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The Jubilee River
story (0948z38)
River Thames
Scheme Funding Doubts - Nov 2019
Extract from Surrey
live - 6/11/2019 - Rebecca Curley
Funding
doubts over River Thames scheme meant to prevent 15,000 homes
from flooding
It includes properties in Staines,
Egham Hythe, Chertsey, Laleham and Shepperton which could, in
theory, flood at any time.
Questions still remain over how a
vital scheme meant to prevent 15,000 homes from flooding will be
funded.
It includes properties in
Staines, Egham Hythe, Chertsey, Laleham and Shepperton which
could, in theory, flood at any time.
The question mark hangs over
whether or not a “significant financial contributor” in the
funding of theRiver Thames flood
alleviation scheme can secure the cash.
The Royal Borough of Windsor and
Maidenhead (RBWM) has been asked to contribute £52.66 million to
the £640 million flood defence works.
But so far it has only secured
£10m and needs to wait for legislation to be passed on a possible
flooding precept to secure the rest of the cash.
It can only put forward the full
£52.66m it has been asked to if the Government allows councils to
collect a flooding precept similar to the social care precept, a
council spokeswoman said.
Surrey County Council approved
its contribution of £237m at a cabinet meeting last week.
This is part of an overall
investment by the council of £270m to deliver Surrey’s Flood Risk
Management Strategy.
The success of the River Thames
scheme is said to be “crucial” to the county, according to cabinet
papers, due to the “large number of Surrey residents and
businesses affected”.
The Lower Thames floodplain
between Datchet in Berkshire and Teddington in West London is the
most populated undefended floodplain in the United Kingdom.
Over 15,000 properties are at
risk in a flood with a 1% probability of flooding occurring in any
given year, councillors were told.
Between Datchet, part of RBWM,
and Shepperton, covered by SCC, the
floodplain widens to over 2km in some places with parts of
Datchet, Wraysbury, Staines, Egham
Hythe, Chertsey, Laleham and Shepperton all at risk of flooding.
The River Thames scheme will
create three flood alleviation channels along the River Thames and
improve flow capacity at three weirs.
It will also create four new
country parks and cycle paths and footpaths.
Current costs estimate it will
need £640m of investment which will save £2.58 billion of flood
damage over the life of the scheme.
The Government has confirmed £60m
of funding with grant aid worth £240m from the Environment Agency
and Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
being committed in principle.
Surrey County Council is the
biggest contributing local council looking to borrow £237m to fund
it.
RBWM has been asked to put
forward £52.66m. It has previously agreed to raise £10m in capital
funding, but the £500,000 per year for ongoing maintenance and any
additional capital costs would require legislation to be passed to
allow it to raise the case as a precept separate to the council
tax.
A spokeswoman from the Royal
Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead said: “We have committed to
helping ensure this important project goes ahead with £10 million
of capital funding to be released to the scheme from April 2020
over the next four years.
“However, to raise the additional
funds needed to bridge the shortfall, we must have the legislative
changes required to allow us to collect a flooding precept
alongside the council tax.
“We are calling on the government
to make this vital change to legislation and unlock the funding
which will ensure we can keep all our residents safe from the
perils of flooding.”
It is not known at this stage
what will happen if RBWM cannot raise the extra cash.
A new group is being set up to
oversee delivery of the River Thames Scheme chaired by SCC leader
Tim Oliver.
Speaking at the SCC cabinet meeting on
October 29, he said RBWM was a “significant financial
contributor” along with Surrey’s borough and district
authorities involved.
Cllr Oliver said: “The county council will
be the lead authority and coordinate activity and oversee
activity not only of the Environment Agency but of all the
other authorities who have an involvement in it.
“There are some technicalities in terms of
the various bodies that will be set up to do that.
“But this is a lot of our residents’ money that is
being committed to this scheme and we must therefore make sure
that we are aware at all times on how it is progressing.”
A recent report by CIPFA (Chartered Institue of
Public Finance and Accountancy) dated July 2019 and presented
to RBWM's overview and scrutiny panel in October recommended
that a "fundamental review of the financial resilience" of the
borough is needed after identifying "wider financial and
governance issues" at the council.
Other funding is being sourced from Thames Regional
Flood and Coastal Committee (£31.96m - confirmed), Surrey
Local Enterprise Partnership (£2.5m - confirmed), Thames Water
(£2.5m - agreed in principle) and other local authorities
including RBWM, Surrey, Spelthorne, Runnymede and
Elmbridge (£6.17m - secured and being
spent).
Link to source https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/funding-doubts-over-river-thames-17205368