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Newark and Sherwood District Council part of special interest group lobbing for internal drainage board funding as leader Paul Peacock reveals £950k annual bill




Council chiefs will lobby the government for more support – after its drainage board bill rose by more than £200,000.

Newark and Sherwood District Council leader Paul Peacock spoke at a full council meeting on Tuesday, December 12, and branded the rising levy to pay for internal drainage boards as unsustainable.

He said: “I need to bring to members’ attention the significant increase in drainage board levies. The internal drainage boards play a vital role in protecting and supporting our communities and economy. They protect our land, operate pumping stations and maintain our watercourses.”

Council leader Paul Peacock.
Council leader Paul Peacock.

Newark and Sherwood is covered by the Trent Valley Internal Drainage Board and the Upper Witham Internal Drainage Board, which are both funded by a yearly levy charged to councils. Councils with such boards want the tab to be picked up nationally rather than the cost falling on local taxpayers.

“The levies charged to local authorities have risen hugely over the past two years. As utility costs have risen, internal drainage boards have increased their levy,” Mr Peacock added.

“The cost to this council, in the current year, is just short of £950,000 — an increase of £269,000 from the previous year. This will be added to council budgets in the absence of support from the government.

“The level of increase is not sustainable.”

Castle House, headquarters of Newark and Sherwood District Council.
Castle House, headquarters of Newark and Sherwood District Council.

As the council is among the 15 most affected by the increased levies, it has received one-off funding of £239,690 to cover 90% of the additional costs this year.

The council leader said: “This does not address the ongoing annual issue of rising costs to be funded by council tax increases.”

East Lindsey District Council is currently the worst affected, with a total bill of £4.9 million for its drainage boards.

Until 2013, internal drainage board costs were funded by the government’s revenue support grant, which Mr Peacock said had been reduced each year since and is now “almost non-existent”.

The council is now part of a Local Government Association special interest group, to lobby the government for a change to how the drainage boards are funded — either through direct funding or a grant.

Mr Peacock added: “The special interest group has so far written to the Secretary of State for the Department of Levelling Up, who has refused to help the affected councils in 2024/2025. It has now resolved to write to the Prime Minister, the leader of the opposition, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, and all MPs serving the affected constituencies.

“I am actively involved in lobbying, and Councillor Cozens will be attending an in person meeting with Ministers at Westminster in the new year to put our case forward. I will also personally write to both our MPs urging them to make representations on behalf of our council taxpayers.”

The leader assured councillors he would keep them updated as progress is made in securing “sustainable funding” for the drainage boards’ “important” work, and encouraged them to ask MPs to support the special interest group.



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