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Government floods funding ‘prompt but incoherent’ |
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The overall package of government assistance for this summer’s severe flooding was generous but inconsistent, a report published by the Audit Commission has found. The heavy rainfall in June and July caused flooding in many parts of the country, killing 14 people and devastating thousands of homes, roads, schools and hospitals (see FIRE, August, September issues). In its study, Staying Afloat – Financing Emergencies, the Commission assesses the impact on the finances of 18 of the worst affected local authorities and examines who ultimately will pick up the bill, which is expected to be a quarter of a billion pounds. It found that, while the government was quick to make additional resources available, on the whole, the assistance given was poorly targeted and unlikely to provide good value for taxpayers’ money.
A number of councils have been left much worse off than others as some will have to pay three per cent of the costs while others will have to find 73 per cent. This is caused by variations in the level of their insurance cover and inconsistencies in central government support. Three different government departments were involved in the allocation of four different sources of money. Steve Bundred, Chief Executive of the Audit Commission said: “This is a tale of two floods. There are some local authorities which, although badly hit by the flooding, will bounce back quickly. Others will be dealing with the effects of the flooding for some time to come. “Nationally, catastrophes such as terrorist incidents, foot and mouth, or freak weather are all possibilities, but precisely where or when they will hit is impossible to forecast. If every local authority insured for every eventuality, the cost to taxpayers would be unsustainable.
“Our report clearly shows that the current government scheme to provide emergency assistance isn’t enough to deal with catastrophic events and should be reviewed. “Local authorities were able to cope this time, but if there was another serious flood tomorrow, some wouldn’t have enough money in reserve. Central and local government now need to get together to discuss risk sharing of major disasters in the future.” The report concludes that the government needs to give more certainty about the funding of future emergencies which are inevitable nationally, but impossible to predict geographically. The Audit Commission warns that the current lack of clarity about central government financial support could lead individual local authorities either to under-insure their assets, putting council taxpayers and services at risk, or to over-insure them and waste public money.
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