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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department provides grants to help towards the recovery of a person's home following flooding; and if he will make a statement.

Following severe weather with significant impacts across multiple local authorities the Government can deploy the Flood Recovery Framework (Framework). Run by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), there are several Government schemes available for people whose properties have been flooded.

The Framework includes:

o Community Recovery Grant: Eligible local authorities will receive funding equivalent to £500 per flooded household.

o Business Recovery Grant: Eligible local authorities will receive £2,500 per eligible small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) which have suffered severe impacts from the floods that cannot be recovered from insurance.

o Council Tax Discount: The Government will reimburse eligible local authorities for the cost of providing residents with 100% council tax relief for a minimum of three months.

o Business Rates Relief: The Government will reimburse eligible local authorities for the cost of providing a minimum of three months of 100% relief from business rates, or longer if the business is unable to resume trading.

In addition, Defra may implement the Property Flood Resilience (PFR) Repair Scheme in exceptional circumstances. This provides flood-hit homes and businesses in eligible district and unitary authorities, to receive a contribution of up to £5,000 towards making properties more resilient against future flooding.

Both the Framework and PFR Repair Scheme were activated following severe flooding in November 2019 and February 2020. Tewkesbury is eligible for both the Framework and PFR Repair Scheme for both events.

With localised flooding incidents local authorities are expected to have contingency arrangements in place to respond and support the recovery from within their existing budgets. They have discretionary powers to fund grants, loans or other payments for home improvements. This can include funding for PFR measures.

The Government has doubled the amount it invests in the flood and coastal defence programme in England to £5.2 billion over six years. This will better protect a further 336,000 properties including homes and non-residential properties such as schools and hospitals. On 1 February 2021, Defra published a Call for Evidence which included looking at potential changes to the funding formula to provide further benefit to frequently flooded communities. It also explored ways to increase the uptake of PFR measures to enable householders and businesses to better prepare for flooding. The Call for Evidence closed in March and the Government is currently considering the responses received.