Asked by: Leigh Ingham (Labour - Stafford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people have accessed financial support through the (a) Property Flood Resilience grant and (b) Flood Recovery Framework in Stafford constituency.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra currently has two active Property Flood Resilience (PFR) Grant schemes running, one for Storm Babet from October 2023 and a second for Storm Henk from January 2024. Staffordshire County Council are participating in both.
PFR Grant schemes run for 18 months. Final data on the number of properties receiving Defra PFR grants after Storms Babet and Henk will not be available until both the schemes close later in 2025.
Asked by: Leigh Ingham (Labour - Stafford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Rural England Prosperity Fund will receive funding for 2025-2026.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Autumn Statement on 30 October confirmed Defra’s budgets for 2024-25 and 2025-26. Funding allocations for individual programmes for the next financial year will be determined through the department’s business planning exercise.
The Department are working closely with the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government and will update on the Rural England Prosperity Fund in due course.
Asked by: Leigh Ingham (Labour - Stafford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the defences against flooding in rural areas.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All flood and coastal risk management investment schemes are carefully assessed to make sure they benefit the most people and property.
As I announced on 13 November, additional financial support will be provided to rural communities, recognising the significant impact of flooding on farmers. £50 million will be distributed to internal drainage boards (IDBs), and £60m will be paid to farmers impacted by last year’s severe weather: Written statements - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament.