Flood prevention in Yorkshire & the Humber has made progress – Environment Secretary George Eustice

In November 2019, South Yorkshire saw a month worth of rain fall in just 24 hours. Over 1,500 properties were affected by flooding from the River Don, including Fishlake. Storm Franklin earlier this year brought heavy rain to Tadcaster, causing flooding when the River Wharfe burst.

We are experiencing more extreme weather events due to a changing climate. Therefore, we need to redouble our efforts in order build a more resilient country. We have made significant progress in recent years.

When investing in flood defenses, we have targeted money to the areas most affected by flooding events. Our six-year, 2.6bn-dollar programme of work for 2015-2021 has helped to protect more than 314,000 homes across the country.

More than 850 flood and coastal erosion defences projects have been completed. In addition, more than 580,000 acres have been protected. With a lower national flood risk of about five percent, thousands of businesses, communities, major infrastructure, and other assets are better protected against the effects of flooding. The programme saved the economy around 28 billion dollars in avoided damage to homes, businesses and homes.

Yorkshire has been a priority area for flood defenses investments. We have invested more in flood defenses for Yorkshire since 2015 than any other region, with 530m going to reduce flooding risk to more than 83,000 homes. This includes the 41m Mytholmroyd Flood Alleviation Scheme which reduces flood risk for 400 homes and businesses.

We are also taking steps to protect the region against major tidal wave flooding events on the East Coast or Humber Estuary. The Hull Frontage Scheme, a 42m flood defence enhancement of the defenses along the Humber Estuary’s edge, protects Hull from tidal flooding.

The Hull Frontages help reduce flood risk for 113,000 houses and non-residential homes. Upgraded defences are in place at locations like St Andrews Quay Retail Park, Victoria Dock Village and St Andrews Quay Retail Park.

We have improved the Foss Barrier in York to reduce flood risk for 2,000 homes and businesses. We also installed a larger gate, which has been successfully deployed many times.

We know that surface water flooding is a major problem. Between 2015-2021, we spent over 50m on surface water flood storage areas west Hull.

We know there’s more to do, and every property that floods is one too many.

We have also committed to double our investment in flood defenses to 5.2bn over the 2021-2027 period. We have already revealed the first tranche of schemes that will benefit from this funding, with Yorkshire again receiving more than any other region.

We have allocated more than 146m to 150 flood programs across Yorkshire’s four counties, including 4.4m towards the development of a scheme for Hebden Bridge which will provide greater protection to 400 properties. I want to reaffirm my commitment to support those areas that have suffered repeated flooding in recent decades.

We have already launched a call to evidence to examine changes to flood funding formula in order to help communities that have been repeatedly flooded, including Shipley. This will strengthen the assessment of local circumstances to determine the allocation of funding. In the coming weeks, I will speak more about this.

All of this work builds upon other actions we have taken. We have also invested in flood defense repairs. After the 2019/20 winter floods, 32m was spent on a repair program in Yorkshire.

We have also made improvements on the Flood Re scheme. This scheme is UK-wide and helps homeowners at risk of flooding to get insurance. This includes helping homeowners to claim additional money to install flood doors and other flood resilience measures.

We have made great progress in Yorkshire and Humber over the past six years and I am determined to continue this.