Decision details

To approve future funding options for flood alleviation work in the county.

RESOLVED:

That the Leader of the council writes to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Secretary of State for Department of Communities & Local Government and Secretary of State for Department of Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, stating that:

a)    Because of the scale of the River Thames Scheme and the potential economic impacts at risk if it does not proceed, this is a nationally significant scheme and it is not appropriate to apply Defra’s FDGiA Partnership Funding model to it.

b)    Surrey County Council has no capital reserves to meet Surrey’s local contribution for the River Thames Scheme as requested by the Environment Agency, and requests that Central Government provide the capital required for the scheme.

c)    Should Central Government not provide the capital required for the scheme up-front, then Surrey County Council would be willing to take out a loan to pay Surrey’s local contribution for the River Thames Scheme (at a cost of approximately £4.5m per year for 40 years) subject to Central Government funding the annual costs of borrowing.

Reason for decision:

Surrey County Council’s current budget for flood alleviation work is very limited. There is not enough funding to develop schemes for all of the areas at significant risk of flooding in the county. The 2013/14 floods highlighted a number of risks across Surrey and if a flood event of a similar magnitude were to take place again in the coming years, the council’s inability to carry out work in the relevant areas owing to resource and budget constraints means that many locations would continue to suffer the same or worse economic and social damage to their communities.

It is also essential that greater protection from River Thames flooding in particular is provided for the many Surrey residents and businesses currently affected. The funding arrangements of the proposed RTS scheme present a high risk that it is unaffordable and will not be delivered.

[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Environment and Infrastructure Select Committee]