Answer Calderdale’s SOS appeal over floods – Holly Lynch and Craig Whittaker

Calderdale is in desperate need of a coherent, multi-departmental approach from the Government. Following the 2015 Boxing Day floods, Cobra met twice on Boxing Day itself and again on December 27.

Far from being a bureaucratic exercise, Cobra meetings create an entrenched strategic approach; bringing together all relevant governmental agencies around a table, with the leadership of the Prime Minister or a Secretary of State, to quickly unlock central government resources.

Despite the substantial damage caused by flooding in Calderdale and across the UK, a Cobra meeting has not yet been called. Due to this, we have spent the following weeks shuttling between our constituencies and Westminster to frantically lobby the Government behind the scenes – and in public – to get the support that we need to rebuild our communities.

So far, we have both been left frustrated and disappointed.

People’s lives have been brought to a chaotic impasse. The devastation caused by the storms has had an effect on around 1,200 residential and business properties.

The Government must quickly ensure that all properties affected are eligible to receive resilience grants and the business waiver scheme, like in 2015. Recently, the Environment Secretary stated that homes that previously received grants would not require them again as ‘they have already made their homes more resilient’. Not only does this demonstrate an abrasive lack of understanding on the Government’s part, but it’s also inaccurate to think a further round of resilience grants wouldn’t make a difference.

As our climate becomes more unpredictable, Calderdale will face a recurrent risk of flooding. We urge the Government to reflect this sustained threat by granting ‘Tier 1’ status to the area. The Government must fulfil its fundamental duty to our communities and ensure that Calderdale Council and its partner agencies have the resources required to protect us.

In light of sustained flood risk, we are also calling for the introduction of a bespoke insurance scheme for flood- affected businesses, not dissimilar to Flood Re which has made insurance more widely available for residential properties. Without being able to offer that safety net to businesses, we are in danger of seeing an exodus of businesses and jobs in areas at risk of flooding which will do our aspirations for Yorkshire’s economy no favours at all.

The Government has shown a clear intent to improve infrastructure in the North. We hope that it will turn its rhetoric into action and provide an infrastructure recovery fund to Calderdale. Local roads and bridges must be fixed. The damage to highways after 2015 ran up to £25m, and although the final costs are expected to be less this time, they will still run into the millions.

The Community Foundation for Calderdale has also played an integral role in that. Its flood appeal from 2015 helped to deliver the Watermark and Floodsave schemes, and their 2020 appeal has so far raised nearly £350,000. In 2015, the Government announced quickly that it would match the funds raised and did so in South Yorkshire for their fundraising appeal just before the recent 2019 general election. We are calling on the Government to make the same offer once again to amplify the goodwill of the donations already collected.

As MPs, we fight and advocate for our constituencies, but we cannot recover from events like these without the material resources only available from central Government. We do not need photo opportunities or visits, we just need Government support.

We are proud to represent a part of the world renowned for its resilience and for its fortitude when faced with adversity. Just like in the years gone by, we will always defeat the challenges caused by flooding. Yet the Prime Minister must show leadership, and recognise the commitment his Government has made to the North.

We are calling on the Government to level-up its flood response to fully repair the damage caused in Calderdale and to mitigate against similar scenarios in the future.

Holly Lynch is the Labour MP for Halifax and Craig Whittaker is Tory MP for Calder Valley