Flood-hit areas are facing cuts to frontline services

COMMUNITIES at the highest risk of flooding face cuts to key frontline services due to a sharp rise in the cost of local defences, councils have warned.

There are calls for the Government to overhaul the way bodies which oversee flood alleviation in the lowest-lying areas are funded as current arrangements risk penalising nearly a million households who already pay to maintain flood defences through council tax.

Internal drainage boards have seen their costs increase by an average of 28% since 2022-23, largely as a result of higher energy and fuel prices, increasingly extreme wet weather events and wage increases, according to the District Councils’ Network (DCN).