To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of people in Sheffield whose homes were flooded in June 2007 who were registered with Flood Warnings Direct; at what time and at what stage in the flooding the Flood Warnings Direct warnings went out to those registered; and what steps his Department is taking to encourage people in Sheffield to register with Flood Warnings Direct. (146614)

Information on the numbers of flooded properties and those registered with Flood Warnings Direct (FWD) will be gathered after the current emergency has ended.

Since 2000, the Environment Agency has contacted people at risk of flooding and asked them to register with FWD. The agency has also carried out a series of home visits throughout west Yorkshire to boost the number of registered properties. This is an effective way of increasing the coverage of FWD and the agency aims to repeat the process in south Yorkshire later this year.