§ Mr. Tony BanksTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give details by local authority of(a) original bids and (b) final allocations of funds from the Countryside Commission's "Task Force Trees for Replanting" following damage sustained in the inclement weather of 16 October 1987.
§ Mr. MoynihanThe following information relates to the special allocations made by the Countryside Commission for 1987–88.
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£000 Gross Bid Net Bid Allocation Bedfordshire Bedfordshire CC 10 10 3 Berkshire 340 306 93 Berkshire CC 310 279 80 Reading BC 30 27 13 Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire CC 58 51 20 Cambridgeshire 53 49 21 Cambridgeshire CC 37 35 14 Cambridge City 16 14 7 Dorset 23 22 9 Dorset CC 9 9 3 Bournemouth BC 6 6 3 Poole BC 8 7 3 East Sussex 1,094 907 293 East Sussex CC 648 521 200 Brighton BC 41 35 18 Eastbourne BC 81 68 25 Hove BC 93 80 25 Hastings BC 231 203 25 Essex 998 882 151 Essex CC 845 756 120 Lee Valley Park 13 12 6 Braintree DC 140 114 25 Hampshire 1,261 1,080 204 Hampshire CC 1,000 855 120 Eastleigh BC 51 44 22 Hart DC 65 58 25 Portsmouth BC 27 24 12 Southampton City 118 99 25 Hertfordshire Hertfordshire CC 82 82 33 Isle of Wight Isle of Wight CC 151 136 55 Kent 1,374 1,253 350 Kent CC 520 520 200 Canterbury City 114 97 25 Dover DC 187 160 25
Gross Bid Net Bid Allocation Maidstone BC 100 90 25 Sevenoaks DC 370 312 50 Swale DC 83 74 25 London 3,556 2,631 880 Barnet 100 84 42 Bexley 50 45 22 Brent 10 9 5 Bromley 293 293 50 Camden 64 57 28 City 200 90 45 Ealing 115 104 50 Enfield 45 38 19 Greenwich 48 44 22 Hammersmith and Fulham 46 34 17 Haringey 136 81 40 Harrow 60 49 24 Havering 55 43 21 Hillingdon 35 30 15 Hounslow 179 161 50 ILEA 8 7 4 Islington 72 65 32 Kensington and Chelsea 37 33 16 Lambeth 167 150 50 Lewisham 60 54 27 LRB 5 5 3 Merton 231 208 50 Newham 277 240 50 Southwark 118 106 50 Sutton 255 230 50 Tower Hamlets 18 16 8 Wandsworth 312 274 50 Westminster 100 81 40 Norfolk 80 80 34 Norfolk CC 60 60 24 Norwich City 20 20 10 Oxfordshire Oxfordshire CC 25 20 6 Southern Water 12 11 6 Suffolk 276 276 139 Suffolk CC 228 228 115 Ipswich BC 48 48 24 Surrey 130 113 56 Surrey CC 75 65 32 Waverley BC 55 48 24 West Sussex 678 513 206 West Sussex CC 133 111 67 Adur DC 150 62 25 ArunDC 153 122 25 Chichester DC 35 29 15 Crawley BC 30 27 14 Horsham DC 93 84 25 Mid Sussex DC 63 59 25 Worthing BC 21 19 10 The Countryside Commission arrived at the figures for net bids by deducting costs which were ineligible under the terms of the special scheme; and, where this was separately identified, by deducting the contribution which the local authority itself proposed to make.
§ Mr. Tony BanksTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what funds have been(a) paid out and (b) allocated to the London borough of Newham for damage sustained during the inclement weather on 16 October 1987.
§ Mr. ChopeNo payments have yet been made to the London borough of Newham under the scheme of special financial assistance for dealing with the storm damage on274W 16 October. My Department has not yet received a claim from the borough. No specific sum has been budgeted for Newham, nor any other authority under the scheme. Payments will be made on the basis of eligible expenditure in each authority's claim.
§ Mr. Tony BanksTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give his Department's latest estimate of the costs to local authorities arising from the damage caused by inclement weather on 16 October 1987.
§ Mr. ChopeIn advance of receiving local authorities' claims for special financial assistance the Department does not have sufficiently reliable information available to provide such an estimate.
§ Mr. Tony BanksTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the amount his Department has(a) paid out and (b) budgeted for damages arising from the consequences of inclement weather on 16 October 1987.
§ Mr. ChopeUp to 12 January only four claims have been received, and no payments have yet been made under the scheme of special financial assistance for dealing with storm damage on 16 October 1987. My Department has initially budgeted £25 million in 1987–88. This estimate is provisional and will be amended as necessary in the light of claims received. Provision will also be made in Main Estimates for 1988–89 for such payments.
§ Mr. Jacques ArnoldTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he is in a position to respond to the request from Kent county council for special financial assistance in respect of the severe weather during the 1986–87 winter.
§ Mr. RidleyI have today written to the leader of Kent county council indicating that we have concluded that the weather conditions experienced in the county last winter were such as to justify invoking a scheme of special financial assistance under the Bellwin arrangements, and an exclusion from total expenditure.
In reaching this decision we have had particularly in mind the exceptionally severe weather conditions experienced by Kent compared with normal winter weather for the county and that, as a direct result of these conditions, communities were put at risk and suffered severe hardship and inconvenience which required immediate relief.
My officials have written to Kent with full details of the scheme. It will provide for grant to be paid at a rate of 75 per cent. on emergency-related expenditure above a threshold. This threshold will be the same as that used in relation to the storm emergency last October: the product of a 1p exclusive rate for the county council and 0.15p rate for non-metropolitan district councils.
I am also consulting local authority interests about an exclusion from total expenditure in respect of authorities' 25 per cent. share of eligible expenditure above the threshold and have asked that those wishing to comment on this proposal should do so by 5 February 1988.
It is open to other authorities who believe that they qualify for assistance under the terms of this scheme to make a case to the Department, and if it is accepted, to make a claim for special financial assistance.
The responsibility for dealing with such emergencies remains with local authorities. The Government regard special financial assistance as an exceptional measure. They will decide each case on its merits.