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tackle this on a unanimous basis across Europe. Urgent question, Mr | :00:00. | :00:07. | |
Alex Cunningham. To ask the Minister to make a statement about assistance | :00:08. | :00:10. | |
from the EU Solidarity fund for flood hit communities. Thank you, Mr | :00:11. | :00:20. | |
Speaker. Mr Speaker, I first want to pay tribute to all those who have | :00:21. | :00:24. | |
supported many places that were flooded in December and early | :00:25. | :00:29. | |
January. The local authorities, emergency services, Environment | :00:30. | :00:32. | |
Agency staff, community volunteers and military and many others made a | :00:33. | :00:36. | |
significant contribution to supporting those communities | :00:37. | :00:39. | |
affected by the terrible events we saw over Christmas, over December | :00:40. | :00:42. | |
and through early January. The whole house will want to recognise those | :00:43. | :00:46. | |
that made the enormous effort that went into supporting households and | :00:47. | :00:49. | |
businesses, not just the initial response to the floods but also the | :00:50. | :00:53. | |
ongoing work to get residents back in the home and businesses open. The | :00:54. | :00:58. | |
responsibility for recovery, including the European Union | :00:59. | :01:02. | |
Solidarity fund, lies with DC LG. Officials in DC LG have worked hard | :01:03. | :01:06. | |
through that period but continue to work hard to support those | :01:07. | :01:09. | |
communities and those affected by those events. The Government | :01:10. | :01:12. | |
recognises the immediate priority is to respond to the urgent needs of | :01:13. | :01:17. | |
those affected, so we have already provided over ?2 million -- ?200 | :01:18. | :01:20. | |
million to those affected by the floods to support recovery and | :01:21. | :01:25. | |
repair. The key aspect is the business recovery scheme, offering | :01:26. | :01:32. | |
readying support to local councils affected to in turn help | :01:33. | :01:35. | |
individuals, small and medium-size businesses and communities to her | :01:36. | :01:40. | |
return to normality. It provides property level resilience grants of | :01:41. | :01:44. | |
up to ?5,000 so people can protect homes and businesses against future | :01:45. | :01:48. | |
plans by putting in place resilient repairs. To date, under the | :01:49. | :01:51. | |
communities and business recovery scheme, the Government has paid out | :01:52. | :01:58. | |
?21 million. Desmond and ?20 million. Eva and we are also | :01:59. | :02:03. | |
supporting farmers with grants of up to ?20,000 to help restore damaged | :02:04. | :02:06. | |
agricultural land, farm vehicles, boundaries and drainage. Having set | :02:07. | :02:10. | |
out what the Government has already done, I want to turn to what more we | :02:11. | :02:15. | |
can do. I am today announcing the UK Government will make an application | :02:16. | :02:19. | |
to the EU Solidarity fund. The EU US air was set up to respond to major | :02:20. | :02:27. | |
natural disasters, the fund was created as a reaction to severe | :02:28. | :02:31. | |
floods in Central Europe in the summer of 2002. Since then, it has | :02:32. | :02:36. | |
been used for 70 disasters covering a range of catastrophic events | :02:37. | :02:40. | |
including floods, forest fires, earthquakes, storms and drought. The | :02:41. | :02:45. | |
only time the UK has applied for the fund was the flooding of 2007, which | :02:46. | :02:49. | |
saw widespread and significant damage across large swathes of | :02:50. | :02:52. | |
England. Member states have 12 weeks from the start of an incident to | :02:53. | :02:57. | |
register their intended to claim. We have confirmed our intent and once | :02:58. | :03:00. | |
confirmed, there is time to consider, with the commission, the | :03:01. | :03:05. | |
element of assessment. Following this process, the commission | :03:06. | :03:10. | |
assesses the application and if it is accepted, proceeds to donate. | :03:11. | :03:19. | |
Once the decision has been a bag of loot made, it is then paid out in a | :03:20. | :03:23. | |
single instalment. When aid is paid out, the affected state is | :03:24. | :03:27. | |
responsible for the implementation, including the selection of | :03:28. | :03:29. | |
operations and their audit and control. Emergency finance may be | :03:30. | :03:35. | |
used retrospectively from day one of the disaster but EU SF is not an | :03:36. | :03:38. | |
noisy design to be a rapid responses and for dealing with the effects of | :03:39. | :03:44. | |
a natural disaster. Grand can only be applied to the state following an | :03:45. | :03:47. | |
application and budgetary process which can take several months to | :03:48. | :03:53. | |
complete. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank the Minister and my fellow | :03:54. | :03:57. | |
Stockton MP for his response, which is extremely welcome today. And it | :03:58. | :04:02. | |
has taken an urgent question to get the information from the Government, | :04:03. | :04:06. | |
so I am delighted that you granted it. I know there has been | :04:07. | :04:09. | |
considerable confusion in Government for which department was responsible | :04:10. | :04:13. | |
for making the application and I've 1am absolutely delighted at the news | :04:14. | :04:18. | |
we have today. I was also pleased the Enviroment Secretary told the | :04:19. | :04:21. | |
House last month she was considering an application, | :04:22. | :04:31. | |
only to have one of her civil servants and so my letter telling me | :04:32. | :04:36. | |
it was a DC LG responsibility. We now know the answer, it is a DC LG | :04:37. | :04:39. | |
responsibility and I am glad they have taken it on. We know it is a | :04:40. | :04:41. | |
Government response was once ability to apply to the Solidarity fund, | :04:42. | :04:47. | |
getting communities the much needed funding to get their lives back on | :04:48. | :04:50. | |
track. The whole house knows of the devastation across the country over | :04:51. | :04:53. | |
the Christmas period and into the first months of this year. Recovery | :04:54. | :04:59. | |
costs in Cumbria alone are estimated at 650 million. Other estimates | :05:00. | :05:03. | |
suggest the clean-up bill will exceed ?5 billion. It is therefore | :05:04. | :05:07. | |
imperative the Government does everything possible to maximise | :05:08. | :05:09. | |
resources from all possible areas to support them. I was pleased to hear | :05:10. | :05:14. | |
the Enviroment Secretary confirm in a statement to the House on the 5th | :05:15. | :05:17. | |
of January that the Government will continue to do what it takes to get | :05:18. | :05:21. | |
these areas up and running and prepare for future events. But for | :05:22. | :05:27. | |
nearly three months, there gesturing at a willingness to support | :05:28. | :05:31. | |
assistance, the Government have been shy at submitting an application. | :05:32. | :05:34. | |
Members and constituents have been left in the dark as it appeared the | :05:35. | :05:37. | |
Government would fail to make an application for help from the EU | :05:38. | :05:41. | |
Solidarity fund, which was established to respond to precisely | :05:42. | :05:45. | |
such natural disasters as those experienced in Cumbria, Lancashire, | :05:46. | :05:49. | |
North Yorkshire and Scotland. The fund has been used by states across | :05:50. | :05:53. | |
the EU in response to 70 disasters ranging from flooding and forest | :05:54. | :05:57. | |
fires to have quake sandstorms. Just last year, Italy, Bulgaria and | :05:58. | :06:01. | |
Romania received more than 40 million in similar circumstances. | :06:02. | :06:06. | |
You will know that we on this site have been extremely anxious that | :06:07. | :06:09. | |
this opportunity could in fact be lost. To be clear, the first loves | :06:10. | :06:13. | |
for which an application could be first made for in Cumbria was 11 and | :06:14. | :06:19. | |
a half weeks ago -- first floods. It has taken the Government to one | :06:20. | :06:23. | |
single day before the deadline to confirm an application. We know | :06:24. | :06:26. | |
there are those that strongly believe we get little from the EU. I | :06:27. | :06:30. | |
am clear the UK should be embracing the offer of additional support, | :06:31. | :06:35. | |
particularly having paid ?300 million into the fund since it was | :06:36. | :06:38. | |
set up. Will the Minister outlined what discussions he has had across | :06:39. | :06:42. | |
Government and with local authorities in those areas affected | :06:43. | :06:45. | |
in the preparation of the application? Why have members and | :06:46. | :06:51. | |
communities been left in the dark for so long when it would have been | :06:52. | :06:54. | |
a boost to them to know that more help would soon be on the way? What | :06:55. | :06:57. | |
is the final estimate of the cost of the devastation suffered by our | :06:58. | :06:59. | |
communities and how much is Government bidding for? Is there | :07:00. | :07:03. | |
just one application or will there be multiple applications reflecting | :07:04. | :07:06. | |
the fact that a number of communities were affected and each | :07:07. | :07:09. | |
could qualify due to the level of devastation they have suffered? | :07:10. | :07:14. | |
Finally, I am aware that my Stockton neighbour and I will be on opposite | :07:15. | :07:17. | |
sides in another debate, that of whether or not we remain in the | :07:18. | :07:21. | |
European Union. Does the Minister not agree that it is fund is like | :07:22. | :07:25. | |
the Solidarity fund that can and I hope will ring great benefits to our | :07:26. | :07:29. | |
community is not just hit by natural disasters, but also to those like | :07:30. | :07:34. | |
his constituency and mine, where there are large numbers of people | :07:35. | :07:42. | |
suffering considerable deprivation. There does seem to be a fundamental | :07:43. | :07:47. | |
misunderstanding. The Government has been working on this application for | :07:48. | :07:51. | |
some time. You have to draw together a range of information across | :07:52. | :07:54. | |
Government departments talking with local areas, assessing the cost and | :07:55. | :07:59. | |
impact of events that have taken place. That is what we have been | :08:00. | :08:03. | |
doing and will continue to do. As more information comes through, as | :08:04. | :08:05. | |
we go through the process of supporting communities, we will | :08:06. | :08:10. | |
ensure the application is thorough, that it accounts for all | :08:11. | :08:13. | |
opportunities to add to it and recognise the damage done and those | :08:14. | :08:17. | |
discussions have been taking place across Government in the right way, | :08:18. | :08:21. | |
in the right time frame, so we were able to make the announcement we | :08:22. | :08:24. | |
have. I congratulate the officials in my department who have been | :08:25. | :08:27. | |
working hard on that and across Government departments who have been | :08:28. | :08:30. | |
working hard, to bring the information together so we can | :08:31. | :08:33. | |
announce the application has been made. It will continue to evolve as | :08:34. | :08:40. | |
more information comes through but as I said earlier, the European | :08:41. | :08:43. | |
Union Solidarity Fund is not designed to be a rapid response to | :08:44. | :08:46. | |
events of this kind. It is a longer term fund to provide compensation to | :08:47. | :08:50. | |
communities and even though an application is now being made, it | :08:51. | :08:53. | |
will take months for that money to be paid. We, though, will continue | :08:54. | :08:57. | |
in our commitment to support those communities, it is EU SF to provide | :08:58. | :09:00. | |
the funding and backing they need, as we have done so far to make sure | :09:01. | :09:06. | |
the communities affected by the terrible weather events we have seen | :09:07. | :09:11. | |
get the support they need to recover as quickly as possible. I would | :09:12. | :09:17. | |
gently say to the Minister and there has, in 2011, we suffered disastrous | :09:18. | :09:22. | |
floods in Somerset. We looked at this fund very closely indeed. The | :09:23. | :09:28. | |
Prime Minister and my local area. We made the decision it was not going | :09:29. | :09:31. | |
to be applied for at that time because it was too complicated, too | :09:32. | :09:35. | |
difficult and the benefit to the communities wasn't going to be | :09:36. | :09:39. | |
there. It doesn't matter, they can chant as much as they want on the | :09:40. | :09:44. | |
opposition benches. We have now made the area that was flooded in | :09:45. | :09:47. | |
Somerset save through UK funding. The proof of the pudding is this | :09:48. | :09:51. | |
year, we haven't even had to switch on the main pumps. It has worked. | :09:52. | :09:55. | |
You don't need this funding to do what you have to do to secure your | :09:56. | :10:01. | |
communities. My honourable friend has demonstrated an understanding of | :10:02. | :10:05. | |
the EU SF which is absent on the front bench opposite. It is a | :10:06. | :10:09. | |
complex fund. It does require a number of packs to be taken into | :10:10. | :10:12. | |
consideration, there is an administration process which will | :10:13. | :10:15. | |
take a long time and cost a significant amount. That is why we | :10:16. | :10:18. | |
had to do a proper assessment to understand whether it would be of | :10:19. | :10:22. | |
net benefit to the UK taxpayer to make an application before we could | :10:23. | :10:24. | |
make an announcement I can confirm today. That is the right process and | :10:25. | :10:29. | |
my honourable friend has demonstrated his deep understanding | :10:30. | :10:32. | |
from his own constituency experience and the complexity of the matters. | :10:33. | :10:37. | |
Can a welcome the statement, he talks about a rapid response. Where | :10:38. | :10:45. | |
was the rapid decision-making process from the government? I | :10:46. | :10:50. | |
honestly welcome it today, but it was not a difficult question. If you | :10:51. | :10:53. | |
have an insurance policy, of course we will cash it in, why would we | :10:54. | :11:00. | |
not? It is logical and sensible. Can I ask a couple of questions. In | :11:01. | :11:05. | |
relation to Scotland, has the Minister and his department on a | :11:06. | :11:11. | |
calculation on how much money will come to Scotland due to the Barnett | :11:12. | :11:18. | |
consequential is? And is this a timescale? The rapid response I was | :11:19. | :11:22. | |
talking about was the money the government made available, the hard | :11:23. | :11:26. | |
work done, particularly by my colleagues and officials in DEFRA, | :11:27. | :11:33. | |
the work that was stunned straightaway to support communities | :11:34. | :11:37. | |
affected by flooding. One of the factors that has delayed the | :11:38. | :11:40. | |
process, which has made it more fickle to process this complicated | :11:41. | :11:46. | |
application that underpins the Solidarity fund, has been the | :11:47. | :11:48. | |
information we needed from the Scottish Government. If it had | :11:49. | :11:52. | |
responded quicker, we may have been able to respond earlier. Hallelujah. | :11:53. | :12:04. | |
Hallelujah. Three weeks ago I asked the Prime Minister why we were not | :12:05. | :12:08. | |
applying for these funds. I am delighted we are now doing so. I had | :12:09. | :12:15. | |
over 300 of my households hit by the floods, a third of them are not | :12:16. | :12:18. | |
covered by insurance because of the high premiums and excess. In one | :12:19. | :12:27. | |
case, a business has been closed since Boxing Day, they have lost | :12:28. | :12:32. | |
tens of thousands of pounds, and still have ongoing costs. Hopefully | :12:33. | :12:36. | |
be able be open by Easter. Can he make sure that government ministers | :12:37. | :12:39. | |
will look again at the number of businesses that have been hit during | :12:40. | :12:46. | |
those floods, to see how much extra assistance, our money, we can get | :12:47. | :12:52. | |
them to help them back into business? There are thresholds that | :12:53. | :12:56. | |
have to be met, there is assessment of damage that has to be done. There | :12:57. | :13:00. | |
is no guarantee that application to this fund would apply and deliver | :13:01. | :13:08. | |
it. Nevertheless we have come to this decision. I am delighted it | :13:09. | :13:13. | |
pleases him. I would be happy to have discussions about individual | :13:14. | :13:16. | |
businesses, but I would remind him, regardless of what happens, the | :13:17. | :13:22. | |
government has made significant funding, which is available now. We | :13:23. | :13:26. | |
do not have to wait for this to come through. Speed is of the essence. I | :13:27. | :13:36. | |
constituency was not damaged in the most recent flood, but in the past | :13:37. | :13:41. | |
speed is of the essence. I have known people in my constituency | :13:42. | :13:45. | |
waiting not just months, but years to get that in their home to get a | :13:46. | :13:50. | |
decent standard of life. It is all very well for the Minister to be | :13:51. | :14:03. | |
uncharitable, and the fact is, people do not just want boots on the | :14:04. | :14:08. | |
day, they want action after the flooding. He is right, speed is of | :14:09. | :14:15. | |
the essence. The government has made ?200 million to areas affected, and | :14:16. | :14:18. | |
it was made available as quickly as possible. The support is there. This | :14:19. | :14:24. | |
fund will take time to pay out. That is the way that the process works. | :14:25. | :14:29. | |
It will take months from the date of application to come to conclusion. | :14:30. | :14:35. | |
We have decided to apply it because it is of net benefit to the UK to do | :14:36. | :14:41. | |
so. It is available straightaway. My honourable friend says this is an | :14:42. | :14:46. | |
important application that has been made, but can he put it in context? | :14:47. | :14:53. | |
Every day as British taxpayers, we pave ?50 million to the European | :14:54. | :14:56. | |
Union. How much does he think we are going to get back, to be or four | :14:57. | :15:03. | |
days contributions? My honourable friend makes this point better than | :15:04. | :15:13. | |
I would choose to do. The Minister has indicated the notification of | :15:14. | :15:20. | |
intent to apply at all stages. Surely this could have been done | :15:21. | :15:22. | |
weeks ago to get the process underway? When did he apply, today, | :15:23. | :15:28. | |
yesterday? How much does he think he will actually recover? What do they | :15:29. | :15:34. | |
expect to recover from the European Union for this, and is he aware that | :15:35. | :15:40. | |
the closure of one of the roads in Cumbria is causing massive impact on | :15:41. | :15:44. | |
the local economy. ?1 million a day. A massive impact on families and | :15:45. | :15:49. | |
businesses. The sense of urgency is lacking. Will he just get on with | :15:50. | :15:54. | |
it? I have to make clear that there is no guarantee that this fund will | :15:55. | :15:58. | |
bring net benefit to the UK, or that it would be possible to apply until | :15:59. | :16:02. | |
a proper assessment has been done of the levels of damage, whether we | :16:03. | :16:10. | |
qualify. Bat assessment has been done, we have announced over | :16:11. | :16:13. | |
intention to apply before the deadline, we will work through the | :16:14. | :16:16. | |
process to ensure the UK gets the maximum benefit that can be | :16:17. | :16:22. | |
delivered. Separate to that, the government is already doing what | :16:23. | :16:24. | |
needs to be done to support these communities. My honourable friend, | :16:25. | :16:28. | |
the Minister that DEFRA, has been doing work in Cumbria. As he knows, | :16:29. | :16:35. | |
to make sure they get the support they need, regardless of the | :16:36. | :16:38. | |
progress made with this fund. It will take time, but we are committed | :16:39. | :16:46. | |
to applying it. The UK paid 36.5 million into the EU stability fund | :16:47. | :16:51. | |
last year. The second-largest contributor, and we have only | :16:52. | :16:59. | |
cleaned once, and is our reluctance to claim as we do not get very much | :17:00. | :17:04. | |
out of it? We are paying into an insurance scheme that we cannot | :17:05. | :17:09. | |
claim on. He is right, there is an interplay between fans and what is | :17:10. | :17:15. | |
being paid out. It is a complex process and there are restrictions | :17:16. | :17:18. | |
on how much money released can be spent. We have made the assessment | :17:19. | :17:23. | |
and believe the fund will be of net benefit to the UK, so we are | :17:24. | :17:26. | |
announcing our intention to make that application. The announcement | :17:27. | :17:32. | |
is welcome but long overdue. What specific discussions has the | :17:33. | :17:35. | |
government had with local authorities in Scotland to ensure | :17:36. | :17:42. | |
the appropriate amount is sort for flooded communities? He raises an | :17:43. | :17:46. | |
important question. Much of this is a devolved matter through government | :17:47. | :17:54. | |
Scotland, but we have in discussing with them the information that | :17:55. | :17:57. | |
underpins the part of the application which applies to | :17:58. | :18:04. | |
Scotland. This is excellent news, and while I accept there are | :18:05. | :18:09. | |
complexities involved, what is unpalatable and a horrendous burden | :18:10. | :18:15. | |
for people in Calder Valley is the infrastructure damage and a | :18:16. | :18:17. | |
shortfall of ?15 million for future flood defences. Can hear sure the | :18:18. | :18:24. | |
people of the Calder Valley that this fund has been applied for soap | :18:25. | :18:28. | |
costs for repairs to infrastructure and shortfalls in flood defences | :18:29. | :18:31. | |
will be met by the fund or the government? He has been in one of | :18:32. | :18:37. | |
the most dashing he has been one of the most diligent and passionate | :18:38. | :18:40. | |
advocate since the storms in December and January. Hardly a day | :18:41. | :18:46. | |
goes by when we do not discuss matters pertaining to Calder Valley. | :18:47. | :18:50. | |
The government is committed to supporting these communities. We are | :18:51. | :18:53. | |
continuing to work with local authorities to make sure it is done, | :18:54. | :18:56. | |
and his representations have been helpful in the process of recovery | :18:57. | :19:01. | |
and I'm sure in going forward as well. I outlined at my Westminster | :19:02. | :19:08. | |
Hall debate last month the cost of the damage in my constituency and | :19:09. | :19:12. | |
the neighbouring Calder Valley. I have been clear about how much we | :19:13. | :19:17. | |
are hoping to secure. Through the assessments, can you give us an | :19:18. | :19:22. | |
indication of exactly what funding the value will be available? I would | :19:23. | :19:30. | |
put on record the appreciation for the constructive nature we had in | :19:31. | :19:37. | |
Westminster Hall, it brought out the best of this place when we bring out | :19:38. | :19:42. | |
the best we can. She will appreciate that we are at this stage of having | :19:43. | :19:46. | |
identified the reality that applying would be of net benefit to the UK. | :19:47. | :19:50. | |
We still have a lot of work to do to finalise costs and figures to the | :19:51. | :19:54. | |
commission, so I am not in a position to confirm what the net | :19:55. | :20:00. | |
benefit will be at the end of this process, but we will keep the House | :20:01. | :20:09. | |
updated. To not give false hope to the community is everyone is talking | :20:10. | :20:13. | |
about, he must see that there is no guarantee of us ever receiving this | :20:14. | :20:19. | |
process, when you get to the European process when we apply for | :20:20. | :20:22. | |
money to come back, it becomes even more complicated than the timeline | :20:23. | :20:27. | |
is extremely long. Could he give a rough idea as to how long the | :20:28. | :20:32. | |
timeline went on for in 2007, and also assure the communities that | :20:33. | :20:37. | |
there is money the government is spending that is helping them. This | :20:38. | :20:47. | |
is not a rapid response fund. This takes a long time to come through, | :20:48. | :20:50. | |
and the government made money available straightaway. Over ?200 | :20:51. | :21:00. | |
million to the communities. I think what he says is very valid and | :21:01. | :21:07. | |
something that members opposite should listen to carefully and take | :21:08. | :21:13. | |
into account. We all welcome the announcement today, and we all felt | :21:14. | :21:18. | |
the misery of people affected on the TV screens. In my area, it is | :21:19. | :21:25. | |
vulnerable to flooding, so my constituents will be pleased to hear | :21:26. | :21:29. | |
this news, but they will be baffled as to why it has taken so long. | :21:30. | :21:32. | |
Given what a miserable experience it is to go through, it would have been | :21:33. | :21:36. | |
helpful to communicate the government's contention earlier, and | :21:37. | :21:42. | |
can you give assurance that if this happens again, funding will be | :21:43. | :21:47. | |
available in the future. I cannot give the assurance that the | :21:48. | :21:49. | |
government will always apply for the fund, because we may not always meet | :21:50. | :21:56. | |
the criteria to apply. But we will ensure the cost of delivering it | :21:57. | :22:01. | |
does not outweigh the benefit coming from it, including the impact on the | :22:02. | :22:06. | |
rebate. We will ensure communities get the support they need, more than | :22:07. | :22:14. | |
?200 million for the communities that need it. I welcome his | :22:15. | :22:21. | |
decision. Can he give an assurance that this application is successful | :22:22. | :22:23. | |
it will not be used to offset funding allocated from other | :22:24. | :22:30. | |
resources, and will improve defences along the Humber estuary and | :22:31. | :22:36. | |
elsewhere? We do not know how long this will take to be paid, but we | :22:37. | :22:43. | |
will ensure that communities get the support they need. The government | :22:44. | :22:46. | |
has made that available, and we continue to work with local | :22:47. | :22:52. | |
authorities to deliver it. We will keep honourable members updated as | :22:53. | :22:59. | |
we progress. Businesses in my constituency are absolutely baffled | :23:00. | :23:04. | |
as to why the government has left it until the 11th hour to get this | :23:05. | :23:09. | |
funding. Can he assure me that he will get the application in by | :23:10. | :23:14. | |
Sunday, and doesn't he agree with me that this is a great argument for us | :23:15. | :23:25. | |
remaining in the European Union? I am disappointed that local | :23:26. | :23:30. | |
businesses are baffled, but I'm sure she will explain to them the reality | :23:31. | :23:36. | |
of the process. This is not a rapid reaction fund. You have to make sure | :23:37. | :23:39. | |
you assess damage and meet thresholds. It is still a lot of | :23:40. | :23:43. | |
work to be done to ensure we fully understand and apply for every bit | :23:44. | :23:47. | |
of applicable damage that has taken place. We have announced that we | :23:48. | :23:50. | |
will undertake that process, and in the meantime we have already made | :23:51. | :23:54. | |
funding available. It will take months for this fund to be out. | :23:55. | :24:04. | |
Further to the point made by my honourable friend, could the | :24:05. | :24:09. | |
Minister please advise the House what support the government can give | :24:10. | :24:13. | |
small businesses and homeowners to improve Brazilians for future | :24:14. | :24:17. | |
flooding to prevent this from happening again? -- improve | :24:18. | :24:25. | |
resilience. It is an opportunity to remind that the government is making | :24:26. | :24:33. | |
available ?500,000 to properties for the resilience grant, and we are | :24:34. | :24:36. | |
encouraging householders to apply for this. Properties can invest in | :24:37. | :24:42. | |
joint flood defence schemes. The antics of the British | :24:43. | :24:57. | |
nationalists would be quite funny. The Minister stated in his statement | :24:58. | :25:02. | |
that the Scottish Government took so long to respond. But the reality is | :25:03. | :25:07. | |
that the Cabinet Secretary for infrastructure wrote to the | :25:08. | :25:11. | |
Department and as well as the Deputy First Minister, raise the issue on | :25:12. | :25:15. | |
the floor of the Scottish parliament itself, is this has long winded | :25:16. | :25:16. | |
answer? I'm not sure what the question was | :25:17. | :25:25. | |
Mr Speaker, but the reality is the UK responded immediately to the | :25:26. | :25:29. | |
weather events we saw over December and January. We made funding | :25:30. | :25:33. | |
available, we gave local authorities freedom and control over how it was | :25:34. | :25:36. | |
to be spent and delivered, that is the right thing to do. There is | :25:37. | :25:40. | |
still work to be done on a recovery and we are doing that and will | :25:41. | :25:43. | |
continue to do it until all of the communities feel they can get back | :25:44. | :25:48. | |
to normal and back open for business and we can move on from what has | :25:49. | :25:52. | |
been a very difficult period for so many. Hundreds of my constituents in | :25:53. | :25:56. | |
Nottinghamshire have benefited from the repair and renew grants, or | :25:57. | :26:00. | |
resilience grants, operated by the minister's department and seems to | :26:01. | :26:04. | |
be operating well and getting money to people quickly. A number of my | :26:05. | :26:08. | |
constituents did something very altruistic and chose to pool B | :26:09. | :26:19. | |
grants, not just for small community projects but for defence schemes. We | :26:20. | :26:22. | |
managed to find a workaround so it was achieved. Can the Minister | :26:23. | :26:26. | |
assure me and other members that elsewhere in the country, | :26:27. | :26:28. | |
communitywide altruistic schemes like that can be the use of the | :26:29. | :26:34. | |
?5,000 repair and renew grants question mark absolutely. A ?5,000 | :26:35. | :26:37. | |
property level resilience grants for each property can be pooled so long | :26:38. | :26:41. | |
as the property is concerned benefit from the pooling. We have designed | :26:42. | :26:46. | |
the scheme is to be as flexible as possible to respond to different | :26:47. | :26:49. | |
circumstances in different places but moreover, to respond quickly, | :26:50. | :26:53. | |
unlike the fund we are discussing today which will take several months | :26:54. | :27:00. | |
from this date until it is paid out. Splendid, Anna Johnson. Mr Speaker, | :27:01. | :27:07. | |
can I tell the Minister that my constituents were badly flooded in | :27:08. | :27:11. | |
2007 and they would have been gassed if the Labour Government had not | :27:12. | :27:16. | |
immediately said they would apply for the Solidarity Fund. Can the | :27:17. | :27:19. | |
Minister just say exactly when the decision was made to actually make | :27:20. | :27:23. | |
the application? He is not offering much rias euros when he says there | :27:24. | :27:27. | |
is still work to do if the deadline is on Sunday this week. The | :27:28. | :27:33. | |
intention is in accordance with the process that exists, is to indicate | :27:34. | :27:38. | |
our intention to apply. I would be staggered had any Government | :27:39. | :27:40. | |
immediately announced an intention to apply for the fund because you | :27:41. | :27:44. | |
can't, you have to assess the impact on regional GDP, you have to be | :27:45. | :27:52. | |
assessed and see if you qualify. You can announce you are applying but | :27:53. | :27:58. | |
may not be able to qualify. The sensible thing to do is to assess | :27:59. | :28:02. | |
and make a decision in time to apply if it is appropriate, which is what | :28:03. | :28:07. | |
this Government has done. I welcome what the Minister has said today and | :28:08. | :28:12. | |
I thank him for the Government's decisive action to address flood | :28:13. | :28:15. | |
risks, including the Environment Agency's commitment to spend over | :28:16. | :28:20. | |
?500,000 this year to address the flood risk in my village. Will he | :28:21. | :28:30. | |
encourage me in joining the many tourists that come to the | :28:31. | :28:35. | |
communities and encourage them to visit this Easter? It is absolutely | :28:36. | :28:38. | |
the case that many areas affected by the flooding some of the most | :28:39. | :28:42. | |
beautiful parts of the country, some of the most beautiful parts of the | :28:43. | :28:45. | |
North of England. There are businesses that are very much open | :28:46. | :28:48. | |
for business and we are encouraging people to continue to visit and | :28:49. | :28:53. | |
indeed to consider making a visit to these wonderful places, to support | :28:54. | :28:56. | |
their economies and continue to support those communities, many of | :28:57. | :29:00. | |
which are open almost as though nothing had happened, working | :29:01. | :29:04. | |
through what has been trying period but has shown the very best of the | :29:05. | :29:07. | |
community spirit exists across the North. Given that large parts of | :29:08. | :29:13. | |
Greater Manchester were flooded, can I welcome the Government's | :29:14. | :29:18. | |
signalling of its intent to apply for these funds and the Minister | :29:19. | :29:23. | |
implied in his response that the Government have been working on the | :29:24. | :29:28. | |
detail of this bid for some time. So perhaps he can clarify to the House | :29:29. | :29:31. | |
the detail of what the Government intends to use the funds for. Will | :29:32. | :29:37. | |
it be to assist local authorities with the ongoing reconstruction work | :29:38. | :29:41. | |
after the floods or will it be to future proof our flood defences | :29:42. | :29:49. | |
going forwards? The Government has priority is to support those | :29:50. | :29:53. | |
communities today. We have ensured that funding is available | :29:54. | :29:56. | |
immediately to do that. We are still working through the process of this | :29:57. | :29:59. | |
fund application and will continue to do that for as long as it looks | :30:00. | :30:03. | |
like it will produce a net benefit to the UK. We will pursue it and | :30:04. | :30:07. | |
ensure it is delivered because we can see the benefits to communities. | :30:08. | :30:11. | |
What matters to communities like those he represents is the quick | :30:12. | :30:15. | |
response, the funding made available and the support given to local to | :30:16. | :30:25. | |
deliver immediately for their immediate needs and recovery | :30:26. | :30:26. | |
following thereafter. We have continued to make funds available to | :30:27. | :30:29. | |
do it, we have made that commitment and we will stick to it. Business | :30:30. | :30:33. | |
question, Mr Chris Bryant. Will the Leader of the House give us the | :30:34. | :30:39. | |
future business? Mr Speaker, next week, Monday the 29th of February, | :30:40. | :30:43. | |
we will start with a motion to approve a statutory instrument | :30:44. | :30:46. | |
relating to the European Union referendum and there will then be an | :30:47. | :30:51. | |
opposition half day debate on the UK's steel industry. Tuesday the 1st | :30:52. | :30:55. | |
of March will be the first allotted day of estimates. There will be a | :30:56. | :30:59. | |
debate on the foreign Commonwealth Office and the 2015 Spending Review, | :31:00. | :31:03. | |
followed by a debate on the reform of the police spending for Miller. | :31:04. | :31:09. | |
On the 2nd of March, the second allotted this village today for | :31:10. | :31:15. | |
estimates, followed by a debate upon end of life car. The House will then | :31:16. | :31:19. | |
be asked to agree all outstanding estimates, followed by proceedings | :31:20. | :31:26. | |
on the appropriation and adjustments bill. Further details will be in | :31:27. | :31:27. |