The Flood Recovery Framework is financial support that the Government can provide to families via local authorities that have suffered flood damage. It is at the government’s discretion if they release the funding on a case-by-case basis.
Deputy Leader of Stockport Council, and Cabinet Member for Finance & Resources, Cllr Jilly Julian, had planned to share the testimony of Liz, a neighbour in Cheadle and founder of the Cheadle Flood Alliance, at the council meeting, but the motion passed without debate.
Liz’s testimony included:
“New Year’s Day 2025 was anything but a celebration. I watched families bail water out of their homes — exhaustion, disbelief and heartbreak on their faces. For many, this wasn’t the first time.”
“Every weather warning becomes a source of anxiety. Every raindrop on the roof triggers fear.”
“A person’s home should be a place of safety. To lose that is to lose a sense of self.”
Cllr Julian said:
“The Government must act. We cannot have families forced to live in fear while ministers debate what counts as a disaster and refuse to recognise that flood risk is a much broader concern than it used to be. Whilst Stockport Council is doing great work to protect residents from flooding, we cannot do it alone. The lack of funding the council receives from central government is highly concerning, and despite lobbying to ministers across Government, we are yet to find one who seems to care.”
“Stockport will receive £52 million less next year than the average for councils of its kind, and 75% of our budget is spent on providing support to vulnerable children, adults, and families. Yet the Government seems intent on shifting responsibility away from itself onto overburdened councils. They expect us to find the capital funding and have contingency set aside whilst also forcing us to run down reserves.”
Stockport Council is calling on the Government to increase capital investment in flood defences and urgently review the thresholds that leave flood-hit communities without support.
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