IT has been good to see that the flood defences on Severn Side North, Bewdley, really work.

Now I hope that insurance companies that have not reduced their premiums for protected properties because of doubts of the effectiveness of the defences will relent.

The proof to me of their effectiveness was to see the water level in the drains on the quayside at least one metre below the road surface and draining away well. This proves that the vital underwater defences are holding and that the pumping system works.

The satisfaction for those already protected does not reduce the concern for those still subject to flooding.

I hope the Severn Side South defences will be completed quickly and be as successful and that people whose properties do not qualify for protection from public money will be able to render their premises as resistant to flood damage as possible.

It is with alleviation measures that the National Flood Forum based in Bewdley can provide helpful advice and information.

Although the pallet system of flood defences provides some protection relatively cheaply, we have seen at Hylton Road, Worcester, that lack of underwater defences can be a major defect.

A member of the Environment Agency team on duty in Bewdley expressed his relief for the people now protected but was shocked at the need for overnight security to prevent stealing of sections of the defences for their scrap value.

Such thoughtless and selfish vandalism is almost incomprehensible and is akin, but in a lesser way, to the damaging of warning bollards erected out of goodwill by the council to mark inconspicuous pavement extensions in Park Street, Kidderminster.

The Standing Committee reviewing the Human Tissue Bill has completed its work. It was disappointing that amendments put down at the request of pathologists and research workers by opposition MPs and myself were not accepted.

Ministers in their praiseworthy aim of protecting the public from another disaster like Alder Hey will not recognise that the Bill does not provide safeguards for practicable ways of obtaining consent for the use of surplus tissue vital for research.

As all MPs agree with the main aims of the Bill, the committee was not confrontational and ministers did promise to look at some of the problems that we raised before the third reading of the Bill. It remains to be seen if helpful safeguards will be added.

Two Health Committee inquiries are nearing completion.

The major problems of obesity have already been recognised by the Government and the committee's report will reflect some of the lessons learnt from witnesses here and abroad.

The other inquiry addresses the alarming problem of abuse of the elderly, which all too often goes unrecognised.

The report will raise awareness and point to ways of tackling unforgivable abuse of helpless people.