Surrey County Council flood damage funding is “propaganda which muddies the water”

Claims by Surrey County Council's Conservative administration that they will "invest up to £10m to support the response to flooding" have been criticised as "propaganda that muddies the water rather than giving hope to residents and businesses", according to the Liberal Democrats at County Hall.

Speaking at today's County Council budget meeting of Stephen Cooksey, the Liberal Democrat Environment & Transportation Spokesperson at Surrey County Council will say: "Surrey County Council's Conservative administration has failed to invest adequately in flood prevention.

"Last year at the Budget Meeting of Surrey County Council Liberal Democrats called for the budget for flooding and drainage to be increased, but the Conservative administration refused. Yet again the budget for 2014/15 the County Council is discussing today has a figure of a pitifully small £776,000 of capital expenditure for flooding and drainage.

"In September I called for 'urgent action to be taken by the Conservative administration at County Hall to ensure that the Council's road drains and soakaways are cleaned and emptied before we get heavy rain.' This followed a report highlighting poor or delayed performance by Surrey County Council's sub contractors in carrying out flood prevention work such as cleaning or unblocking road drains on Surrey's roads and emptying the Council's soakaways.

"The Corporate Strategy being discussed today plucks a figure out of the air of 'up to £10m to support the response to flooding', but this figure is more apparent than real, it appears to be a last minute afterthought as it is not in the budget. The damage to Surrey's bridges and roads caused by the recent and ongoing flooding is too important to be an afterthought in a glossy strategy document.

"Of course Liberal Democrats will welcome any funding by Surrey County Council, the Government and the European Union for the costs of repairing flood damage. This has to be based on proper assessment of the damage to Surrey's bridges and roads and identified funds. The £10 million figure is based on a guess as to the cost, and an unclear amount of government support. It is no more than a figure pulled like a rabbit out of a hat. It is propaganda which muddies the water rather than giving hope to residents and businesses.

"Surrey County Council's Conservative administration must now plan for the future by investing properly in flood prevention and keeping Surrey's drains and gullies cleared to reduce the impact of future storms like the ones we have been experiencing recently."