By Helen Mooney
27 November 2009
Rebuilding bridges and repairing roads damaged by floods this week is expected to cost Cumbria County Council between £50m and £100m.
The government has pledged £2m so far to cope with the impact. Insurance companies are expected to pay out a further £100m to cover repairs and damage to business and household contents.
Cumbria council has confirmed that at least six bridges will need to be completely rebuilt, at a cost of £6m each. The authority has also spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on round-the-clock emergency staffing.
Extra funds are expected from the Department for Transport once the extent of the damage to bridges and roads is known. However it is unclear whether ministers will cover the full costs. After the 2007 floods, the department paid out £41m, shared among ten authorities.
On November 19, the government published plans to better protect communities from the risk of both flooding and water shortages. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said that the Flood and Water Management Bill would give more power to councils to deal with local flood risk, and that the Environment Agency would be put in charge of overseeing flooding and coastal erosion nationally.
Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said the Bill would improve ‘management of flood risk, clarify responsibilities, protect water supplies, and safeguard community groups from unaffordable rises in water bills’.
However, the Local Government Association warned that the new powers would create a ‘funding black hole’. Gary Porter, chair of the LGA’s environment board, said: ‘The government needs to take another look at its calculations.
‘When councils spend money clearing up after floods, it comes from budgets for other services, so it is wrong to say that they can pay for this new role by spending less on flood clear-up.’
27 November 2009
Rebuilding bridges and repairing roads damaged by floods this week is expected to cost Cumbria County Council between £50m and £100m.
The government has pledged £2m so far to cope with the impact. Insurance companies are expected to pay out a further £100m to cover repairs and damage to business and household contents.
Cumbria council has confirmed that at least six bridges will need to be completely rebuilt, at a cost of £6m each. The authority has also spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on round-the-clock emergency staffing.
Extra funds are expected from the Department for Transport once the extent of the damage to bridges and roads is known. However it is unclear whether ministers will cover the full costs. After the 2007 floods, the department paid out £41m, shared among ten authorities.
On November 19, the government published plans to better protect communities from the risk of both flooding and water shortages. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said that the Flood and Water Management Bill would give more power to councils to deal with local flood risk, and that the Environment Agency would be put in charge of overseeing flooding and coastal erosion nationally.
Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said the Bill would improve ‘management of flood risk, clarify responsibilities, protect water supplies, and safeguard community groups from unaffordable rises in water bills’.
However, the Local Government Association warned that the new powers would create a ‘funding black hole’. Gary Porter, chair of the LGA’s environment board, said: ‘The government needs to take another look at its calculations.
‘When councils spend money clearing up after floods, it comes from budgets for other services, so it is wrong to say that they can pay for this new role by spending less on flood clear-up.’
