Lakeland flood grant scheme 'created delay and conflict'

Thousands of homes were flooded in Cumbria during storms Desmond and Eva

The government has been criticised over a flood grants scheme it set up in Cumbria after the December 2015 storms.

It gave "limited guidance and clarity" about how it should work, resulting in delays and "local conflict", South Lakeland District Council said.

The council said it was also given no extra resources to administer grants.

The government said it had "published guidance for councils and held regular conversations with them about the available relief funding".

The scheme unveiled by former chancellor George Osborne offered flood victims up to £5,000 towards resilience measures.

Government pressure

A review of it by the council found "avoidable" problems led to backlogs, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Local flood advice events were held, but the specific scheme criteria was unknown and there were "confusing messages" about what residents could or could not install.

"Affected residents were aware of the government's announcement, but neither they, nor those tasked with administering the scheme, had any specific detail," the review found.

There was pressure from the government to give "performance figures" on a weekly basis but the target figure was changed during the project, it said.

"We were focused on getting the right measures in place, rather than it being a numbers game," the report said.

A government spokesperson said it had provided an "advice booklet about the grant and a practitioners' guide for the scheme" with links to "publicly available sources of technical advice".

"Authorities were free to decide how best to deliver their local schemes from the guidance provided," they said.

More than 2,000 homes and 350 business were flooded in South Lakeland in November and December 2015, the majority in Kendal,

Nearly 1400 applications for flood resilience work were approved, worth £3.4m.

The money did not provide compensation or cover standard repairs.