16 July 2004
The Local Government Association has welcomed the extra £20m for emergency planning in the Spending Review as a triumph for its lobbying.
Surveys carried out by the LGA showed that local authorities spend £17m over and above the £19m civil defence grant. The chancellor agreed to roll the grant into authorities' general grant and increase it to £40m a year from 2005/06.
'We are delighted that ministers have recognised the extra responsibilities being placed on local authority emergency planning services,' said Ann Stribley, chair of the LGA's public protection executive.
'This goes some way to meeting our concerns about under-funding.'
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