Government cash to help with the damage caused by Storm Desmond in west Cumbria will be paid out immediately, says an MP.

Allerdale council is entitled to about £220,000 under the Government's Bellwin scheme but it has not been paid.

Workington MP Sue Hayman questioned why in Parliament last week.

At Questions to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, she asked Floods Minister Therese Coffey: “The damage caused by storms last winter cost about £5 billion.

"Thousands of homes and businesses were flooded and there was significant damage to roads and bridges.

“The then Prime Minister said that 'money is no object', but councils are still waiting. Allerdale, for example, is owed almost £220,000.

“How many councils are still waiting for the promised funds, and why?”

Mrs Coffey, who visited Braithwaite, near Keswick, in August, said: "She raises an important point.

“She will be aware of the Government’s commitment to spend £2.5 billion over six years, which has given the Environment Agency long-term funding.

“I will have to ask the Department for Communities and Local Government about her specific point on the recovery work and then write to her, but we are continuing to invest in such schemes, including in Cumbria, as she will be aware.”

Within 24 hours, the Department for Communities and Local Government were in touch with Allerdale council to let them know that they will receive payment under the Bellwin Scheme as contribution to costs of the floods today.


Sue Hayman
Mrs Hayman, the newly appointed shadow minister for floods, said: "I warmly welcome this news – though it shouldn’t take a local MP raising individual cases at the despatch box for our local councils to be paid the money that they are owed and have been promised by Government.

“It’s nearly a year on from last winter’s floods and the recovery is still ongoing.

"Communities like ours desperately need these funds to ensure that people can get on with their lives and so that repairs and preparations can be made in time for this coming winter.

“In my new role I’m going to continue to ensure that Government works quickly to provide flooded communities with the resources they need.

"People in West Cumbria need flood defences and infrastructure repairs, not empty promises.”