Flooding
Funding for flood defences given new impetus As economic hardship continues to rise in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, Shaun Aldis chief executive of Wolverhampton Homes argues a rise in homelessness doesn’t have to follow as a consequence. Here, he examines how with the right tools, authorities can keep figures as low as they have been during the Covid-19 pandemic or even lower Digging deeper into the details, the long-term In July, the government pledged an investment plan sets out five key commitments which of £5.2 billion to create approximately will accelerate progress to better protect and 2,000 new flood and coastal defences better prepare the country for the coming to better protect 336,000 properties in years. They are: upgrading and expanding England by 2027, alongside support to flood defences and infrastructure across help households and businesses get back the country; managing the flow of water to on their feet more quickly after flooding both reduce flood risk and manage drought; The plans, outlined by Prime Minister harnessing the power of nature to not only Boris Johnson, also include £200 million for reduce flood risk, but deliver benefits innovative projects, such as sustainable for the environment, nature, drainage systems and natureand communities; better based solutions like temporary Up to preparing communities or permanent water storage £170 m for when flooding and areas which also boost i l l i o n will be erosion does occur; wildlife. It is expected spent acceler and ensuring every that these will support a t area of England has 25 areas at risk of ‘shovel ing work on -ready’ a comprehensive flooding to test and flood defence local plan for dealing demonstrate innovative with flooding and actions to adapt to a that wi schemes coastal erosion. changing climate and constru ll begin The plan also sets improve their resilience. ction in out proposed changes to The government has also 2020/2 1 the joint government and said that up to £170 million insurance industry Flood Re will be spent accelerating work scheme. This will allow claims to on ‘shovel-ready’ flood defence include an additional amount so that flood schemes that will begin construction resilience measures are included in repairs, in 2020/21. As a result of this, ministers and allow households that have property flood says that 22 areas across the country will resilience measures in place, such as airbrick benefit from this immediate boost to jobs covers or non-return valves, to benefit from supporting the local economy as communities lower premiums. These amendments will help recover from the impact of coronavirus.
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to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the scheme and will ultimately assist in the scheme’s transition out of the market by 2039. On this latter point, Andy Bord, chief executive of Flood Re, said: “I welcome the government’s commitment to making the nation more resilient to future flooding. Flood Re enables access to affordable insurance for hundreds of thousands of homes at high risk of flooding. We believe it is very important that the country is built back better and making homes more resilient through the uptake of property flood resilience adaptations is a key part of addressing the increasing threat of flooding resulting from climate change.” Build back better The build back better mantra has been rolled out regularly by the Conservative party following their General Election success towards the back end of last year, and has showed no sign of slowing down during the coronavirus pandemic and consequent lockdown. Coronavirus recovery packages have been outlined across industry, providing targeted support for specific industry, most recently on staff pay as the furlough scheme comes to its close. The role of flood prevention in these plans has been hard to find. Andy Bord has strongly emphasised the critical need for any coronavirus recovery
