FUNDING for flood defences across Yorkshire looks set to be plunged into further crisis next month.

The York and North Yorkshire representative on the Yorkshire Regional Flood Defence Committee predicted today that - for the second year running - members will increase the levy to the Environment Agency by no more than ten per cent.

Councillor Peter Sowray claimed representatives of local authorities from across Yorkshire would not agree to an agency request for a much higher increase.

The committee was embroiled in controversy earlier this year when it refused to agree to agency demands for a greatly increased levy.

It twice deferred setting the levy, sparking fears that work on protecting communities such as Malton and Stamford Bridge would be delayed.

It eventually increased the local authority levy by only ten per cent, but changed the prioritisation of work to ensure the Ryedale and Stamford Bridge projects could go ahead. However, other agency proposals, such as improvements to flood warning systems, were affected by the refusal to set the higher levy.

A special meeting of the committee had been due to take place today, prior to the formal levy-setting meeting in January.

Members wanted to discuss what the impact would be of different levy increases before they had to sit down and agree on a figure.

But the agency cancelled the meeting last week, saying it could not go ahead because officers had just discovered that the cost of the Malton scheme, and also of emergency flood defence repairs at Goole, was much higher than had originally been anticipated.

Coun Sowray said he had expressed his disappointment at the cancellation of the meeting, but said the matter had been discussed at Regional Assembly level and by an association of local authorities.

He now did not believe a levy of more than ten per cent would be set.

Coun Sowray, who last time round argued on behalf of North Yorkshire County Council that the rise should be much higher than ten per cent, said he would not be pressing the same case again this time round.

He said that expected Government support towards the funding of flood work, via the county council's Standard Spending Assessment, had actually decreased slightly.

The county would be faced with having to cut the highways budget to meet extra contributions to the agency levy.

Updated: 12:09 Friday, December 07, 2001