Watchdog criticises flood response

LONDON - The government's financial response to the unprecedented summer floods was poorly targeted and was not good value for taxpayers, a public spending watchdog warned on Friday.

While its package was generous, the government's response was inconsistent and will leave local councils facing widely varying bills, an Audit Commission report found.

In its study from 18 of the worst hit areas, the commission concluded that the government's response, while speedy, was not enough to deal with the floods and called for a review.

The devastating summer floods led to more than 55,000 homes and businesses being inundated and left an insurance bill of around three billion pounds.

While the government said it had handed out 60 million pounds in grants, the commission said the total taxpayer bill would likely approach a quarter of a billion pounds.

The majority of that cost will be picked up by East Riding, Gloucestershire, Hull and Sheffield councils, it said.

The government rejected the report's conclusions, saying that flexibility was crucial and that a "one size fits all approach to emergencies won't work".

The commission's chief executive, Steve Bundred, said the report highlighted the contradictory government responses.

"There are some local authorities which, although badly hit by the flooding, will bounce back quickly (while) others will be dealing with the effects of the flooding for some time to come," he said in a statement.

"Local authorities were able to cope this time, but if there was another serious flood tomorrow, some wouldn't have enough money in reserve."

Conservative local government spokesman Alistair Burt said the report exposed a "catalogue of failings".

"We must do our best to ensure that the havoc wreaked by the floods in the summer is not repeated again," he said.

But Floods Recovery Minister John Healey rejected key parts of the report.

He said that giving money to councils "to decide how to spend was the right thing to do" and had been widely praised.

"Communities wanted quick and comprehensive support not a response set out in a rulebook six inches thick," he said.

"I make no apologies for acting swiftly and decisively and we would have rightly been criticised if we'd done otherwise."