West Worcestershire MP Dame Harriett Baldwin has pledged to continue pressing for funding as the Environment Agency considers how to support Tenbury Wells’s need for permanent flood protection.
The MP met with the Environment Agency chief executive Philip Duffy to discuss the challenges securing full funding for the Tenbury flood scheme which is estimated to have quadrupled in cost since the scheme as first announced in 2020.
The Government is planning to consult on the way large flood defence schemes are funded and an announcement is due later this year. The envelope of capital funding for flood defence schemes is set out until 2026, after which time a new Comprehensive Spending Review which is due to report in June 2025 will set out the funding envelope for schemes from 2026 onwards.
The MP agreed to continue lobbying for the Tenbury scheme as the Government carries out its spending review and the Chancellor makes a fiscal statement to the House of Commons on March 26.
Dame Harriett said:
“Following my meeting with the Environment Agency, it is clear that a large sum of money has been ear-marked for Tenbury but it is still not enough to allow the scheme to proceed and there is no clarity at the Environment Agency as to their future funding after 2026.
“We all know that Tenbury will flood again and all eyes will be on the town. It is essential that the Labour government continue to prioritise flood defence spending in their spending review. I’m planning to continue to make the case for rural schemes when the Government opens its consultation and in the meantime I know the Environment Agency and the County Council will start work on rebuilding the Market Street wall very soon.”