Image description: High river levels after flooding. Image by Laughing Cynic from Pixabay

The government has pledged to fund new flood defences for deprived communities across the UK, under reforms they say aim to safeguard England’s renewal by better protecting homes and businesses from flooding.

The Government said rules on allocating flood defence funding were being updated for the first time since 2011. The changes aim to overhaul a complex process that put councils with limited resources at a disadvantage, support more innovative anti-flooding measures and speed up building.

Ministers said £10.5 billion was being spent up to 2036 on new flood defences and repairing existing infrastructure, to protect nearly 900,000 homes.

At least 20% of the future investment will be set aside to help protect the most deprived communities in England over the next 10 years, the Environment Department (Defra) said.

And new rules from April next year will ensure that all prioritised projects valued at £3 million or less will be eligible for full Government funding, while those prioritised schemes valued above that will be fully funded for the first £3 million, and the Government will contribute 90% of costs for the rest.

New projects will be prioritised on value for money, with contributions from sources such as businesses, wildlife groups or farm clusters boosting the chances of schemes being approved.

Refurbishing existing flood defences will be treated on an equal footing with new projects, as ageing defences face growing pressures and need vital repairs, the Government said.

Officials also said investment in cost-effective and nature-boosting “natural flood defences”, such as restoring flood plains and holding water higher up the catchment through “leaky dams” and planting trees, would form a key part of the new approach to managing flood risk.