WIREDGOV

Up to £15 million of reallocated funding made available in Northern Ireland to respond to flooding – supporting affected businesses and aiding clean-up costs.

• In absence of the Executive, support made possible by reallocating capital funding to resource budgets.
• A £60 million switch for the Scottish Government and £35 million switch for the Welsh Government also confirmed.

The UK Government has today, 8 November, announced up to £15 million of support will be available to respond to flooding in areas of Northern Ireland in the absence of the Executive.

The money has been made available through the granting of a request made to HM Treasury jointly by the UK Government’s Northern Ireland Office and Northern Ireland’s Department of Finance to reallocate funding from capital to resource budgets – recognising the need to be nimble and act swiftly at times of crisis for communities.

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, John Glen, has also confirmed a £60 million switch for the Scottish Government and £35 million switch for the Welsh Government to respond to flooding or allocate to other areas as they see fit.

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Chris Heaton-Harris, said:

The floods have been devastating for all those who have suffered the destruction of their homes and businesses. I have previously seen myself all the hard work that has gone into the areas affected to build facilities, invest and grow businesses and improve the local area.

I can only imagine how people must be feeling to see the destruction these floods have brought to areas they’ve invested so much in. Those who have suffered damage need reassurance that support will be available. This is rightly something  which a devolved Executive should be able to deliver.

However, in the absence of the Executive which could have acted swiftly, the UK Government will make available up to £15m of support through the reallocation of existing NI funding. This will help with clean-up costs and support businesses to resume trading.

We will continue to work closely with the NI Civil Service and local councils to ensure that support gets to those who need it as quickly as possible.

Further information

• Responding to flooding is a devolved responsibility and the Scottish and Welsh Governments are free to allocate their resources as they see fit.
• The £15 million is existing NI Executive funding which will be reallocated from capital spend.