Grants of £1,500 announced for people hit by Storm Babet flooding

People whose homes were hit by the worst flooding from Storm Babet will be able to claim grants of £1,500, the Scottish Government has said.

In addition, grants of £3,000 for businesses severely affected by the storm were announced.

The government’s taskforce on recovery from the flooding met on Thursday morning, chaired by Deputy First Minister Shona Robison.

There had been calls from those affected by the flooding for the government to do more, while the Scottish Conservatives said the taskforce should have met weeks ago.

Discussions on the Bellwin scheme, which compensates local authorities for expenditure to deal with emergencies, are ongoing and the deadline for councils to submit their final bills has been extended to four months post-storm.

The storm brought unprecedented flooding to Angus and the north-east of Scotland between October 18 and 21, claiming three lives north of the border.

In the town of Brechin, the River South Esk burst its banks and several streets were inundated with water.

The grants announced on Thursday will be administered by councils.

Net Zero Secretary Mairi McAllan said Storm Babet was a “highly unusual weather event”.

She said: “Given the unprecedented scale of damage and impact caused by Storm Babet we have concluded that additional funding is required to support households and businesses.

“This is in addition to our long-standing annual funding of £42 million and the additional £150 million for flood risk management and £12 million for coastal change adaptation over the course of this parliament, and sits alongside the Bellwin Scheme, Scottish Welfare Fund, and additional funds to farming businesses and organisations.

“Our taskforce will continue to oversee these matters and support local partners.”

Beth Whiteside, leader of Angus council, said she welcomed the government’s commitments.

She said: “Recovery will be a lengthy process as we support people and communities to rebuild their lives and businesses from the unprecedented flooding and we will need ongoing support for years to come to rebuild our infrastructure and take action to protect Angus from such devastating flooding in the future.”

The government said support is also available through the Scottish Welfare Fund and council tax relief for properties rendered uninhabitable.

The government said no council is currently in a position to finalise its claim under the Bellwin scheme.

On October 25, the UK Government announced a package of grants for those affected by Storm Babet in England – with households able to claim up to £500 and businesses £2,500.