“It’s frustrating!” South Holland District Council still awaiting their share of £3 million Government internal drainage board funding

A council is still awaiting their share of a £3 million Government funding package, months after being told it would receive the much-needed financial boost.

South Holland District Council is one of a number of authorities lobbying ministers for support with their internal drainage board costs.

However, leader Coun Nick Worth says the cash is still not on its way.

“We’ve been piling a lot of pressure on them. We still haven’t had the money yet,” he confirmed.

“It’s frustrating.”

IDBs carry out vital work in reducing flood risk and maintaining water levels, but their levys have reached unprecedented levels, which are paid for by affected local authorities.

For every £10 of council tax paid by a home, SHDC receives just 96p for services, with 53p of that going straight to the drainage boards.

This leaves the council with far less money to spend on its own services compared to authorities which don’t need to fund IDBs.

In February, SHDC’s cabinet agreed to increase its share of the council tax bill by 3.09% – but Coun Worth warned that that the £268,000 extra income would be ‘wiped out’ by the costs of the IDBs.

Also in the same month, South Holland and the Deepings MP Sir John Hayes told LincsOnline he had been assured that the district would be one of the local authorities to benefit from the package announced by Levelling Up Minister Michael Gove.

The IDB funding was raised in the House of Lords this week.

Baroness Taylor of Stevenage said the £3 million ‘does not touch the sides’.

She continued: Councils are charged this levy to manage water levels in their area. Since 2016 they have been expected to fund it through council tax.

“The financial impact shows that it has increased by almost £11 million in two years, beyond the council tax capping limit of 30 authorities involved, such as Boston, where the levy consumes 58% of the council tax, and Great Yarmouth, which saw 91% of its council tax increase consumed.

“Councils have been told repeatedly that the Government are looking for a long-term solution, so where is that solution, when is it coming, and will the Government meet the representatives to determine a solution before the end of the financial year?”

Some cynics have also suggested the Government, predicted to lose the next General Election, may be in no rush to make these payments, landing the financial impact on the door of the next party to take power.

How much of the £3 million SHDC would receive has not been confirmed.