Scott blasts Scottish Government’s lack of flood funding

Speaking from the Scottish Parliament having received Richard Lochhead and Roseanna Cunningham's letter asking MSPs to advise their constituents to prepare and protect themselves from flooding this winter, John Scott MSP, Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs & the Environment, said:

"This appears to be an admission of defeat from the Scottish Government that they have not set enough money aside to deal with potential flooding problem in Scotland this winter.

"It is both unrealistic and insulting to invite home owners and businesses "to protect themselves" because ‘the current state of public finances means the availability of funding for large scale capital projects is much tighter than it has ever been'

"It is important to note that the budget available to the Scottish Government this year is much larger than it was in 2008 when the Government were able, during the passage of the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act, to give assurances that there was adequate funding available to carry out all flood prevention and mitigation work.

"The Government now appears to have changed its priorities by reneging on its previous commitments and responsibilities by inviting citizens to take "personal responsibility for taking steps to protect their own homes from flooding this winter", and this will come as a shock to many householders who previously believed this to be the Government's responsibility."

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