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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what parameters her Department uses to determine whether to activate the Flood Recovery Framework.

My thoughts are with all householders and business owners impacted by flooding which is a devastating experience for those affected.

Government recovery support in the aftermath of flooding is only provided in exceptional circumstances. Activation of the Flood Recovery Framework is at the joint discretion of Ministers in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Growth, Department for Business and Trade and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, who own and administrate the various schemes in the Framework. There are no fixed thresholds for activation.  When making the decision each event is considered on its own merits looking at factors including how widespread the event is, the significance and scale of impacts, comparison to previous events / activations and the severity of the on-going situation. These factors combined help to determine if an event can be considered exceptional. For comparison, when the Framework was last activated following Storms Babet in October 2023 and Henk in January 2024, together over 8,500 homes and businesses were impacted across England.