Carlisle MP, Julie Minns, has welcomed the announcement that the Environment Agency is to receive over £600,000 in further Government funding for local flood schemes.

The project list confirms a total investment of £603,000 for the Carlisle area, covering several flood alleviation and management schemes alongside local infrastructure improvements. 

This investment follows a series of meetings between the MP, the Environment Agency and Government Ministers to ensure that Carlisle gets the funding it needs to protect homes and businesses. 

Among the local flood priorities receiving investment are the Caldew Flood Risk Management Scheme, the Wigton Road Surface Water Scheme, and the Cumwhinton Flood Alleviation Scheme. 

The main project is the Caldew Flood Risk Management Scheme.

The scheme was first proposed following the Storm Desmond floods in 2015, but a lack of progress left it at risk of being dropped altogether. 

Since being elected, the Carlisle MP has pushed Ministers and the Environment Agency to revive the Caldew scheme and as a result, viability work was restarted last year.

The announcement gives the Environment Agency the funding required to develop the scheme’s business plan, which is essential if it is to stand any chance of being delivered.  

Julie Minns MP commented: “For too long, our community has lived with the fear of flooding while the previous Tory Government sat on its hands.

“The critical preparatory work for the Caldew Scheme ground to a halt under the last Government, who simply failed to provide the momentum or the funding required to keep our community safe in the long term.

“They left us in limbo, and I promised to change that.

“I have been working tirelessly with Ministers and the Environment Agency since my election to get the scheme back on track.

“Having secured £300,000 last year and a further £405,000 today for the Caldew scheme, I won’t stop until our city finally has the protection that the Tories denied us for over a decade.”

The announcement is part of a £1.4 billion Government investment in flood defences in 2026/27.

More than 600 projects will be funded to help better protect tens of thousands of homes and businesses across England.  

Together they form part of the largest flood defence programme in English history with at least £10.5 billion invested between 2024 and 2036 to protect homes, businesses, and critical infrastructure from the growing threat of flooding.  

Floods Minister Emma Hardy said: “Flooding can turn lives upside down in a matter of hours, destroying homes, shutting down businesses and leaving communities facing months of heartbreak and recovery.

“This £1.4 billion investment will help protect tens of thousands of homes and businesses across the country and strengthen the defences families rely on when the worst happens.

“We’ve already stepped in to stabilise our flood assets after years of decline and this funding goes further, creating thousands of jobs, protecting communities from billions of pounds of damage, and unlocking new homes and businesses in places made safer from flooding.” 

The total Environment Agency allocation of £603,000 for Carlisle in 2026/27 includes the following eight projects: 

• Caldew Flood Risk Management Scheme Appraisal: £405,000 
• Corby Weir Fish Pass Project: £101,000 
• Wigton Road-Carlisle Surface Water Scheme: £40,000 
• Rickerby Flood Risk Management Scheme: £17,000 
• Carlisle Phase 1 Flood Risk Management Scheme: £11,000 
• Low Crosby Flood Risk Management Scheme: £10,000 
• Cumwhinton Flood Alleviation Scheme: £10,000 
• Gosling Sike Flood Risk Management Scheme: £9,000