Herefordshire ‘should have had more help after floods’ says MP

Questions have been asked in Parliament on why Herefordshire was not better able to help those hit by recent floods.

North Herefordshire Green MP Ellie Chowns told environment secretary Steve Reed that in previous floods just five weeks ago in October, “more than 100 households in Herefordshire were flooded, yet the flood recovery framework was not initiated because ministers felt that the flooding was not widespread or severe enough”.

This framework “provides vital support that councils can pass on to help that recovery: immediate grants for communities and businesses, with council tax and business rates relief”, she said.

“Will he think about how that is triggered and consider giving the responsibility to local authorities, which are far the best-placed agencies to judge when it is required?”

Mr Reed said Dr Chowns “is quite right to ask how we can improve the flooding formula and get agencies working better on the frontline”, and added he “hope that she will contribute” to a consultation under way on the formula, so it “works much better for her constituents in North Herefordshire and for those in every other part of the country”.

A Herefordshire Council spokesperson said: “Following the October floods, officers were deployed into affected areas to capture details of what happened and to check on people’s welfare.

“However, as Government did not activate the Flood Recovery Framework, the council were unable to provide people with the wider financial support which we administered on Government’s behalf following Storm Henk in January 2024 and Storm Dennis in February 2020.”

Following the most recent floods, “we have again highlighted the importance of the Flood Recovery Framework for our local communities, many of whom have flooded multiple times this year”, they added.