hull, from the 1953 east coast floods through to the present, including the aftermath of the 2007 Hull flood event.

Crucially, privatisation and the contracting out of water management and local government services have altered the manner in which flood risk issues are addressed. We want to explore any implications that arise from any shift in emphasis away from retaining local knowledge and the build-up of local expertise in favour of alternative forms of management procedures, oriented instead to global "best practice" and achieving flexibility and cost effectiveness.

Photos from the Hull Flood event (2007)

Flood Resources

• Dresden flood research centre
• Lancaster University research on Hull floods
• Final report of the Independent review into the Hull floods
• Environment Agency case study on Hull floods
• Tom Coulthard's flood resource source page
• ESRC workshop: Sub-Contracting Risk: Neoliberal Policy Agendas and the Changing Nature of Flood Risk Management - 16th September 2010.