Sir Michael Pitt was asked by Ministers to conduct an independent review of the flooding emergency that took place in June and July 2007. The Government asked that the process should be both thorough and independent; a fair assessment of what happened and what we might do differently.

Sir Michael Pitt has now launched his final report The Pitt Review: Lessons learned from the 2007 floods. (Full PDF - 7.834 mb) This final report is positive where it can be, but demanding where change is needed.

The interim conclusions of the Review were published in a report in December 2007, and views were sought during a consultation exercise lasting three months. We held conferences in every region, with well over 1,000 professionals from relevant fields attending to share their views. Public meetings and visits took place in affected areas and national seminars were addressed. The Review had indepth discussions with key organisations at a national level throughout the consultation exercise as well as receiving hundreds of written submissions.