£930k cost for council to access scheme

Scotland’s finance secretary has said it was important for the government to act as “quickly as possible” in the wake of Wednesday’s flooding and tragic train crash.

Kate Forbes activated the Bellwin Scheme on Wednesday after she received a letter from north-east MSP Kevin Stewart.

The scheme provides emergency financial assistance to reimburse local authorities for costs incurred on, or in connection with, their “immediate actions to safeguard life and property or to prevent suffering or severe inconvenience as a result of a disaster or emergency in their area” – usually extreme weather events.

However, Aberdeen City Council has warned it would have to pay £930,000 to access the new funding and said there are plans to “monitor costs” .

Mrs Forbes said: “In the morning I got a letter from Kevin Stewart asking me to consider activating the Bellwin Scheme and I put out a note saying I would do so by the afternoon.

“It happened very, very quickly and as a government we worked to do what we could, as fast as possible.”

The finance secretary also paid tribute to the victims of the train crash – an incident she said felt “close to home”.

She said: “I don’t think there are words to capture how heartbreaking it is for the families involved and also how shocking it is for people who use the train on a weekly basis.

“Certainly prior to Covid-19, I would have been on that line very regularly – probably joining it in Perth.

“So I take my hat off to everybody who has had a role in responding to this incident, and I am thinking particularly of the families affected.”

An Aberdeen City Council spokeswoman said while the activation of the Bellwin Scheme was “welcome”, it is still anticipating significant costs.

She said: “Like an insurance policy there is an ‘excess’ that has to be paid by the council before an application can be made – that for ACC is approximately £930,000 and represents 0.2% of our net revenue budget. We are already monitoring the costs and will determine if and when an application can be made once all of the costs are known.”