North Shropshire MP calls for more support for flood-hit communities
Helen Morgan was at Prime Minister's Questions
North Shropshire MP Helen Morgan has called on the Prime Minister to step in and offer support to farmers after the impact of nationwide flooding and wet weather over the past weeks.
The MP spoke at PMQs to highlight the fact that the Government has only spent £2 million of the £50 million allocated to the Farming Recovery Fund according to a Freedom of Information Request from Farmers’ Weekly.
The criteria for the fund excludes counties like Shropshire, with many farmers feeling helpless and unable to access much-needed support. The low take-up rate for the scheme is a direct result of this unnecessarily strict criteria.
Helen has previously called on Ministers to act and review the Farming Recovery Fund, asking previous Secretary of State Steve Barclay MP to ensure the scheme was ‘properly adjusted to consider the realities of rural flooding’.
Today she reiterated her calls, asking Angela Rayner – deputising for Keir Starmer at today’s PMQs – to broaden the scheme so that flood-hit farmers in counties like Shropshire can access the support they need.
It comes after Helen was made Chair of a cross-party group of MPs focusing on flood resilience in Parliament. Helen intends to use the APPG on Flooding and Flooded Communities to push for measures that will support communities that are regularly affected by flooding.
Helen Morgan, Liberal Democrat MP for North Shropshire, asked the Deputy Prime Minister:
“Shropshire's farmers have been suffering from flooding following 18 months of incredibly wet weather, topped off last Wednesday by in 24 hours, a month's worth of rain.
“They weren't eligible for the Farming Recovery Fund. A Freedom of Information request by Farmers Weekly found that only £2.1 million of that £50 million has been handed out to farmers.
“Will the Government consider extending the eligibility of that scheme so that we can keep farmers going when they're deluged by floodwater?”
The Deputy Prime Minister replied:
“I'm really sorry to hear the plight of the Shropshire farmers and we inherited the flood defence programme in disrepair.
“Thanks to 14 years of mismanagement and failure, communities are unprotected and families and businesses are forced to pay the price. We launched a Flood Defence Task Force to turbocharger delivery and coordination of flood defences.
“We’ve launched a Flood Defence Task Force to turbocharger delivery and coordination of flood defences, and we're investing in £1.5 billion this year to scale up flooding national resilience. I will make sure she gets a meeting with the Minister.”