Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what (a) financial and (b) staffing assistance the Government has provided to local authorities responding to extreme weather events in the last 12 months.

On 10 August, the Government announced that local communities and businesses impacted by the previous week’s heavy rain and flooding will have access to up to £5.25 million to support their recovery.

Over the last 12 months my Department has made payments totalling £418,579 to four local authorities to assist them in responding to severe weather incidents. This includes £150,000 that my Department provided to High Peak Borough Council to support the community following the Toddbrook Reservoir incident.

Recently, my Department also announced Bellwin support towards response costs for authorities in North Yorkshire and Lincolnshire in respect of flooding in those areas over the summer and for High Peaks Council with respect to the Toddbrook Reservoir incident. We await their claims.

In all the above cases, no additional staffing assistance was provided.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is unable to provide details about what financial and staffing assistance was provided by other departments to local authorities in response to those severe weather incidents.