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Policy & updates
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Community news, practical explainers and policy work—kept together and rooted in lived experience.
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Community update
June 2026 – heatwaves
MESSAGE FROM SANJAY – I hope you’re all staying cool. This recent heatwave has stirred some thoughts for me. Something that has become increasingly clear through my conversations with communities up and down the country, is that flooded people are seeing our climate change with their own eyes, becoming the frontline experts of experiencing its effects. For many, climate extremes are no longer a matter of abstract or hypothetical debates about something that might happen in the future. They...
Policy explainer
Demystifying English flood funding announcements
How to make sense of the government’s flood funding announcements for England: what the headline figures mean, how flood budgets work, whether investment is adequate, and where the numbers remain genuinely uncertain.
Consultation response
Consultation response – The proposed NPPF reforms and what they mean for flood risk
A briefing on the Government's proposed reforms to England's National Planning Policy Framework and what they mean for flood risk — especially surface water flooding — and the position of Flooded People UK and the flood action groups it represents.
Community update
May 2026 – Climate Change Committee report
A SLIGHTLY TECHNICAL MESSAGE OF HOPE: Dear all, Back from two weeks of leave, I came back to find a technical report for the Climate Change Committee’s big new risk assessment waiting on my desktop. It’s not exactly a page-turner but it remains an uplifting and deeply hopeful and nonsense free analysis. So today, I wanted to give you a quick summary of the key facts and findings and why this is, in my view, one of the most powerful cases to date for an ambitious agenda for flood defences....
Community update
April 2026 – getting to the bottom of the funding story
Full report here A MYSTERY RESOLVED… Dear all, Last June, the government announced £790m a year in flood defence funding and called it a record, when the previous one had pledged £866m a year. So that sent me down a journey, which I have now resolved. Read through to know where things stand… Things not making sense: When the government tells you £790m is bigger than £866m, it’s your responsibility as a campaigner to a) not take their word for it, b) try to understand exactly what is going...
Community update
March 2026 – on empowering flooded people
POWERFUL FLOOD GROUPS and POLITE CAGE RATTLERS Dear all, A few weeks ago I asked our online community the following question. ‘What does 'empowering' flooded communities mean to you, and when have you felt powerful in your flood journeys?’ I got 33 responses and it sent me down a bit of a journey. Let me share a few responses, based on those that garnered the most likes from peers… “Constructive engagement with authorities, policy input, good access to data and climate change impact...
Community update
February 2026 – Dirty Business
DIRTY BUSINESS Dear all, If you had to make a series like Dirty Business about flooding, how would you do it? I’d start this month, in an office of the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government where, in a meeting, the minister and some aides would be deciding to make it easier to build in flood risk areas in the middle of a climate crisis. Someone in the room would explain that all would be fine, as the developers would have to prove that their plans are safe. You could then...
Community update
January 2026 – on flood group strategy
A shift in strategy? Why some flood groups may be lobbying the wrong people, and how to change that. Dear all, In such a dynamic project as this one, the team and I need to always be thinking about the course we’re on, constantly evaluating and re-strategising. For today’s newsletter, I wanted to share some of our recent reflections. The old approach finds its limits It used to be that the main playbook for a flooded community was to get flooded people together to then convene...
Community update
December 2025 – year in review
For the busy reader: A first year in review: Dear all, If I’d tried to write this newsletter a year ago, there wouldn’t have been much to say. We had no newsletter, no group, no gatherings, no site visits, no media presence, etc. We were just about workshopping the name “Flooded People UK.” We’ve enjoyed quite a few little successes since then, and this newsletter is for celebrating them. With all of us getting out of holiday slumber (I’m on my second coffee and it’s 10:16), I’m hoping...
Educational resource
Introduction to Welsh flood and coastal erosion policy
A complete introduction to flood and coastal erosion risk management in Wales: the nature and drivers of the risk, the tools to manage it, the system that governs it, and an evidence-based look at how well it works.
Community update
November 2025 – a month in flood season
A month in storm season: Dear all, “How did everyone else sleep last night,” asked a member of the community. “It really upsets me that most of our elderly residents were up all night watching a pointless gauge,” they continued.. Such conversations were a defining feature of this month at Flooded People UK as two consecutive storms lashed the country. Our protocol for responding to such events has been tested and fine tuned. We are now all in flood season. For some of us in the team, this...
Community update
October 2025 – Katia joins us
From: Katia Sanhueza-Pino Dear all, For several years, across England and Wales, I have witnessed firsthand the struggles of flooded communities. Time and again, people tell me they feel unheard, misunderstood, and unsupported. Tangible commitments to prevent flooding and protect lives are too slow in coming. Whether we call it climate change adaptation or sustainable investment in new and existing infrastructure, both are desperately needed. The level of “resilience” expected from flooded...
Community update
September 2025 – preparing for winter…
Dear all, Since launching in February, we’ve built a thriving network of about fifty flooded communities. In fact, we’ve crossed the threshold of 100 members in the online community this month. But now comes the real test. And, for this newsletter, I want to invite you to join us on it. As winter approaches, many flooded people expect to get flooded again. They are hunkering down, preparing plans, and tuning into warnings. Faced with this situation, we need to accomplish two things. ...
Community update
August 2025 – big news
Dear all, If you’ve had a holiday and are slowly checking back in, welcome. I’m personally at that sweet spot with my batteries fully charged, ready to get back to work. I want to share some massive news. Flooded People UK have successfully led a group of organisations in applying for a £1.47million grant, which will fund work around flooding in highly disadvantaged neighbourhoods for the next four years. The process started some time ago when, in 2024, I met Sanjay and the...
Community update
July – six months in review
Hi everyone, I can’t believe it’s been six months since we’ve launched. It’s flown by. Thinking about those months before we slow down for summer, I thought I’d share a bit of a recap of what we’ve been up to. So it’s a bit of a send off before we get back to full-speed this coming September. To put it simply, six months ago a few flood professionals and community organisers came together to decide on our vision. Now we have a well moderated online community where 96 flooded people from...
Consultation response
Consultation response — changes to flood funding rules
July 2025 -- Flooded People UK has submitted its response to Defra's consultation, "Reforming our approach to floods funding." The submission draws on more than 70 responses from flooded people across over 50 communities and has been formally endorsed by 11 flood action groups. You can read the full document below. Here's a short summary of what we said. Why this matters The way flood and coastal erosion risk management (FCERM) is funded shapes whether repeatedly flooded communities get real,...
Community update
June 2025 – new spending rules explained
Dear all, With the government now consulting on major changes to its flood policy, I wanted to dedicate this newsletter to the daunting task of explaining them. If you are a flooded person who would like to respond to the consultation and would rather not read 70-pages of flood-Whitehallese, we are building a shared response where we’ve made it accessible, just click on this questionnaire. The tools are complicated, involving changes to formulas for investment and to the process...
Community update
May 2025 – gathering invitation
Dear all, A new way forward: turning local flood action into national change If you’ve been flooded, you know how urgent it is. You don’t waste time. You learn about the policies. You meet with your MPs. You talk to the media. You knock on your neighbours’ doors. You bring people together. Flood groups all over the country are taking bold, self-led action to reduce local risk – and it’s making a real difference. Rightly, these brilliant actions are focused on what's happening locally – and...
Community update
April 2025 – first meeting together!
Dear all, WE ALL GOT TOGETHER YESTERDAY: Yesterday, a dozen or so of us got together for the first time. Having spent over a month warmly interacting through the Facebook group, it was nice to put faces to names, even on Zoom. The set up was simple. Splitting up into breakout rooms, we shared our experiences and asked, ‘what is it that we have in common?’ And then, ‘what is it that we want?’ We do this for a simple reason. To become an effective collective, we need to get on the...
Policy
Contributions to the Environmental Audit Committee’s 2025 inquiry into flood resilience
A submission produced with Shrewsbury Quarry Flood Action Group, drawing on a questionnaire completed by flooded Shropshire residents and the Flooded People UK team’s combined experience supporting flooded communities.
Community update
March 2025 – a London room and worrying news… SR2025
A cautious sigh of relief after the Spring Statement, the case for sustained flood-defence investment, and news from Flooded People UK’s growing community.
Community update
February 2025 – campaign launch
The first Flooded People UK update: why the network was created, how its plan came together, and an invitation to help flooded people build one community.
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