South West Bedfordshire MP, Andrew Selous, yesterday asked the Government what extra help Central Bedfordshire could receive following last week’s flooding.
The exchange in Hansard was as follows,
Last Friday, I visited residents affected by the floods in Leighton Buzzard. I have also had communication from the leader of Central Bedfordshire Council pointing out the great upset about damage to residential properties and highways in the local authority area. Although we were severely affected, we are not a local authority designated under the Government’s flood recovery framework, so could the Leader of the House give me some guidance on how we can get more investment from water companies, the Environment Agency and internal drainage boards to ensure that we protect properties and highways and prevent such an awful event from affecting people in the future?
May I first say how sorry I am that my hon. Friend’s constituents have been affected? He will know that, through the Government’s long-term policy statement published in 2020, there is a methodical plan to protect properties. We have protected about 600,000 homes from flooding over the past few years with an unprecedented investment, but clearly some areas are not eligible for particular schemes. Given that the next questions to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will not be until next month, and that this will be an imminent issue for his local colleagues, I will write to the Secretary of State and ask that someone from the Department contacts his local authority to discuss the issues they are having and see what support can be provided.
Speaking afterwards, Andrew said “One of the points, I also picked up speaking to flood affected local residents last Friday night was the availability of sandbags which local residents would like to have had, and I have written to Central Bedfordshire Council to see if it’s possible to have local supplies of these ready in advance, so they can be made speedily available to residents who need them.”