MP welcomes £49m fund for flood protection in Boston and Skegness

The funding comes as part of the Conservative Government’s £860 million investment to

protect communities in 2021-22, and is part of a wider record investment of £5.2 billion into protection from flooding and coastal erosion over the next six years.

A consultation will also be launched in the autumn looking at how to better protect

frequently flooded communities.

This means that 19,066 more homes and businesses in Boston and Skegness are to be better protected from flooding and coastal erosion by 2026-27, as part of new plans published by the Conservative Government.

The Flood and Coastal Erosion Investment Plan outlines how this record £5.2 billion of

investment over the next six years will be spent, including more than £860 million in 2021-22

on boosting the design and construction of more than 1,000 flooding alleviation schemes.

An investment of £32,657,923.88 over the financial year of 2021-22, as part of the £860

million worth of investment, will help to rapidly give greater protections to homes which are

vulnerable to flooding and coastal erosion.

The funding will help to protect a total of 336,000 properties in England by 2026-2027,

including 19,066 in Boston and Skegness, helping to avoid £32 billion in wider economic

damages and reducing the national flood risk by up to 11 per cent across the country.

The funding will be accompanied by a consultation in the autumn, where the Government

will look at how to better protect frequently flooded communities, following a call for evidence

earlier this year.

It will consider how to strengthen the assessment of local circumstances, such as where

areas have flooded on multiple occasions, when allocating funding during the six-year plan.

The Conservative Government is also bringing in tighter guidance for planning authorities as

part of a package of actions to better protect and prepare communities for flooding.

Improvements to flood insurance such as measures to allow flooded households to claim

extra money to install property flood resilience measures – like air brick covers, flood doors

and flood resistant paint – and measures to tackle the risks from surface water flooding are

also included in the plans.

Commenting, MP for Boston and Skegness Matt Warman said: “Flooding can devastate communities – too many homes and families in Boston and Skegness have sadly fallen victim to this, and so we must put the necessary protections in place to tackle it.

“The £48,916,928.17 to protect 19,066 homes in Boston and Skegness will help to deliver on

this by boosting the design and construction of flood alleviation schemes and putting the

necessary measures in place to protect homes from flooding and coastal erosion.

“This will help to guard homes and families from the devastating impact of flooding, allowing

people to feel reassured about the safety of their home.”

Commenting, Environment Secretary George Eustice said: “The tragic recent events in Germany and Belgium serve as a sobering reminder of how devastating flooding can be.

“We are standing by communities and will bolster defences against flooding across England

with many thousands more properties better protected by 2027.

“It’s important we take action right across the system. Our comprehensive plan will achieve

this by tightening planning procedures, helping more people access insurance and making

homes more resilient to flooding.”