Government announces £4.2bn flood defence plan to protect 200,000 homes
The government has announced a £4.2bn flood defence and resilience plan to protect 200,000 homes, with questions over insurance, new build and rising flood risk.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
The government has announced a £4.2 billion flood defence and resilience plan that it says will protect an extra 200,000 homes across England. The announcement comes amid warnings that a changing climate is producing more 'weather whiplash', with droughts and floods happening close together.
Environment Agency figures released in June suggest about 11.3 million people in England live in areas at risk of flooding. That number is projected to rise sharply by 2050, especially in London and the North East. Wait, the transcript says London and South East England.
The government has also launched a preparedness campaign, including a video by the animators Aardman, urging people to know their own flood risk and be ready. Its message is aimed at households that may have to deal with flooding in future.
The human impact was set out by one family whose home was flooded by a storm in January. They described water coming up the driveway and into the garage before reaching the house by morning. They lifted belongings and used towels and rugs, but could not stop the water. 'I'm not going through that again, definitely not,' one of them said.
Insurance is a remaining concern. The government-backed Flood Re scheme is due to end before 2040, and new homes are excluded from it. At the same time, the government wants to build 1.5 million new homes in this parliament, and some of those could be in flood risk areas. A flooding minister said people need places to live and that the country needs more homes, but that the government is determined to make sure those homes do not cause flooding and are not subjected to flooding.
A new flood and drought resilience task force will meet later this week. Its members include the campaigner Mary Long-Dhonau, known as Flood Mary. She said it is imperative that the government keeps increasing spending on flood risk management. She described the work as a jigsaw of many pieces: hard engineered defences, working with nature to slow the flow, and ensuring new build is not built in places at risk of flooding.
On screen
Stills are sampled automatically at 60-second intervals. Where shown, the still is the nearest available frame from the relevant broadcast segment and is included to show what was on screen during that part of the broadcast. A still may not correspond to the exact second of a quoted phrase.
Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |
|---|---|
| Only on one channel | |
| The government announced a plan including £4.2 billion for flood defences and resilience to protect an extra 200,000 homes in England. | |
| The government-backed Flood Re scheme is due to end before 2040 and excludes new homes. | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
Channel 4 led with the government's £4.2 billion plan but built its report around the gap between the announcement and the wider risks. It gave space to a family flooded in January, the Environment Agency's 11.3 million figure, insurance problems around Flood Re and the tension with plans for 1.5 million new homes. The tone was concerned and practical rather than confrontational, ending with the new flood and drought task force.
- “The government has today announced plans to protect an extra 200,000 homes from flooding across England, amid warnings that our changing climate is leading to more cases of weather whiplash, with droughts and floods occurring in close proximity.”
- “And while a £4.2 billion spend on flood defences and resilience will, we're told, protect 200,000 homes, there are questions about insurance with the government-backed flood re-scheme due to end before 2040 and with new homes excluded.”
- “It's imperative that government continue to increase the money they spend on flood risk management.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.