Leeds MP issues last-ditch plea for flooding cash in Government's Budget

In the wake of the recent Cabinet reshuffle, the Leeds West MP has written to the new Secretary of State for Defra, George Eustice, and the new Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, urging them to deliver where their predecessors have failed and plug the £23m funding gap to ensure the city is protected against a repeat of the devastating 2015 boxing day floods.

The Chancellor has to submit his final Budget proposals this week, to give the Office for Budget Responsibility enough time to do its forecast.

So Ms Reeves' letters are a last-ditch attempt to persuade the Government to make the funds available in the Budget in just over two weeks' time.

She wrote: "Kirkstall is as vulnerable today as it was in 2015", adding: "This is a problem that the Government could easily solve, and indeed committed to doing so almost five years ago."

Leeds City Council's Flood Alleviation Scheme remains £23m short of its £112m total.

The current funding pot will only pay for defence work designed to protect Leeds against a one-in-100 chance of flooding in any given year.

But the 2015 flood was equivalent to a one-in-200 year disaster and council chiefs and politicians, together with the YEP, have been calling for the Government to fund the £23m shortfall to allow the scheme to be completed in full and protect the city from future risk.

Ms Reeves told the YEP: "The flooding we have witnessed around West Yorkshire in recent weeks should be a warning sign that the Government must act and stop delaying this urgent work.

"People deserve to feel safe in their own homes and businesses, so I urge the Government to finally deliver the flood defences Leeds needs.”