Partnership Funding:a debate about localism

David HickmanLincolnshire County Council

Partnership Funding• Old system – all or nothing (sea & rivers)

• New - sliding scale (sea, rivers & surface)

• National formula for flood defence funding

• Fewer projects get 100% funding

• More projects get some national funding

• Now includes surface water schemes

• Unlocks local funding: beneficiary pays

• Shifts burden towards local taxpayer

An example: Louth & Horncastle

Louth & Horncastle• Fluvial – significant history of flooding

• Scores too low for national funding

• Joint package of funding accesses national funding (before ‘PF’ introduced)

• £7m County & District funding

• Town councils precept – beneficiary pays

• So it works, doesn’t it?

Reasons to be cautious• Pitt report: beneficiary should pay

• Pitt was looking at surface water (2007)

• Surface water is (usually) localised

• Beneficiary is (usually) easily identified

• Beneficiary principle ‘tacked on’ to coastal/fluvial funding mechanism

• Who benefits from coastal protection?

• Cost of defence: impact without defence

40 – 50%

0 – 5%

5 – 10%

10 – 20%

20 – 30%

30 – 40%

> 50%

Local Authorities - percentageof land in the floodplain

• County Area 6,103km2

• Land in floodplain 2,369km2 (39%)

• Properties in the floodplain 103,700 (46%)

• Population in floodplain 225,000

• Length of main river 1,529km

•Length of raised defences

(both banks) 1,024km

•Length of Sea Defence 128km

Lincolnshire

ABI estimates:

Coastal flooding & critical infrastructure on the east coast – present (2006)

Properties at risk

236,000 residential33,000 commercial

ABI estimates:

Coastal flooding & critical infrastructure on the east coast + 0.4m sea level rise

Properties at risk

352,800 residential51,200 commercial

Coastal defences don’t just protect the coast

Key considerations

• Agricultural production – grade 1 land

• National infrastructure – gas/oil/port facilities

• Tourism & holiday industry

• Environmentally designated sites

• Aging coastal population (in-migration)

Key considerations• Wealthy locations can increase central

funding via local contributions (eg Bunn Leisure, Chichester)

• Sparsely populated or deprived areas – harder to raise local contributions

• Extent of inland areas protected by sea defences

• Does a project-by-project approach work with large continuous defence systems?

Possible discussion points• There may be specific areas where the LGA

can most effectively work with Defra to make Partnership Funding more equitable for coastal areas

• How can the funding mechanism can be used to best effect?

• How do we best reflect, in funding terms, the national significance of the assets, places and people protected by coastal defences?