EUROPEAN SOLIDARITY FUNDING FOR COMMUNITIES AFFECTED BY FLOODING

That this House recognises that the flooding caused by Storm Desmond in December 2015 was the most extreme on record in the UK; stands in solidarity with the hundreds of people who are still out of their homes and businesses one year on from the storms; welcomes the European Commission's decision to grant the UK a net £15 million in solidarity funding to help cover the cost of those floods; however strongly regrets the Government's decision to use most of that grant to pay a £14.5 million fine incurred in 2007 due to the misspending of previous European Solidarity Fund (ESF) funds by a previous government; reminds the Government that those funds were specifically given to help flood-hit areas; and urges the Government to reverse its decision and make provisions for the ESF funds to go to the communities for whom it was intended