Emergency funding available for Grenfell Tower incident

Communities Secretary Sajid Javid has confirmed that the Bellwin scheme will be activated to support the immediate response operation following the horrific incident at Grenfell Tower in London.

The emergency scheme provides financial assistance to local authorities to help with immediate costs following a disaster or emergency in their area that involves danger to life or property.

Local authorities can apply to have 100 per cent of their eligible costs above a threshold reimbursed. Relevant authorities are eligible for costs under Bellwin when they have spent more than 0.2 per cent of their calculated annual revenue budgets on emergency works.

Javid, who has already asked councils to provide details of how many similar tower blocks they have in their area, has said that the government is unsure how many buildings have been fitted with the same cladding as Grenfell Tower.

He said: “Emergency services and the local community have been tremendous in their response. As the Prime Minister has been clear, the government stands ready to help in anyway possible. We’re determined to stand squarely behind the affected communities. Funding through the Bellwin scheme will help councils support the community to get back on their feet.”

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Theresa May has ordered a full public inquiry into the incident, claiming that ‘we need to have an explanation of this, we owe that to the families’.