HC Deb 13 January 1988 vol 125 cc272-4W
Mr. Tony Banks

To 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. Moynihan

The following information relates to the special allocations made by the Countryside Commission for 1987–88.

£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 Banks

To 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. Chope

No payments have yet been made to the London borough of Newham under the scheme of special financial assistance for dealing with the storm damage on 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 Banks

To 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. Chope

In 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 Banks

To 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. Chope

Up 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 Arnold

To 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. Ridley

I 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.

Forward to