UK government's flood money management is a disaster in itself

4.35.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 13th May 2008

Speaking after discussing with senior officials at the European Commission the EU flood relief money for the UK, Graham Watson MEP for the South West and Gibraltar said:

"Not only will the Exchequer deprive the flood-hit communities of £79m out of the £110m available, we now learn that the British government has not even provided the details of the bank account into which the money should be paid. Somebody in Whitehall needs a kick up the backside as Brussels gave a green light to the transfer more than a month ago.

If this money had been allocated to French, German or Italian communities, they would receive every penny. Only in Britain can the Chancellor limit the entitlement. How long can central government get away with denying the full benefit of EU membership to Britain's communities?"

Editors note:-

The government's internal report on the flooding, led by Sir Michael Pitt, will be published in June 2008. Since last summer's flooding Graham Watson has pushed hard for the UK government to apply to the EU Solidarity Fund, which is intended to reimburse non-insured losses, such as emergency assistance and public infrastructure costs.

Graham has campaigned at the European Parliament for the application to be approved as quickly as possible. The Commission then approved £110m of funding to help with the costs of emergency recovery, which will only equate to a net payment of £31m. This is due to the 'abatement mechanism', with the EU, commonly known as the rebate, established in 1984.