Labour has accused ministers of ‘a total shambles’ over their attempts to secure scores of millions of pounds from the European Union (EU) to help communities after the winter floods.
The communities department has been criticised for delays, for potentially handing in applications too late to help flood-damaged communities, for not knowing exactly how much cash they are applying for and for not stating exactly where the money would go, leaving some concerned the cash could simply be used to repay central government coffers.
Some have attributed the delays to months of government dithering, linked to the EU referendum, ending with the prime minister having to make a U-turn and tell ministers to apply to the fund.
When questioned by Transport Network, a Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) spokesman declined to confirm that local councils will receive the payout in full - which in total could be over £100m - in addition to funds already distributed.
Although the Government has put in an initial application to the EU Solidarity Fund, shadow environment minister Alex Cunningham has criticised it for delays in completing the paperwork.
Communities minister, and Euro sceptic, James Wharton told the Commons on 25 February that the Government would apply to the fund, which was set up to respond to major natural disasters. In 2008, Britain received £120m from the EU for damage caused by the previous year’s floods.
An initial application has been handed in but it has emerged that the Government has not yet submitted sufficient detail for its application to be considered.
It is not clear whether this application will now meet the 12-week deadline – which has now passed – for applying for relief for areas such as Cumbria and Yorkshire.
Mr Wharton was not able to reply to a series of parliamentary questions from Mr Cunningham, including how much money the department has actually applied for.
Mr Cunningham told Transport Network: ‘The Government’s application to the EU Solidarity Fund has been a total shambles. Ministers urgently need to get a grip of the process and finalise the UK’s application for funding to help communities devastated by the floods.
‘Tens of millions of pounds could already have been made available to help British families and businesses through the Fund, with the potential for millions more in further payouts. But the Government’s willingness to delay making an application has slowed the entire process.
‘Labour had to drag a minister to the Despatch Box just days before the official deadline to get the Government to commit to apply for this vital help. With ministers unable to answer even the most straightforward questions on the detail of the application, there is now entirely understandable suspicion that these delays say more about the Tories’ own positioning on Europe than the best interests of Britain.’
A DCLG spokesman said: ‘The first priority for government and local councils has been to ensure communities get the immediate support they need in the weeks and months since the flooding.
’As set out in Parliament nearly six weeks ago we made clear we were applying and are now in the process of collating and submitting the detailed information the Commission requires alongside our application.
'This will take time as communities continue to make claims under our recovery schemes and the damage to infrastructure continues to be assessed – councils, departments and devolved administrations will need to supply their final costs as they become available.
’Communities have not lost out as in the meantime we’ve paid out over £250m to ensure households and businesses can get back on their feet as soon as possible.’
When questioned by Transport Network, the spokesman declined to confirm that the government would give any payout from the fund to communities, rather than using it to cover its earlier payouts.
In February Mr Wharton pointed out that, under the fund’s rules, ‘Emergency measures may be financed retrospectively’.
The spokesman told Transport Network: ‘If successful, we will consider how the money will be used to best support the affected communities’.
Calderdale Council leader Tim Swift said: ‘Calderdale council has been working as hard as we can to get grants out to residents and businesses, as well as keeping government informed about the costs of the flooding to our district. So it’s really disappointing to hear that there’s been little progress on securing European funding.
‘I hope also there’ll be a commitment that any funding secured will be directed back into support for the communities worse affected by the winter floods.’
