Last week, in the 2016 budget, George Osborne announced that an extra £700 million would be spent on flood defence funding to help protect communities against the increasingly extreme weather.
This comes on top of the £2.3bn of planned spending up to 2021 – exceeding the Government’s manifesto commitment to build 1,500 flood defence schemes.
The additional funding aims to focus on communities at the highest risk and to secure economic growth in those areas, keeping them open for business even when extreme weather hits – all part of the Northern Powerhouse strategy – rebalancing the economy away from London by pooling the strengths of cities and towns in the North.
Floods Minister Rory Stewart said:
“In December, I saw for myself how the record breaking levels of rainfall caused so much damage across the north of England. Since these floods, there has been the most moving and impressive response to the floods, right from communities to volunteers, the emergency services and local authorities.
I’m extremely pleased that we have provided a further £700 million to help better defend these communities in the future.”
