WIREDGOV

Cllr David Renard, Environment spokesman for the Local Government Association, responded to the announcement of a new long-term government plan and funding to tackle flooding 

“Flooding can devastate communities, causing enormous disruption to families and businesses, and resulting in huge clean-up bills, so this funding is good news and will support protection work by councils to prepare for heavy rainfalls.

“Funding for flood defences needs to be devolved to local areas to ensure money is directed towards projects that best reflect local needs, which includes protecting key roads and bridges to keep local residents and businesses moving.  

“It is good that flood defence construction schemes will be fast-tracked, and while the Bellwin scheme for emergency flood relief funding is vital for councils, it often doesn’t cover the clean-up costs. Councils need to be able to access funding for these purposes, more easily and more quickly.

"The Government also needs to further incentivise firms to make contributions for flood defences and introduce mandatory anti-flood requirements for new homes in building regulations.”

Notes

The LGA represents more than 330 councils of all types across England. We work on behalf of our members to support, promote and improve local government.

It is councils who had led communities through the COVID-19 crisis. Our recent polling shows that 71 per cent of residents trust their council and two thirds are satisfied with the way their local council runs things in their area. Our new discussion paper - Re-thinking Local - sets out how councils must now be empowered to locally-lead the COVID-19 recovery and tackle the economic, environmental and community challenges that we will face as a result of the pandemic.

Multi-billion pound investment as government unveils new long-term plan to tackle flooding