Tens of thousands of homes and businesses will be better protected from flooding as the Labour Government unveils a record package to build new flood defences, and maintain and repair those already in place.
Stephen Morgan welcomes the record two-year investment of £2.65 billion which will be made, better protecting 52,000 properties by March 2026 across the country, including those within Portsmouth.
To shore up creaking defences left in substandard conditions through underinvestment in repairs, funding will also be shifted towards maintenance, ensuring a further 14,500 properties have their expected level of protection maintained or restored, for a total of 66,500 properties benefiting from this funding across the UK.
This Labour Government inherited flood assets in their poorest condition on record, as 14 years of damaging storms and underinvestment from the Conservatives left 3,000 of the Environment Agency’s 38,000 high-consequence assets at below the required condition.
This announcement comes as the Labour Government’s Floods Resilience Taskforce met with the Floods Minister Emma Hardy joined by ministers from across government alongside representatives from the Met Office, Local Resilience Forum and the National Farmers Union. They will look at further steps that can be taken to protect the 6.3 million properties in England at risk from flooding, lessons to learn from Storms Bert, Conall and Éowyn this winter.
Establishing the Flood Resilience Taskforce was a pledge the Labour Party made when in opposition and has now delivered in government as part of the Plan for Change.
Commenting, Portsmouth South MP Stephen Morgan said:
“Recent flooding incidents across the country have reminded us of the urgent need to be better protected from the impacts of climate change.
“I’ve supported the vital Southsea Coastal Defence programme since the start and all efforts to protect Portsmouth from flooding, working with local people and businesses to ensure their views are heard.
“I’m delighted the Labour Government is now investing a record £2.65 billion to build and maintain flood defences across the country to protect lives, homes and businesses from the dangers of flooding – including here in Portsmouth.”
