Lincolnshire fire chief warns of increased flooding incidents across county

Mark Baxter, of Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue, explained that previously there was an average of about 90 flooding incidents per year. However, this number has increased to 214 between 2019/20 and 2023/24.

A report presented to the public protection & communities scrutiny committee at Lincolnshire County Council yesterday (November 12) details a general increase in flooding incidents across the county, with “spikes” occurring at various times of the year, including October and January, due to the recent Storms Henk and Babet.

Addressing members, Mr Baxter acknowledged that while a map showing all instances from the last five years might suggest “hotspots of flooding,” the issue actually occurs “pretty much in all areas of the county”.

He also highlighted that the service is increasingly responding by providing advice to residents and communities.

Councillor Anton Dani (Conservative) praised the work done by Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue but raised concerns about what the future might hold, specifically referencing the recent floods in Valencia.

More than 200 people died in the floods caused by torrential rain, and 80 people are still missing.

Chairman Andrew Key (Conservative) added: “After what we saw on the news in Spain, it just shows that flooding can happen anywhere and, as that map shows, it’s all over the county.”

Former Lincoln MP Karen Lee (Labour) stressed the “inescapable” link between climate change and flooding, which Mr Baxter described as a “very real risk” to the fire service in regards to its response.

“We were all shocked to see the events that played out in Spain, and there’s going to be an awful lot of learning we will take internationally in regards to not being complacent. We will always take the attitude of asking what we can learn from such tragic events happening internationally.”

He continued: “When we’re talking about severe weather, we know we are increasingly responding to significant impacts from increased heat and hot, dry weather.”

The fire chief also stressed the importance of providing crews with the right equipment, enabling them to deal with the impacts of climate change.

The government has announced it is bolstering England’s resilience to flooding through additional financial support to farmers and rural communities, as well as refreshing its approach to delivering funding to make sure it works for communities.

Recognising the significant impact of flooding on farmers, Floods Minister Emma Hardy, revealed today (Wednesday) an additional £50 million will be distributed to internal drainage boards (IDBs), the public bodies responsible for managing water levels for agricultural and environmental needs in a particular area.

In a statement from Labour’s regional office, it was said that this “transformational investment” will put IDBs on a firm footing to deliver their vital role in flood and water management for years to come. The scheme will require IDBs to submit bids to spend shares of the £50 million on projects over the next two years. This will benefit projects that will improve, repair or replace IDB assets – including flood barriers, embankments and maintenance of watercourses. The Environment Agency has begun work with IDBs to distribute the funding from today.

£15 million has already been distributed to IDBs from the first tranche of IDB funding, with a further £10 million expected to be distributed by the end of this year.

The £50 million will be distributed to IDBs from the second tranche of funding. It will be split over two years in order to give IDBs confidence that they will be able to deliver planned projects.

The Environment Agency will be engaging with IDBs on existing bids for the second tranche and will also be reopening bidding for project ideas that deliver in 2025/26.

But the government has also committed to going further to protect communities from flooding. The government says it inherited an outdated funding formula for allocating money to proposed flood defences. Established in 2011, the existing formula slows down the delivery of new flood schemes through a complex application process, and also neglects more innovative approaches to flood management such as nature-based approaches and sustainable drainage.

A consultation will be launched in the new year which will include a review of the existing formula to ensure that the challenges facing businesses and rural and coastal communities are adequately taken into account when delivering flood protection.

The government has also today confirmed payments to farmers impacted by last year’s severe weather through the Farming Recovery Fund. A total of £60 million will be distributed to eligible farmers, via recovery payments of between £2,895 and £25,000 to around 13,000 farm businesses. Many Lincolnshire farms were impacted by Storms Babet and Henk.

Payments are expected to land in farmers’ accounts from November 21.

Floods Minister Emma Hardy said: “Farmers are the backbone of the nation, with their hard work helping to put food on the family tables across the country.

“More intense weather events are destroying homes, businesses and livelihoods across the country, with farming communities facing the heaviest consequences.

“That is why this Government is reforming how flood funds are distributed to protect businesses, rural and coastal communities as we invest over £2.4 billion in flood defences across the country.”

The government is investing £2.4 billion until March 2026 to improve flood resilience and better protect communities across the country, including from coastal erosion, with further decisions for 2026/27 and beyond made at the next Spending Review.

In September, the Secretary of State also convened the first meeting of the new Floods Resilience Taskforce. This brings together representatives from central and local government, Local Resilience Forums, emergency responders and the National Farmers Union, among others, to discuss how they will speed up and co-ordinate flooding preparation and resilience.

Reacting to the news about flood relief funding, Coun Colin Davie, executive councillor for economic development, environment and planning at Lincolnshire County Council, said: “Whilst the minister may have announced this today, there have been rumblings around this for a while, and there has been some consternation amongst both IDBs and landowners for the respective parts that directly affect them.

“The IDB funding is a second phase of recovery money following a phase 1 that imposed unrealistic timescales on delivery. The commitment now to deliver over a two-year period is more encouraging. The payments to farmers being administered by the Rural Payments Agency has been talked about since the winter storms, and many landowners have already submitted applications, although no payments have yet been made.

“So, whilst this may seem like a ‘new’ good news story, in reality it is only confirming what has been hoped for by IDBs and landowners for months.

“One piece of encouraging news in this though is that a consultation will be launched in the New Year which will include a review of the existing formula to ensure that the challenges facing businesses and rural and coastal communities are adequately taken into account when delivering flood protection. If done properly, this may provide a bit of a lifeline for rural counties like Lincolnshire and allow us to secure a higher percentage of the national funding pot. We need a funding formula that truly recognises the value of agricultural land and the risk rural communities face, and is not just based on ‘chimney pots’, as per the current funding rules. This will be an interesting one to watch.”