Osborne confirms £140m flood funding

Chancellor George Osborne has confirmed an extra £140m of spending on flood defences.

Presenting the 2014 Budget, Osborne said the extra spending would be used for flood defence repairs and maintenance and was in addition to funding already announced.

Osborne said: “Because of the exceptionally poor weather this winter, I am making an additional £140 million available, on top of that already provided, for immediate repairs and maintenance to damaged flood defences across Britain.”

A spokesman for the ABI said: “Any additional funding for flood defences will be welcomed by flood risk communities throughout the UK. As insurers continue to help thousands of flooded customers recover from the wettest winter on record, the need for sustained, ambitious and targeted investment in the building and maintenance of flood defences has never been more important.”

However, PwC climate change catastrophe insurance expert Dom del Re said the effects of the increased spending would not be felt for some time.

“Better defences will ultimately mean lower premiums for policy holders,” he said. “Though the issue will be the lag between when the defences are in place and when insurance companies start recognising the reduced risk in the pricing models they use.”