Healey announces further flood funding for Barnsley

Healey announces further flood funding for Barnsley

LONDON, May, 22, 2008/3mnewswire.org/ -- Floods Recovery Minister John Healey today announced almost £400,000 funding for Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council to help reimburse some of the costs after last summer's floods. This brings the total funding for Barnsley to deal with the summer floods to over £1.6 million.

This payment is part of over £18.7 million that has now been paid out under the Bellwin scheme, which covers costs incurred by local authorities during immediate action to safeguard residents and property to prevent suffering as a result of a disaster or major emergency. This means that in total up to £87 million Government support has now been made available to help communities get back on their feet following last summer's floods - with £31 million to follow through the Restoration Fund announced recently.

This is the last scheduled Bellwin payment relating to last summer's floods and 42 local authorities have now received funding.

John Healey said:

"Due to the scale of events we made it easier for councils to claim back additional costs from the Government, significantly extending the period for which they can claim, and increasing the proportion of costs they can receive to 100 per cent of spending above the threshold. This payment demonstrates our continued commitment to support flood-hit communities, like Barnsley."

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