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Statement from floods recovery Minister John Healey

Floods Recovery Minister John Healey was in Brussels today meeting Danuta H'bner, European Commissioner for regional policy, to discuss the Government's application to the EU Solidarity Fund. During the meeting the Commissioner confirmed that she is supporting the UK's application and will recommend that the UK receives around 160 million Euro.

Following the meeting John Healey said:

"This summer's floods caused misery for thousands of people with widespread damage across large parts of the country. Thousands of homes and businesses were affected with further damage to schools, roads and leisure facilities. Agriculture and the tourist industry were also hit.

"The UK Government, emergency services and agencies have undertaken a huge amount of work to provide both practical and financial assistance to support the flood relief effort and help communities get back on their feet. But clearly the financial costs of the floods were significant.

"That's why in August we exercised our right to apply for support from the EU Solidarity Fund (EUSF). Our provisional assessment of damage caused by the June and July floods was over 4 billion Euro - significantly above the 3 billion Euro threshold required for a Member State to make an application.

"Since then we have worked hard to update this information. Our estimate of total direct damage now stands at 4.6 billion Euro. Under the EUSF Member States receive a proportion of this. In previous years this has been between 2.5 per cent and 5 per cent of total damage suffered. To date up to £57million has been made available by the UK Government to support the local recovery operation.

"We have worked extremely closely with the European Commission and I would like to thank them for the speed at which they have been dealing with this important issue. I was grateful for today's opportunity to put the UK's case directly to Commissioner H'bner and thank her and the Commission officials for their support and co-operation. The Commissioner is well aware of the strong public and political concern in the UK at the widespread damage caused by the summer flooding.

"During the meeting the Commissioner confirmed that she had all the relevant data and information needed to progress the application. I am pleased to say that Commissioner H'bner confirmed that she has accepted our application and will recommend that the UK receives around 160 million Euro to her fellow 26 Commissioners, who together take the final decision. I would like to thank the Commissioner for her support which is essential if our application is to be ultimately successful. I will continue to promote this application with the Commission and will ensure we work closely with them throughout the rest of the process."

BackgroundTo date the UK Government has made available a significant package of up to £57 million to support areas affected by the flooding of June and July 2007. This includes the following elements:

• Up to £20 million from Communities and Local Government (CLG) for Flood Recovery Grant to support the recovery work of local authorities. Around £17.5 million of this funding has now been released to the hardest hit local authorities. It is up to Local authorities to decide how to spend the money to help flood-hit members of their communities
• £14 million from the Department for Children, School and Families (DCSF) for schools and children's services affected by the floods
• £10 million from the Department for Transport (DfT) for repairs to the local highway, with more to come for affected local authorities as claims are submitted
• Over £11 million from Regional Development Agencies for businesses affected in their regions
• £1 million which can be drawn on as contingency reserve by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to support additional demand for Social Fund Community Care Grants
• £1 million from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to support rural tourism in England and fund a targeted marketing campaign.

BellwinThe Prime Minister also announced that we have made the special Bellwin Scheme more generous in the exceptional circumstances of these floods. This will allow local authorities to reclaim 100 per cent of their cost above threshold (up from the usual 85 per cent) and to claim costs incurred in the 6 months following the incident (up from 2 months).

Lessons for the future

Over the last ten years Government has doubled expenditure for flood defences from £300 million to £600 million, and for the longer term it will increase further to reach £800 million by 2011.

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn announced that Sir Michael Pitt, Chair of the South West Strategic Health Authority, will lead a review into the recent floods. This Lessons Learned Review is being carried out by the Cabinet Office with support from Defra and the Department for Communities and Local Government. It is examining both how to reduce the risk and impact of floods, and the emergency response to the floods in June and July. The review is also seeking views from those involved in the floods, including affected residents, the emergency services, business and professional associations. It was launched by the Cabinet Office on 4 September.

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