UK Riots: Government Hands Councils £10m To Rebuild Communities

Government Pays Out Millions To Rebuild Communities After Riots

The government has refunded councils more than £10 million spent on helping communities recover from last summer's riots.

In a statement to Parliament, Bob Neill outlined how three schemes announced by the government in the wake of last year's disturbances had worked.

For each of the funding streams, councils were told to spend the cash and come to government for a rebate, the Press Association reported.

The biggest sums were spent on the High Street Support Scheme, which has seen £7.4m paid to 24 local authorities - including £1.2m to Birmingham City Council, £1.3m to Croydon Borough Council and £1m to Haringey Borough Council.

A Recovery Scheme, operated to allow councils to meet the immediate costs of making areas safe, clear and clean again, has paid out £2.9m to 28 councils.

The Homelessness Support Scheme has paid out £380,255 across six councils - with households able to claim up to £5,000 each and £35,000 spent on two case workers in Haringey.

Mr Neill said: "On August 12, 2011, as part of a concerted, cross-government action, we announced a series of measures to help rebuild communities following the riots and public disorder in the summer of 2011.

"The package provided immediate and ongoing support to open up shops and rebuild buildings which were damaged, make sure people who lost their home were re-housed and to help councils get their areas back to normal as quickly as possible.

"Under these schemes, local councils were placed in the lead in providing support to local firms and local residents. Central government committed to reimburse local councils for their incurred costs retrospectively.

"As made clear when the schemes were launched, central government is not funding affected firms or residents directly. Payments are linked to the claims submitted and costs incurred."