Defra has announced support to boost England’s resilience to flooding through additional cash for farmers and rural communities.
There will be an additional £50m made available to internal drainage boards (IDBs), the public bodies responsible for managing water levels for agricultural and environmental needs in a particular area, Defra said today. It has also announced a new approach to delivering funding to make sure it better works for communities.
This investment will aim to put IDBs on a firm footing to deliver their role in flood and water management for years to come.
IDBs that submit successful bids will be able to spend the money on projects over the next two years, which will benefit those that improve, repair or replace IDB assets including flood barriers, embankments and maintenance of watercourses.
The funding will support projects which reduce risks and impacts from flooding to farmer and rural communities across England.
The Environment Agency has begun work with IDBs to distribute the funding from today.
The government has also announced the launch of a consultation in the new year, including a review of the existing funding formula, to ensure the challenges facing businesses and rural communities are adequately taken into account. It said the existing formula slows down the delivery of new flood schemes through a complex application process, and neglects more innovative approaches to flood management.
In addition, the government has confirmed payments to farmers impacted by last year’s severe weather through the Farming Recovery Fund.
Read more: Farming Recovery Fund: fit for purpose or ‘complete nonsense’?
A total of £60m will also be distributed to eligible farmers via previously announced recovery payments of between £2,895 and £25,000, to around 13,000 farm businesses.
Payments are expected to land in farmers’ accounts from 21 November. Defra said it had bolstered the previous Conservative government’s £50m fund by an extra £10m. It follows concerns by NFU president Tom Bradshaw last month that the Farming Recovery Fund was not reaching the farmers that needed it.
“Farmers are the backbone of the nation, with their hard work helping to put food on the family tables across the country,” said floods minister Emma Hardy. “More intense weather events are destroying homes, businesses and livelihoods across the country, with farming communities facing the heaviest consequences.
“That is why this government is reforming how flood funds are distributed to protect businesses and rural and coastal communities, as we invest over £2.4bn in flood defences across the country,” she added.
This announcement follows the first meeting of the Floods Resilience Taskforce in September. It brings together representatives from central and local government, local resilience forums, emergency responders and the NFU among others, to discuss how they will speed up and co-ordinate flooding preparation and resilience.
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