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Wednesday, 19 February 2020 09:17

Government offers up to £500 to give cash quickly to flood-affected households in short-term need

The Government has said flood-hit households can apply for up to £500 and 100% council tax relief as part of a package of support for storm-hit areas announced yesterday following Storms Dennis and Ciara.

The Government said the major package of thousands of pounds of support would include grants, council tax relief and business rate relief for people and businesses in areas affected by flooding.

Under the Flood Recovery Framework and as some affected areas move into recovery, families and businesses will receive funding from their local councils after a set of support packages were announced by the Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick.

The measures include:

  • Flood-hit households in affected areas can apply for up to £500 in financial hardship payments to give cash quickly to those in short-term need;
  • Households and businesses significantly affected by recent flooding will be eligible for 100% council tax and business rates relief for at least three months;
  • Small-to-medium sized businesses in affected areas which have suffered severe, uninsurable losses will be eligible for up to £2,500 from the Business Recovery Grant;
  • Flood-hit homes and businesses can apply for up to £5,000 to help make them more resilient to future flooding; and

The Local Government Secretary also announced the government would convene the cross-Whitehall Flood Recovery Taskforce, including environment, businesses and transport ministers, to provide individual areas with bespoke support and guidance. The first meeting will take place this week.

Local Government Secretary Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP said:

“Storms Dennis and Ciara have severely impacted a large number of households and businesses – and I recognise how destabilising this can be.

This extra support, including new funding, will help people in the worst-hit areas to recover and get back on their feet as soon as possible.”

Environment Secretary Rt Hon George Eustice MP said:

“We’ve once again seen the devastating effects of floods on households and communities across the country. I want to thank our Environment Agency teams working on the ground around the clock with partners to deal with the ongoing impacts.”

“We know climate change means extreme weather events like this are more likely, and are already investing £2.6 billion in flood defences by 2021, with over 600 projects already protecting 200,000 properties. This crucial funding will help people to make their homes more resilient and better protected if flooding happens again.”

The new measures apply to those affected in district or unitary authorities that have 25 or more flooded households as a result of Storms Ciara and Dennis.

This comes after the government activated the emergency Bellwin scheme after Storm Ciara on 10 February and Storm Dennis on 17 February 2020.

Under the scheme, local authorities dealing with the flooding can apply to have 100% of their eligible costs, above a threshold, reimbursed by the Government. This could be for items including rest centres, temporary accommodation and staff overtime.

The scheme was activated for qualifying areas in West Yorkshire, Cumbria and Lancashire which have seen significant impacts following Storm Ciara.

It has also now been activated for qualifying areas in Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, Worcestershire and Herefordshire which have seen significant impacts following Storm Dennis.

With six severe flood warnings, 148 flood warnings and 188 flood alerts in place yesterday on Tuesday, 18 February, the Environment Agency is urging people to check the latest safety advice as flooding impacts continue with further heavy rain expected to fall on areas already affected by the wet weather later this week.

Environment Agency operational teams have put up more than 6km of temporary flood barriers across the country.

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