Flooding Support

Stuart Anderson Shropshire Flooding

Stuart Anderson said: “Recent years have sadly seen increased flooding, resulting in significant costs for many residents across South Shropshire. September's flash flooding has greatly affected villages such as All Stretton, where I have seen its impact first-hand and fully support recovery efforts. Investment made by the last government has meant that more than 600,000 properties and over 900,000 acres of farmland are now better protected. In 2020, the last Government announced a doubling of capital funding into flood defences in England to a record £5.6 billion over 2021-2027. While this is a significant achievement, I certainly recognise that there are homes and businesses that still suffer from flooding. After my visit, I called on the government to drive down flood risk from every angle and to take urgent action to help those impacted. I am glad that Ministers have agreed to review the Flood Recovery Framework, after I had warned it cuts off support for flood properties in rural areas where the threshold for activation is not met. I know only too well the devastating impact that flooding can have on local communities and businesses. While five million properties are at risk of flooding, nearly half the country is unsure of how to find information on local flood risks. I want to do all that I can to help householders and businesses plan ahead to mitigate the impacts of flooding. Here, you will find support available. If you need any specific assistance, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me directly." 

Key Actions

The Environment Agency encourages people to take key steps to prepare themselves in the event of flood risk, including:

Flooding on roads can be reported to Shropshire Council via the Fix My Street app, the Council website, or by calling 0345 678 9006. If there is an emergency or a risk to life, please dial 999.

The Environment Agency provides a Flood Warning Service, to help residents prepare for potential flooding. Residents can visit www.gov.uk/sign-up-for-flood-warnings or call 0345 988 1188 to sign up to get Flood Alerts and Warnings by phone, email and/or text message. This is a free service.

The EA also works as part of Local Resilience Forums (LRF) alongside all emergency responders and other partners. Together they plan for prevention, control and reducing the impact of flooding on local communities. 

The EA and the Met Office work in collaboration as part of the Flood Forecasting Centre to provide a five-day national flood risk assessment. This provides a strategic summary for planning purposes, outlining all the relevant information from across England.

National Flood Forum

The National Flood Forum (NFF) can advise and support communities in flood risk areas to develop their own flood action group.  A flood action group is made up of a core of local people who act as a representative voice for their wider community and NFF can provide the tools to ensure their success and sustainability. The NFF also supports the group to work in partnership with the all the right professionals that are needed. The National Flood Forum can be contacted via their website nationalfloodforum.org.uk/ or call their helpline on 01299 403055. 

In September, the Secretary of State also convened the first meeting of the new Floods Resilience Taskforce. This brings together representatives from central and local government, Local Resilience Forums, emergency responders and the National Farmers Union, among others, to discuss how they will speed up and co-ordinate flooding preparation and resilience.

Flood Recovery Framework:

The Flood Recovery Framework provides support for flooded businesses and households. This includes:

  • Community Recovery Grant: A grant in the region of £500 (indicative) per eligible household, will be paid to the local authority to provide quick support to communities who have been badly affected by the relevant severe weather event to support local recovery efforts.
  • Business Recovery Grant: Up to £2,500 per eligible small and medium-sized enterprise (SME), which has suffered severe impacts from flooding that cannot be recovered from insurance.
  • Council Tax Discount: 100% discount for a minimum of 3 months, or while any household is unable to return to their primary residence, including a 100% discount on temporary accommodation for any household unable to return to their home.
  • Business Rate Relief: The Government will reimburse eligible authorities for the cost of providing businesses 100% relief from business rates for a minimum of three months if flood water entered the property, or the flooding seriously impacted upon the businesses’ ability to trade from the property.

These schemes are run by the relevant Local Authorities and any decisions on appeals should be directed to them to review.

Property Flood Resilience Repair Grant:

The Property Flood Resilience (PFR) repair grant scheme operates as an add on to the core Government Flood Recovery Framework. It may be activated following severe weather events that impact multiple local authorities (LAs). Eligible flood-hit property owners can apply for up to £5,000 to help make their homes and businesses more resilient to future flooding if they have been directly flooded by a specific weather event. This is to install measures that make properties more resilient to future flooding where there is internal flooding to homes or business premises including actions that keep water out, such as flood doors and barriers, and internal changes to lessen the impact of flooding, such as hard floors and raising electrics.

Bellwin Scheme:

Separate emergency response support is available through the existing Bellwin mechanism, which is administered centrally by the government. Local authorities can make an application for emergency financial assistance to cover uninsurable immediate costs they incur protecting life and property or preventing suffering or severe inconvenience as a result of a disaster or emergency in their area.

Frequently Flooded Allowance:

In July 2022, a ring-fenced £100 million Frequently Flooded Allowance (FFA) was created as part of the government’s £5.6 billion investment programme into flood and coastal erosion schemes. It provides greater protection for areas which have been affected by repeated flooding, particularly those that are smaller and more isolated or rural and therefore struggle to secure the funding they need to improve their resilience to flooding. The allowance targets communities where 10 or more properties have flooded twice or more in the last 10 years. I understand that 53 projects will be allocated more than £26 million in total, which will better protect more than 2,300 households and businesses across the country. Projects not eligible for the FFA are able to apply for Grant in Aid as part of the Government’s floods investment programme.

Flood Insurance:

There are a number of business insurance solutions offered by the insurance market, such as insurers who offer increased flood excess with reduced premiums, and parametric insurance which allows property owners to set the level of premium in line with an agreed level of risk. Flood Re was set up in 2016 as a joint initiative between the government and insurers with the aim of making the ‘flood cover’ part of household insurance policies more affordable. Flood Re is a public body, and a not-for-profit fund owned and managed by the insurance industry and subsidised by levy contribution from all the insurers who offer home insurance.

In the years since Flood Re was established, over 550,000 households have been supported to access policies that ensure their homes are covered in the event of a flood. 99% of households at high risk of flooding can now obtain quotes from 15 or more insurers. Flood Re does not deal directly with homeowners but allows insurance companies to pass the flood risk element of home insurance policies over to Flood Re for a set premium based on Council Tax bands. When there is a flood, policy holders should contact their own insurance provider as quickly as possible. Although under the Flood Re scheme the flood-risk element of the policy is capped, the overall cost of the home insurance policy is set by insurers. Homeowners should therefore consider all aspects of building and/or contents insurance, and shop around to secure the most effective policy for their circumstances. 

The last government worked with industry to set up a new flood insurance directory which insurers and brokers can singpost customers to when they cannot offer flood cover. The directory lists Flood Re and non-Flood Re specialist flood insurance providers that can help households struggling to obtain flood cover. The directory can be found on the British Insurers Brokers’ Association website. If you would prefer to speak to someone, BIBA’s Find an insurance service can be contacted on 0370 950 1790, Monday to Friday between 9:00am and 5:30pm.

Please visit ABI’s ‘Responding to Floods: What You Need to Know’ guide for more information and advice. You can find further advice on their website.

Build Back Better (BBB)

Property Flood Resilience measures can help flooded households become more resilient to future flooding, enable homeowners to return more quickly after any future flooding, and will help reduce the cost of repairing damage after a flood. Regulations came into force in April 2022 that allow Flood Re to pay claims from insurers which include an amount for resilient repairs up to a value of £10,000 over and above the cost for like-for-like reinstatement of actual flood damage. This is known as Build Back Better (BBB). BBB is now supported by 75% of the UK household property insurance market. Where an insurance provider has signed up to offer BBB through Flood Re, they must also equally offer BBB to their household policy customers which are not ceded to the Scheme. Each insurer will offer their own terms, so it is important for customers to check with their insurer if Build Back Better is included in their policy and if so, how much they may be eligible for. Customers can do this by contacting their insurer in the usual way.  When renewing or taking out a new insurance policy, homeowners should check that flood cover is included, and ask whether the policy offer also includes Build Back Better provision. 

Flood and Coastal Innovation Programmes

In the 2020 Budget, the last government announced a £200 million innovation fund. This is led and managed by the Environment Agency. The fund helps meet the aims of the statutory national Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management strategy for England.

The flood and coastal innovation programmes include the:

Farming Recovery Fund:

To support farmers affected by Storms Babet, Henk and severe wet weather, one-off Recovery Payments are being offered to help cover the uninsured costs of restoring farmland. A total of £60 million will be distributed to eligible farmers, via recovery payments of between £2,895 and £25,000, based on the level of damage. These one off recovery payments will support land recovery activities such as soil remediation, recultivation and the removal of any debris caused by flooding. 

The vast majority (95%) of eligible farm businesses have now received their payments. Farmers have received payments totalling £57.5 million so far, the government confirmed on 27 November. Around 13,000 farmers were impacted by severe wet weather, including Storms Henk and Babet, between October and March last year, with more than 12,700 recovery payments ranging from £2,895 - £25,000 now being made. Outstanding payments will continue to be made.

Only those identified by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) will be contacted. If you’re not in the areas identified as eligible, you can still get advice on Natural Flood Management (NFM) through your local Catchment Sensitive Farming adviser. This year, the government is updating existing actions and introducing new actions to the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and Countryside Stewardship to support NFM, flood mitigation and increase flood resilience. Find other support for farmers here.

Water Restoration Grant:

Groups of farmers in England can now apply for a grant to improve freshwater habitats. Local groups can apply for funding to bolster their capacity and capabilities for delivery of on-the-ground projects which improve the water environment. The fund, announced in Defra’s Plan for Water, is funded through environmental fines and penalties issued to water companies between April 2022 and October 2023. The £11 million is made up of water company fines.

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