A £5m pilot fund for communities devastated by flooding or for those who are at risk has been launched today by Environment Minister Richard Benyon to protect their homes and businesses.
Up to 20 communities will receive grants for local flood risk management schemes. Defra will evaluate the success of each scheme to identify the best ways to improve resilience to flooding in communities across the country.
Environment Minister Richard Benyon said:
“Flooding causes devastating damage to people’s homes and possessions and can leave whole communities living in fear of more bad weather. This scheme will give these communities the chance to design and implement their own projects to protect their homes and businesses from future flooding.
“More is being spent by Government and our partners on flood risk management in this four year spending period than any other. We have introduced a new funding model that gives local people more choice over flood protection and allows more schemes to go ahead. We now expect to exceed our goal to protect a further 145,000 homes and businesses by 2015.”
Defra is inviting local authorities across England to come forward with proposals to improve their communities’ resilience to flooding. Funding for the successful applicants will begin in March 2013.
The Flood Resilience Community Pathfinder is a pilot scheme that will be run over two years.
Last week, the Government announced £120 million in new funding to speed up the delivery of flood defences that it said could protect up to 60,000 homes and deliver up to £1 billion of economic benefits.
£60 million of the funding will be targeted at areas where flood defences can unlock new areas for development and growth with investment focused on areas where it will have the greatest economic impact. A further £60 million will help speed up the delivery of up to 50 flood defence schemes already in train and prioritised by the Environment Agency.
Ray Moulds, Sales Director at Flood Control International, takes a look at how automated sliding floodgates are supporting secondary containment at water and sewerage company sites.
With the UK government demanding a 50% reduction in storm overflow spills by 2029, the era of reactive management is over. Speaking in the House of Commons on 21 July 2025, then environment secretary Steve Reed said, “This Government will cut water companies’ sewage pollution in half by the end of the decade.”
ERG, the leading supplier of odour control systems and industrial gas cleaning & thermal systems, has been awarded the coveted King’s Award for Enterprise.
Welsh Water’s new artificial intelligence-driven tool, ORAI, has been shortlisted for three categories at the prestigious British Data Awards 2026 – underscoring the company’s commitment to using cutting-edge technology to deliver better outcome for customers.
Hear how Scottish Water has completed its £235 million Ayrshire Glasgow Resilience Project - customers across Greater Glasgow, Ayrshire and East Renfrewshire will now benefit from a more secure and resilient water supply.
Hear how United Utilities is accelerating its investment to reduce spills from storm overflows across the Northwest.
Find out more about the remarkable career opportunities on offer at WSP - scroll down to watch the inspirational video.