The Government has announced the latest in a series of new measures to help communities hit by flooding, including £5000 grants for individual households and businesses and a £10 million fund for farmers.

The  £5,000 “repair and renew” grant for all affected homeowners and businesses will top up any money received from insurers to ensure flood resilience is built into homes and businesses as they are repaired. The £10 million fund for farmers is intended to help them restore water-logged fields to farmable land as quickly as possible. 

All affected businesses will get 100% business rate relief for 3 months and will also get an extra 3 months to pay the business taxes they owe to HMRC as they get back on their feet. HMRC will also set up a new hotline for those who have been affected by flooding and may have difficulties in meeting their tax liabilities. in all cases HMRC will look to offer up to 3 months additional time to pay. This will cover all taxes owed to HMRC, including VAT, PAYE and corporation tax.

In addition, the major banks have given a total commitment in excess of £750 million to provide financial support to business and individual customers affected by the floods

Prime Minister David Cameron said:

“Britain is facing some of the worst flooding in decades following the wettest winter in 2 and a half centuries. Through the COBR mechanism, this government continues to take clear action across the board to ensure that everything that can be done is being done; whether that is extra pumps and sandbags, a commitment to dredging in Somerset, deploying the military to shore up flood defences and provide additional support for local emergency services. We are taking, and will continue to take whatever steps are necessary.”

Mr. Cameron repeated his comment earlier this week that money is no object to help the flood relief effort. However, it appears that this pledge does not extend to increased investment in long-term flood infrastructure.

In addition to the £130 million of increased flood funding already announced, the Prime Minister pledged new action to keep affected areas moving, including:

• the deployment of military personnel to support the flood effort. The military are working through existing Gold and Silver commands to assist local communities and emergency response teams on the ground - reinforcing sandbags and shoring up flood defences, helping children get to school and the sick to medical assistance, providing relief to emergency services who have been working 24/7 and checking on vulnerable individuals
• £31 million confirmed to deliver 10 key rail projects in the South West to improve resilience to flooding, including works at Cowley Bridge in Exeter
• a further £30 million for local authorities in England affected by the severe weather for road maintenance, including pothole repairs

The Prime Minister will continue to lead the national response by chairing meetings of the government’s emergency committee, COBR. To oversee the government’s wider policy response to the recovery, the Prime Minister has set up a new Cabinet Committee and will chair the first meeting on Thursday. The Committee’s Terms of Reference are ‘To provide strategic ministerial oversight of policy on flood recovery and long-term resilience’.

The £10 million fund for farmers suffering water-logged fields will be made available as a one-off grant scheme designed to support farm businesses to restore flooded agricultural land and bring it back into production as quickly as possible. The fGovernment said the fund is also intended to help farmers introduce "lasting and sustainable flood prevention measures" to help secure future production once land is restored

The fund will be open for applications by the end of February -  the application window will be kept open for as long as possible given uncertainty around flood water levels receding.