Warning over soaring costs to protect Norfolk from floods

Calls have been made for the government to overhaul the way bodies which oversee flood alleviation are funded - because taxpayers are being penalised.

Sam Chapman-Allen, leader of Conservative-controlled Breckland Council and chairman of the District Councils' Network (DCN), is leading calls for changes to how internal drainage boards are funded.

Sam Chapman-Allen (Image: Breckland District Council)

The boards - of which there are more than 10 in Norfolk - have seen costs go up by 28pc since 2022/23, amid higher energy and fuel prices, along with increasingly extreme wet weather events.

READ MORE: Flooding in Norfolk could come earlier this year, experts warn

Until 2016, the levy those boards impose on councils to pay for work, such as building new pumping stations and clearing streams, was reimbursed by the government.

But, since then, councils have been expected to pay for it using their own revenue, including from money generated by council tax.

Flooding in west Norfolk (Image: Supplied)

With government restrictions on annual council tax rises, campaigners say that means less money is available for council services.

Mr Chapman-Allen said that means taxpayers in places such as Norfolk are being unfairly penalised.

He said: "It is only by properly funding flood prevention that defences can be maintained over vast swathes of the country and we avoid catastrophic flooding threatening life and livelihood.

“Internal Drainage Authorities have little option but to pass their higher costs onto councils – and in response councils have no choice but to further cut back on the local services which are vital for supporting local communities and growing local economies.

“We urge ministers to work with us to ensure those living in areas at risk of flooding are not unfairly penalised through the form of higher tax bills and a reduction in the services upon which we all depend."

Work undertaken by King's Lynn Internal Drainage Board to cut reeds from a stream (Image: King's Lynn Internal Drainage Board)

The DCN said potential solutions could include the government funding the full costs of drainage boards to councils or scrapping the council tax cap.

The impact in Norfolk has been raised before.

West Norfolk Council has lobbied for change, with the authority saying it has to pay £3m a year to the boards, while MPs urged the Treasury to intervene.