Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to support residential properties impacted by recent flooding.

My thoughts remain with householders and business owners impacted by flooding after Storm Bert, flooding is a devastating experience for those affected.

Government support in the aftermath of flooding is only provided in exceptional circumstances. On this occasion, the Flood Recovery Framework was not activated following Storm Bert, due to the localised nature of the flooding. Overall, the scale of impacts was similar to that seen in many local areas this autumn and was not sufficiently significant for Government to intervene and for the Framework to be activated.