Montgomeryshire AM, Russell George, has asked the Welsh First Minister to set out what packages of support was his government putting in place to help those affected by recent severe storm damage.
He raised the issue with the First Minister, Carwyn Jones AM, during the weekly round of questions to the leader of the Welsh Government. Mr George said that those communities affected, particularly the 100,000 homes that had lost power, some for a number of days, wanted to know what support the Welsh Government was going to secure for them on their behalf.
Mr Jones said that local authorities could bid for extra funding from the Welsh Government if there area was severely affected but he praised staff from the energy companies and from Natural Resources Wales for responding quickly to the unfortunate effects of the weather.
Commenting, Mr George said:
“There were 100,000 homes across Wales affected as well as many thousands of businesses and they quite rightly want to know what help they are going to get.
“I believe the Government should be proactively talking to energy companies regarding discounts as well as putting forward funding packages of business rate relief and council tax rebates.
“If there is a strong case that additional money needs to be sort from Europe, then I think the Welsh Government should be allowed to make that case.
“However, it should not be overlooked that responsibility for flooding in Wales rests with the Welsh Government and therefore the Welsh public quite rightly want to know, what is it doing to act in our best interest.”
