Prime Minister David Cameron has announced a further package of more than £40 million to rebuild and improve flood defences in the aftermath of Storm Eva.
He also pledged the government would support charities helping those caught up in the Boxing Day deluge by matching every pound of the first £2m raised.
The latest tranche of money takes investment in recovery from Storm Eva and Storm Desmond to nearly £200 million.
The package is now set to be extended with grants to reimburse fire and rescue authorities that have incurred excessive costs protecting flooded communities.
Prime Minister David Cameron said:
“I have seen at first-hand the devastation caused by flooding. And that’s why this work to repair and improve flood defences is so vital.”
“We are already spending £280m over the next 6 years to protect thousands of houses from flooding in Yorkshire as part of our £2.3bn investment to protect 300,000 houses across the country.”
“But now more than £40m will be spent to fix those defences overwhelmed by the record rainfall we’ve seen in recent weeks and to make them more resilient to further bad weather.”
The Prime Minister said £10 million of the new funding package would be reserved to improve the Foss Barrier protecting York, which was overwhelmed at the height of Storm Eva. The other £30 million will be spent repairing defences on the Wharfe, Calder, Aire, Ouse and Derwent. This will include repairs to pumping and barriers and clearing blockages in rivers.
Further detailed work will be conducted along all rivers affected by Storm Eva –with the overall bill expected to top £40 million once the full damage is identified.
The announcement of matched funding for charities follows a similar pledge made to community foundations in Cumbria and Lancashire in the aftermath of Storm Desmond.
Applications for areas affected by Storm Eva can be made by any registered charities that are currently running a fundraising appeal for flood relief to benefit affected areas.
The flooding response in Yorkshire will be overseen by Transport Minister Robert Goodwill, who has been appointed by the Prime Minister as Flooding Envoy to the county. His role will complement the work of Flooding Minister Rory Stewart as envoy for Cumbria, Lancashire and Northumberland.
As a Ministerial Flood Recovery Envoy for Yorkshire, Robert Goodwill has been tasked with:
- understanding the impact of flooding in affected areas, especially weaknesses exposed
- tracking progress towards recovery and reporting directly to the Prime Minister
- assessing the effectiveness of multi-agency joint working in affected areas (for both response and recovery); and
- identifying lessons learned.
Robert Goodwill and Rory Stewart will report into the Flood Recovery Committee chaired by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Greg Clark.
Both the Government and the Environment Agency have come in for separate criticism from a number of a quarters in the wake of December’s flooding – the Government over levels of flood investment in particular- with widespread calls for a complete rethink on flood defence provision.
An editorial comment article in yesterday’s Sunday Times encapsulated many of the issues now being raised, commenting:
“Most experts agree that while the quantity of rain that falls in beyond our control, how we manage it – how we prepare for it – is not. And the evidence is clear that our preparations have been woefully inadequate.…The only positive outcome would be a thorough going reform of our approach to flood management.”
Communities already hit by flooding remained vigilant over the weekend in the face of further heavy rain.
York’s Foss Barrier is now operational and flood waters in the city have receded but the River Ouse is set to remain high for several days.
The Environment Agency currently has 39 flood warnings for England and Wales in place where flooding is expected and immediate action is required, alongside 198 flood alerts where flooding in possible.
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