The widespread flooding events in the UK within the space of less than two weeks as a result of the impacts of Storms Ciara and Dennis have seen the Government coming in for criticism from a number of quarters.

The flooding is the target of ongoing high-level national and local online, paper and television press coverage.

On Friday last week the Yorkshire Post featured a leading article which opened:

“IT is less than 100 days since Boris Johnson declared – now infamously – that Yorkshire’s floods were “not a national emergency”.

“That was before Storm Ciara inflicted further misery on the Calder Valley – and those areas promised fully functioning defences after the 2015 floods.”

The Yorkshire Post is calling for the Prime Minister and his Government to adopt the following10-point blueprint:

• Hold – without delay – a summit of key officials and victims to whom Mr Johnson promised so much after the River Don floods last November;
• Commission an inquiry into the leadership and effectiveness of the Environment Agency, vis-a-vis flooding;
• Review future funding levels for flood defences and coastal erosion, taking account of the very latest weather patterns and projections;
• Create a national infrastructure recovery fund so councils can rebuild damaged communities without delay;
• Grant so-called ‘tier 1’ special status to councils in the most vulnerable areas, like Calderdale, so they qualify for vital emergency Government funding;
• Overhaul the Flood Re insurance scheme so affordable cover – as promised – is more widely available;
• Fund a comprehensive river dredging strategy and publish immediately the delivery plan;
• Provide the emergency services with all additional funding required - centrally - and review Army-deployment criteria immediately;
• Commission now an independent Natural Flood Management review and begin implementing its recommendations before the end of this year;
• Honour the commitments made by previous Prime Ministers and Ministers to the people of all regions at risk of flooding

Media criticism includes:

• failures to build flood defences quickly enough
• failures of existing flood defence structures to protect properties
• insufficient funding
• funding targeted at South East England at expense of North

The Government has activated the Bellwin scheme, the emergency funding scheme whereby local authorities can apply for the government to reimburse non-insurable costs above a certain threshold, after a month of rain fell in 48 hours.

Areas affected by the flooding include parts of Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, Worcestershire and Herefordshire.

However, to date the government has not initiated a meeting of the COBRA crisis response national emergency committee and Boris Johnson has yet to visit any of the flood-hit areas. Held in the Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms (COBR), depending on the nature of the crisis, the cross-departmental committee brings together senior government ministers and civil servants, security and intelligence officials, military chiefs and leaders of the emergency services and councils. COBRA committee meetings are usually chaired by the Prime Minister.

Environment Minister says "the Government has a grip on this"

This morning the new Environment Secretary George Eustice launched a robust defence of the Government's flood preparation and response on Sky News.

Speaking to Kay Burley on Sky’s Breakfast programme, he told the reporter that the flood infrastructure the Government had put in place in the last five years had protected over 200,000 properties but that it was impossible to "protect every property".

"Other projects we are are working on now will protect another 100,000" he said -  on top of which the Government was increasing funding further with a manifesto commitment to spend £4 billion over the next five years.

He told Kay Burley “what we’ve put in place is working“ and “the Government has a grip on this.”