§ Mr. Spellerasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will set up a nationally based fund to provide immediate aid in future for the relatively minor disasters such as the recent floods in North Devon that bear heavily on low rate income local authorities in rural areas.
§ Mr. KingExperience shows that local authorities can be relied upon to deal with such emergencies in their areas. The Government have, where appropriate, made special assistance available related to the financial resources of each local authority.
I take this opportunity to inform the House that, during the recess, it was announced that the Government would meet 75 per cent. of net additional expenditure in excess of the product of a 1p rate incurred by local authorities as a direct result of the floods at the end of last month.