Farm flood funding put at risk by Treasury rules

Tens of millions of pounds of funding pledged by the prime minister to help drain floodwater off farmland is being put at risk because of the Treasury’s insistence that the money be spent by 31 March next year.

At the NFU conference in February, Rishi Sunak promised £75m would be allocated to Internal Drainage Boards (IDBs) to support their recovery following a series of winter storms.

See more: £50m earmarked for rain-affected farmers in England

Farmers Weekly understands £25m of that pot will be used to reimburse IDBs for money already spent, but there will be real difficulties in getting the £50m which was due to be invested in new infrastructure in place by the end of March.

IDBs are expected to make bids for storm recovery by 7 June and for asset improvement by 28 June. 

Innes Thomson, chief executive of the Association of Drainage Authorities (ADA), said: “How in Heaven’s name, with a standing start, do you spend £75m in that time?

“You need to get hold of equipment and machinery, most of which will take 12 to 18 months to procure, so it’s almost ‘task impossible’ to do this, simply because of the rules Treasury is trying to require Defra to operate to.

“There’s a bit of an internal squabble going on. Defra is desperately trying to get this sorted, but they seem to be being stymied by Treasury rules on this and we’re getting quite annoyed.

“If this doesn’t happen, there’s going to be a bit of a red face for the prime minister and for the secretary of state, having pledged this is how they want to help the farming sector and the IDBs.”

Mr Thomson added a three-year timescale to spend the cash would be more realistic.

The Treasury has confirmed the funding will only be available for this financial year.