Cuts to flood defence funding could cost £3bn in future, Government warned
Not sure if now is a good time to be “rowing back” on flood defence expenditure personally. This article tells us more:
Cuts to spending on flood defences will cost £3 billion in future damages, the Government’s climate change adviser has warned.
The number of households at risk of flood damage is also set to the increase as official spending falls £750 million below the level needed to maintain flood risk at current levels, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has said.
The warning comes as existing flood defences were overwhelmed by waters as a series of river and coastal floods hit the country over the last six weeks. The village of Muchelney, in Somerset is entering its third week cut off from the surrounding area with residents forced to commute by boat.
The CCC report published yesterday heavily criticises the Government for not spending enough and warning the number of households at flood risk, and damages from flood events, to be “on the increase.”
The CCC estimated that current spending is almost £750m below the amount needed to keep flood risk at current levels Warning of “a significant fall in spending” over the last few years the committee said that at current spending levels around 250,000 more households becoming exposed to a significant risk of flooding by 2035.