Angus Council secures £7m Storm Babet payout from Scottish Government

Angus Council has received nearly £7m from the Scottish Government to help tackle the damage inflicted by Storm Babet.

The local authority lodged an interim bid for £6.9m worth of support from the government’s Bellwin scheme in February.

This scheme was set up to help councils with the immediate cost of tackling emergencies and natural disasters.

It is there to reimburse money spent in the immediate aftermath of a major incident.

Angus Council have now confirmed they’ve recieved the seven-figure sum requested – with potential for the final amount to be even higher.

The money will go towards the costs of damages and the repairs needed following last year’s storm, which ravaged Scotland’s east coast in October.

The storm battered Angus and left many homes devastated by flooding, forcing people to evacuate.

Brechin was one of the worst hit areas in the country.

It’s expected that damages caused by Storm Babet will be covered through a combination of the Scottish Government’s Bellwin Scheme, the council’s insurance and reserves.

The Bellwin scheme allows the Scottish Government to pay out additional financial support to local authorities to tackle the immediate costs of dealing with the aftermath of emergency incidents – like Storm Babet.

And Angus Council has said work to make the final Bellwin claim is ongoing.

Speaking at a policy and resources committe on Tuesday, the local authority’s finance director Ian Lorimer said: “The council’s interim Bellwin scheme claim for Storm Babet, nearly £7m, has been paid.

“There is work on other claims for some of the other storms that we have had which is also being done.”