First Minister establishes emergency funding relief scheme

The Welsh Government is working with councils to get a clear picture of the scale of the damage, which will determine the total amount of additional funding needed.  Up to £10 million will be made available for the initial response.

The emergency flood relief scheme will be set up within the next seven days to ensure people affected get financial help as quickly as possible. The revenue funding will support:

• People whose houses have been damaged by the storms. Funding will be made urgently available to ease the acute pressure on people;
• Support businesses and high streets impacted by the storms;
• Local authorities dealing with clean-up costs;
• Urgent infrastructure repairs - for example, fixing damaged roads and bridges.

The First Minister is hosting an emergency summit tomorrow bringing together key frontline services, councils and business leaders to assess the extent of the damage across Wales and coordinate the response.

First Minister Mark Drakeford said:

“In recent days, Cabinet Ministers and I have been to Wrexham, Taffs Well, Llanrwst, Carmarthen, Pontypridd and Tylorstown, meeting with people who have had their homes and livelihoods devastated by the recent storms. It is heart-breaking to see the absolute destruction wreaked by the storms and my message to everyone I have met is that we are doing all we can to help those most in need. We will make urgent financial support available to people whose homes have been flooded and, in particular, help families who do not have insurance cover.

“Tomorrow, I am bringing together key partners across Wales to decide how we can release this money quickly and how it can be used most effectively. We will also begin to identify the longer term support needed to address the structural damage in those properties affected.”