Flooding
Jo White Excerpts(1 month ago)
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Emma Hardy
The hon. Lady is right to point out the impact on people’s mental health. I urge her to invite communities that experience repeated flooding to look at the Build Back Better scheme. They could be able to access an extra £10,000 to make their homes more resilient to flooding. As I said, this is something that I care deeply about, as does the Department, which is why we are investing £2.4 billion in delivering, improving and maintaining flood defences.
Jo White (Bassetlaw) (Lab)
Mr Wilson of Blackstope Lane in Retford contacted me this morning, worried that water was once again coming close to his property. He has been flooded out many times, but today I thank the Minister for the work of the Environment Agency; staff were on site with their pumps from the early hours of this morning. They tell me that the clearance work on local culverts has made a difference and the water has been kept at bay. Mr Wilson’s hope is that that will continue.
Emma Hardy
I share my hon. Friend’s thanks to the Environment Agency. It does an incredible job and was out there working new year’s eve and new year’s day—not celebrating like many of us, but out helping and supporting. I am pleased to hear that positive story from her constituency.
Budget: Implications for Farming Communities
Jo White Excerpts(3 months ago)
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Daniel Zeichner
When we came to power a few months ago, the thing I was asked most strongly to do was to provide stability for the future. Through a series of interventions over the past few months, I have tried to indicate that that is exactly what we will do, whether through the environmental land management schemes or any other issues. The Government faced a huge challenge at this Budget—we all know that. Decisions had to be made. However, I am absolutely convinced that farmers and all those other people who live in rural areas want and need exactly the same decent health services, housing and transport as others do. They will be able to carry on farming, as they have done, but the difference is that that will be in a stable economic system, which means they will not suffer in the way they have over the last decade.
Jo White (Bassetlaw) (Lab)
Many farms in my constituency were under water for months after the floods last year. What is the Minister doing to support those farms as they recover from last year’s horrific storms?
Daniel Zeichner
Extreme weather events have clearly become a growing challenge for us all, which is part of the reason that we are so determined to make the transition to a more environmentally friendly form of farming. Last year, a scheme was in place to help farmers. The then Government increased it; as I say, I am not sure that they exactly identified where the money was coming from, but we have identified the money. We have honoured it and will be paying the £60 million out to farmers in the next couple of weeks.