Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an estimate of the number and proportion of businesses that are (a) without flood insurance and (b) eligible for business recovery grants.

The Government does not collect data on the proportion of businesses that are without flood insurance.

Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in England are in principle eligible to receive the Department for Business and Trades Business Recovery Grant as long as they:

1. Are located in a geographic area which has reached the threshold to receive support under the Flood Recovery Framework and where the local authority has taken the decision to participate in the Framework; and
2. Satisfy the criteria for receiving a Business Recovery Grant as set out within the Flood Recovery Framework and associated guidance.

It is for a local authority to make an assessment on who qualifies for a Business Recovery Grant in the light of all the criteria and circumstances on the ground.

If they are in an eligible area and have suffered internal flooding, they should contact their local authority to understand if they can also Defra’s Property Flood Resilience recovery grant, which provides for up to £5,000 to install measure to make eligible properties more resilient to future flooding.