LONDON, England (CMC) — The head of Britain’s Environment Agency (EA), Sir Phillip Dilly, is under pressure to defend his handling of the country’s worst flooding crisis for years amid reports that he has left the country to spend time at his luxury home in Barbados.

“I think it’s fair to ask why he has not visited the north of England over the past few days to explain what the agency is doing,” said Labour Party MP Simon Danczuk in an interview with the

Telegraph.

After avoiding the question of Sir Phillip’s whereabouts following reports he was vacationing in Barbados, the EA released a statement yesterday saying he had spent Christmas on the island with his family.

“He is keeping in regular touch with the Environment Agency on its response to the current flooding, and available to participate in any necessary discussions,” it said. “He has been in Barbados, where his family are from, and we’re expecting him back in the UK in the next 24 hours.”

The agency added that Dilley had “visited the north of England recently”, when he visited Cumbria on December 14.

Dilley’s predecessor Chris Smith faced severe criticism during flooding last year when he was accused of failing to visit flood-hit Somerset soon enough.

Dilley, a former executive chairman of the global design and professional services firm Arup, took the Environment Agency post in September last year.