Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support those persons and businesses affected by flooding of the River Severn in the Shrewsbury and Ironbridge areas of Shropshire.

Government responded immediately to the Storms Ciara and Dennis by activating the Bellwin Scheme of emergency financial assistance on 10 February and extended this to more areas (including Shropshire) on 17 February.

Further to this, the Government activated the Flood Recovery Framework on 18 February for local authorities with 25 or more flooded households. The Framework provides funding for local authorities, to help affected residents and businesses to recover from the flooding, as well as reimbursements to local authorities for offering 100 per cent council tax discounts and business rates relief to these affected properties.

The Government has also announced the Property Flood Resilience Scheme to help householders and businesses implement measures to make their properties become more resilient to flooding.

Government continues to work with local authorities to assess the full extent of the flooding impacts and will release the funding to eligible local authorities in due course.