The MPs' recommendations were all good, said Paul Cobbing, chief executive of the National Flood Forum, that represents hundreds of community groups, but failed to get to the heart of the issue. “Flood risk management should be seen as a national priority, not just something for Defra and its agencies to deal with,” he said. “All government departments should be mandated to actively reduce flood risk. There is no room to be complacent: flooding wrecks lives.”