Flood affected communities will not face council tax or business rate bills for the homes and businesses they have been displaced from, Greg Clark announced yesterday.

The communities secretary’s commitment follows confirmation from the Government that local authorities will have 100% of their clean-up costs reimbursed under the Bellwin scheme.

Mr Clark said: ‘Residents and businesses who have been displaced by flooding should not have to worry about council tax and business rate bills on top of everything else they will be facing at this difficult time.’

‘That’s why’, he continued, ‘we’ll make funding available to help householders and businesses with their council tax and business rates bills for as long as they are out of their properties.’

The Government has also defended its record on investment in flood protection amid criticisms that projected spending between 2015 and 2021 will only be £2.3bn as compared to 2010 to 2015 when it was £3.4bn.

Whitehall will, according to Mr Clark, build 1,400 more flood defences and protect 300,000 more homes from flooding across the country.