It was devastating to see the damage caused by floods towards the end of last year and recent floods bring more concern. Today having looked at the warning on the Environment Agency website I went out in the constituency to see for myself the worst effected places. Whether this was keeping an eye on Chalgrove, seeing the extent of flooding around Wheatley or the serious impact of flooding in Islip, my thoughts go out to all those affected by flooding or fear of imminent floods. I would like to record my gratitude to the teams from the Environment Agency, the emergency services and volunteer groups, who work to do all they can to help and support people and properties suffering or at risk from flooding.
I am pleased that the cross-government Flood Recovery Taskforce has put in place measures to support households and business owners significantly affected by recent flooding. Details of funding available to assist can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-announces-business-rates-and-council-tax-relief-following-severe-flooding
Whilst these major floods hit the news headline our farmers have to cope with destructive floods more often. Going forward we have to invest in flood defences and I was pleased to see an election commitment by the Conservative Party of £4 billion in new funding over the coming years for new flood defences. This commitment was reiterated in the background briefing to the Queen’s Speech following the election with money being committed in the first budget. This budget should now be occurring on 11th March and I have contacted the new Chancellor to remind him of this commitment.
