Government commit £5m for flood risk households

Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) has set out plans to contribute at least £5m to a scheme to support households in England which face a particularly high risk of flooding but which are not protected by traditional community level defences.

The funding comes on top of any help already provided by local authorities, the insurance industry and households themselves. A consultation inviting views on how best the money can be spent is being published today and looks at the possibility of providing a free home flood survey and offering a grant to cover some of the costs of the measures themselves.

Environment Minister Phil Woolas said: "Traditional community level defences are not a viable answer to flooding in all areas, but individual