DCLG releases £7m in cash for flood-hit councils

17 Jan 14
Local government minister Brandon Lewis has announced that councils in England will be given an extra £6.7m in Whitehall funding to cover the cost of repairs following this winter’s floods.

By Richard Johnstone | 17 January 2014

Local government minister Brandon Lewis has announced that councils in England will be given an extra £6.7m in Whitehall funding to cover the cost of repairs following this winter’s floods.

Flooding door_Shutterstock

Lewis said the tidal surge, severe weather and flooding in December had caused a significant amount of damage to housing, businesses, agriculture and transport infrastructure across the country.

Ministers had already announced that the Bellwin compensation scheme had been activated, and the additional cash will further assist with clean-up costs.

The announcement comes after the Local Government Association today called for emergency funding to help meet the costs of the extreme winter storms and flooding.

Lewis said he had been ‘hugely impressed by the efforts of the emergency services, local authorities, voluntary organisations and communities through the recent severe weather’.

He added: ‘This extra £7m, that can be used to help affected communities, will provide local authorities and their partner agencies additional resources they need to support recovery.’

Half the extra funding will come from the Department for Communities and Local Government, which will be allocated to areas with properties affected by flooding. The remainder from the Department for Transport will be available to repair infrastructure damaged by flooding, and will be subject to a bidding process.

The costs of repairing flood defences damaged by the extreme weather are currently being assessed and will be set out by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs shortly.

 

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