Defra minister Robbie Moore and MP Alicia Kearns discuss flooding in Rutland and Tallington

Residents and farmers affected by winter flooding met a Government minister to discuss ongoing concerns.

On Thursday last week (May 9) Conservative MP Robbie Moore visited Rutland and Tallington to discuss Government support following recent flooding.

The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department for the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (Defra) attended a flooding summit organised by Rutland MP Alicia Kearns.

He said the Government is reviewing how it can support people during and after bad weather and that the Farming Recovery Fund is more focused on agricultural land.

The minister also highlighted the £75 million package announced in the spring budget for internal drainage boards to protect farms from future floods.

At Mrs Kearn’s request, the minister met residents in Tallington and representatives from the Environment Agency to discuss action needed to prevent a recurrence of flooding by the River Welland.

Mrs Kearns said: “Following the unprecedented flooding episodes we have experienced locally, I invited the flooding minister to Rutland to discuss the Government support our farmers and landowners need.

“We had productive discussions about the detrimental impact of flooding on farmers livelihoods and the work the Government is doing to review the current funding framework to ensure we have the support in place to mitigate and respond to future flood events.

“Residents in Tallington are rightly concerned about what future rainfall may mean for their village after being significantly impacted over the past few months. It was encouraging to hear the minister’s words of support and ambition to do all he can to help find a solution.”

MP for Stamford and Grantham, Gareth Davies, said: “The awful flooding we experienced at the start of this year had a significant impact on many households and businesses, especially in our villages.

“Our response as a community has been second-to-none, and I am grateful for the minister visiting Tallington to see this first-hand.

“Alicia and I will continue to work with the Government and stakeholders to push for improvements to our future flood resilience.”