He will also announce changes to the Bellwin scheme, making it easier for LAs to claim back additional costs from government, significantly extending the period for which authorities can claim and increasing the proportion of costs they can receive in support grants to 100 per cent.
The package put together by the Communities Secretary Hazel Blears and Local Government Minister John Healey represents immediate support for communities. It is important that we get an accurate assessment of what costs will be covered by insurance. The government will continue to monitor the situation closely working with local councils and agencies to assess what more it can do in the coming days and weeks.
The package of immediate support includes:
- Funds of £10m to local authorities in flood hit areas to support the work that they and other organisations are already doing to help recovery, particularly to help back on to their feet those who have lost everything and need immediate support.
- Funds of £3m from the Department for Transport (DfT) to meet claims from LAs for help with the cost of repairing roads and bridges.
- A contingency reserve of £1m that may be drawn upon as needed by the Department for Work and Pensions to meet additional grant applications arising out of the recent floods. This can cover replacement of essential household items for vulnerable individuals and their families.
The Treasury will host a high level meeting next Tuesday with the Association of British Insurers, Local Government Minister John Healey who is also the newly appointed Flood Recovery Minister, Treasury Minister Kitty Ussher and Environment Minister Phil Woolas to discuss the insurance industry’s approach to meeting the expected £1.5billion of claims.
In addition, there will be changes to the emergency Bellwin scheme, making it easier for councils to claim back additional money from government. These changes are special arrangements for these floods, because of their exceptional nature. They are:
- tripling the period for which local authorities are eligible to claim - from 2 months to 6 months - meaning they can claim for more of the costs they incur
- increasing the proportion of costs LAs can claim to 100% (instead of the current 85%), once they have spent above the usual threshold (0.2% of their revenue budget).
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said:
“I would like to pay tribute to the heroic efforts of those who have responded to the floods locally. The emergency and rescue services, local authorities, Environment Agency, voluntary sector and individual members of the public have been brave and determined in what are very distressing circumstances.
“I am taking immediate action to alleviate the suffering of those affected by the floods by announcing a £14million package of support to get people back on their feet as quickly as possible. I’m also pleased to announce that we are increasing the proportion of costs local authorities can claim to 100%.
“Government will continue to work closely with local councils and communities as we do everything possible to help."
