Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to support property level flood resilience measures.

The Department is supporting local authorities affected by Storm Desmond and Storm Eva with community recovery, business support and property resilience through the Communities and Business Recovery Scheme. Initial guidance on the support available was sent to local authorities in December. More detailed guidance on support for property resilience was issued on 15 January, on the same day that a Property Level Resilience Workshop was hosted at Manchester Metropolitan University.

To date the Department has paid out over £47 million under the Communities and Business Recovery Scheme. It is for local authorities to determine how to use this money to best meet local need and ensure value for money.