§ Mr. GarnierTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what additional funding will be made available to help people in receipt of income support who have suffered loss and damage as a result of the recent severe weather. [21290]
§ Mr. Roger EvansI recently announced additional funding for four districts in the Glasgow area amounting to £268,308 for 967 applications. At the same time I also made available a further £80,000 from the contingency reserve for any future emergencies.
Since then, two further districts—Sefton and Highlands and Islands—have been awarded additional allocations from this sum of £80,000 due to their increased expenditure during the severe weather.
761WOn 29 February Sefton district reported a total of 76 awards at a cost of £25,315 and Highlands and Islands 396 awards at a cost of £42,000 a total expenditure of £67,315. The majority of awards were for budgeting loans.
I have therefore agreed that a further social fund in-year allocation of £67,315 should be made to the district offices affected.
The latest information we have suggests that there is unlikely to be any further requirement for additional allocations in the current financial year.