Doncaster MP welcomes Labour's £2.65 billion flood defences plan
Tens of thousands of homes and business across the UK, including scores in Doncaster, will be better protected from flooding a local MP has said after the Labour Government unveiled a record package to build new flood defences and maintain and repair those already in place.
A record two-year investment of £2.65 billion will be made, better protecting 52,000 properties by March 2026 across the country.
To shore up creaking defences left in substandard conditions through underinvestment in repairs, funding will also be shifted towards maintenance, ensuring a further 14,500 properties have their expected level of protection maintained or restored, for a total of 66,500 properties benefiting from this funding across the UK.
Doncaster North MP Ed Miliband said: “This Labour Government inherited flood assets in their poorest condition on record, as 14 years of damaging storms and underinvestment from the Conservatives left 3,000 of the Environment Agency’s 38,000 high-consequence assets at below the required condition.”
This announcement comes as the Labour Government’s Floods Resilience Taskforce meets with the Floods Minister Emma Hardy joined by ministers from across government alongside representatives from the Met Office, Local Resilience Forum and the National Farmers Union.
They will look at further steps that can be taken to protect the 6.3 million properties in England at risk from flooding, lessons to learn from Storms Bert, Conall and Éowyn this winter.
Establishing the Flood Resilience Taskforce was a pledge the Labour Party made when in opposition and has now delivered in government as part of the Plan for Change.
This has been welcomed by Doncaster North MP Ed Miliband, who’s constituency has faced serious flooding in recent years.
He said: “I am grateful to this government for the investment in flood defences, and the establishment of the Floods Resilience Taskforce.
“For many of my constituents across Doncaster North, flooding has been a very serious issue, and something that I have been liaising closely about with our local councillors and the Environment Agency.
“Today’s announcement shows that this government is taking on the challenges our community faces by making meaningful investments into our communities”.
Steve Reed MP, Labour’s Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said: “The Conservatives’ flood defence negligence over the past 14 years was a dereliction of duty that left communities in Doncaster exposed and cost the economy billions.
“They failed to spend over two thirds of the money pledged for flood defences, leaving our flood defence infrastructure in the poorest condition on record.
“That’s why this Labour Government is now investing a record £2.65 billion to build and maintain flood defences across the country to protect lives, homes and businesses from the dangers of flooding”.