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People living in areas at the highest risk of flooding face cuts to key services due to a sharp rise in flood defence costs, councils have warned.
The government is being urged to overhaul funding for the bodies overseeing flood alleviation as soaring costs have seen an average rise of 28% over the past two years, according to data from the District Councils’ Network, which represents 169 English councils.
Higher energy and fuel prices – needed for pumping stations – increasingly extreme wet weather and wage increases are the main causes of the cost of flood defences being pushed up for the current 2024/25 financial year.
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Public bodies called internal drainage boards are responsible for reducing flood risks and managing water levels to protect nearly one million properties across England, 50,000 farms, 56 power stations, and hundreds of miles of motorway and railway.
Councils have to collect funding for those internal drainage boards and do so through council tax, meaning areas at severe flood risk have to use more of taxpayers’ money for flooding than areas without any, or with little flooding.
With a large increase in costs for the internal drainage boards, councils are warning they will have to dig into funds meant for everything from waste collection to adult social care and libraries to fund flood defences.
The council areas facing the highest increases are:
East Lindsey, Lincolnshire – £1.37m increase (35%)
Boston, Lincolnshire – £710,000 increase (33%)
South Holland, Lincolnshire – £580,000 increase (20%)
Doncaster, South Yorkshire – £500,000 (35%)
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