Labour's Steve Reed says money is available to fix the UK's flooding problems

Steve Reed, Labour's Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, said there is pot worth £4bn that can be spent on easing the effects flooding has on communities.

On Wednesday, April 17, on a trip to South Milford and Tadcaster, in North Yorkshire, Mr Reed said money is not the issue when it comes to tackling flooding.

“We’ve just had one of the wettest six months ever recorded and we can’t have a situation where the government, frankly, is just standing back and letting communities be devastated, " Mr Reed said.

“Coordination is what’s lacking, for once it isn’t money.

“The government allocated a pot of £5bn to be spent by 2027 to put in place flood defences, but they’ve only spent £1bn of it.

“The other £4bn is sitting in the coffers of the treasury while you’ve got communities who are having to face the devastation of flood water destroying their homes.”

Mr Reed said if he became the Secretary of State for Environment after the next general election, he would focus on building flood defences, digging out drainage systems and planting more trees along riverbanks.

However, he said he would need to see what projects have already been allocated funding before committing to when Labour would spend the money.

Mr Reed also confirmed that Labour is not looking at rewilding beavers across the country, a solution that has previously been suggested by the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.

Labour would, however, establish a COBRA-style ‘flood resilience task force’ that would meet before every winter “to protect communities from the dangers of flooding”.

The task force would be chaired by a minister responsible for flooding.

On his trip to North Yorkshire, Mr Reed met with community groups who have been raising the issue of flooding in their towns repeatedly.

Ian Nicholls, a member of the South Milford Flood Defence group, said: “While we had some interest from the previous MP (Nigel Adams) that didn’t pan out into action on the ground at all.”

Mr Adams, the former MP for Selby and Ainsty, was replaced by Labour’s Keir Mather last year.

Mr Nicholls said Mr Mather’s eagerness has led him to be hopeful that the issue can continue to be raised to government ministers.

One issue in particular that Mr Mather has raised in Parliament has been the effect of flooding on farmers, who “have to hold flood water on their land, lose hundreds of thousands of pounds and they don’t get any compensation for doing it.”

Mr Mather added: “We need to see greater support for farmers with greater flood resilience but also recognising the sacrifices they make.”

David Skaith, Labour’s candidate to be elected Mayor of York and North Yorkshire on May 2, was asked what he could do for communities affected by flooding.

He said: “It’s really about being a spokesperson for the region and being able to bring people like Steve Reed up here to see our communities, highlight how important it is and put some emphasis behind it.

“It is a real issue we have here.”

In January, the Environment Agency reported that more than 102,000 properties were protected from the flooding caused by Storm Henk.

The government also released a fund to support farmers who suffered uninsurable damage to their land due to flooding earlier this year with grants of between £500 and £25,000.

Farming minister Mark Spencer said: “I know how difficult this winter has been for farmers, with extreme weather such as Storm Henk having a devastating impact on both cropping and grazing, as well as damaging property and equipment.

“The Farming Recovery Fund will support farmers who suffered uninsurable damage with grants of up to £25,000, and sits alongside broader support in our farming schemes to improve flood resilience.”