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UK floods: 'Unspent' £60m may be used on rail repairs UK floods: No 10 'committed' to flood relief cash
(about 2 hours later)
Up to £60m not spent by the Department of Transport this year could be used to help repair the rail network battered by the recent storms. There will be "no sliding away" from the prime minister's promise to spend whatever it takes on flood relief efforts, No 10 sources have said.
The BBC understands the Treasury could allow the department to keep the "underspend" in its annual budgets. Speaking on Tuesday, David Cameron said "money would be no object" in the clean-up operation, but critics have questioned the actual cash available.
David Cameron has said "money is no object" in helping flood-affected communities get back on their feet. Downing Street aides said the pledge related to the present relief effort and not to a wider spending commitment.
But Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin has said there will be no "blank cheque" for repairs. Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said there will be no "blank cheque".
The prime minister has chaired a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee on the flood crisis and will lead another meeting later on Wednesday.
There are still 16 severe flood warnings - meaning a danger to life - in the South East and South West of England.
Mr Cameron has announced a package of support for homeowners, businesses and farms affected by the floods - the details of which are likely to be fleshed out in the coming days.
A No 10 spokesman said he expected the resources to pay for the relief effort to come from contingency funds within departments and elsewhere, drawing a distinction between money for "this relief effort" and the wider costs associated with rebuilding and reconstruction.
Up to £60m not spent by the Department of Transport this year could be used to help repair the rail network battered by the recent storms, the BBC understands.
The Treasury could allow the department to keep the "underspend" in its annual budget.
Mr McLoughlin said Network Rail was already spending £38bn on maintaining and enhancing the rail network over the next five years and the money had to be spent in the "right way".Mr McLoughlin said Network Rail was already spending £38bn on maintaining and enhancing the rail network over the next five years and the money had to be spent in the "right way".
'Big phrase' 'Every resources'
But he would not comment on whether any new money would be put at his disposal.But he would not comment on whether any new money would be put at his disposal.
The prime minister has chaired the government's latest emergency meeting on the floods, with Chancellor George Osborne among ministers attending. Asked whether £60m would be made available, he said: "There is a lot of money going into the railways, each day and each week. What now has to be asked is, 'Are we doing the right kind of resilience for today's problems?'
The flooding crisis is likely to dominate Prime Minister's Questions at 12:00 GMT.
There are still 16 severe flood warnings - meaning a danger to life - in the south-east and south-west of England.
On Monday, David Cameron announced a package of support for homeowners, businesses and farms affected by the floods - the details of which are likely to be fleshed out in the coming days.
The BBC's political editor Nick Robinson said the PM had used a "big phrase" to demonstrate his commitment to do whatever was necessary to help those affected but, in reality, there did not seem to be a "big cheque".
Mr McLoughlin told BBC Radio 4's Today that his department would have to look firstly at what was needed to repair the damage to the rail network and then to make it more resilient for the future.
Asked whether £60m would be made available, he said: "There is a lot of money going into the railways, each day and each week. What now has to be asked is are we doing the right kind of resilience for today's problems.
"We need to make sure we are spending the money in the right and correct way.""We need to make sure we are spending the money in the right and correct way."
It was fair to assume, he added, that the storms of the past two months were "not a one-off" and the UK would have to prepare itself for future periods of extreme weather. It was fair to assume, he added, that the storms of the past two months were "not a one-off" and the UK would have to prepare for future periods of extreme weather.
On the issue funding, he told ITV's Daybreak: "I don't think it's a blank cheque. I think what the prime minister was making very clear is that we are going to use every resource of the government and money is not the issue while we are in this relief job, in the first instance, of trying to bring relief to those communities that are affected." On the issue of funding, he told ITV's Daybreak: "I don't think it's a blank cheque. I think what the prime minister was making very clear is that we are going to use every resource of the government, and money is not the issue while we are in this relief job."
'Tough choice' 'Bits and bobs'
The 2007 floods in the north of England cost business £740m while the Commons energy and climate change committee has suggested £500m would need to be spent to make the UK's flood defences ready for future floods. The BBC's political editor Nick Robinson said Mr Cameron had used a "big phrase" to demonstrate his commitment to do whatever was necessary to help those affected but, in reality, there did not seem to be a "big cheque".
The 2007 floods in the North of England cost business £740m while the Commons Energy and Climate Change Committee has suggested £500m would need to be spent to make the UK's flood defences ready for future floods.
The UK Independence Party has called on the prime minister to give more details of where the money will come from, saying that the sums needed could run to hundreds of millions of pounds.The UK Independence Party has called on the prime minister to give more details of where the money will come from, saying that the sums needed could run to hundreds of millions of pounds.
It has called for money to be temporarily taken from the foreign aid budget to deal with the immediate challenges - a proposal rejected by the prime minister. Nigel Farage, the party's leader, has called for money to be temporarily taken from the foreign aid budget to deal with the immediate challenges - a proposal rejected by the prime minister.
"It is all very well for the prime minister to say that whatever money is needed will be spent," the party's communications director Patrick O'Flynn said. "If David Cameron is only talking about utilising a £60m transport underspend and one or two other bits and bobs from across Whitehall then he still clearly does not appreciate the terrible scale of this crisis," Mr Farage said.
"But unless he is also willing to take a tough choice about where to switch resources from then we must assume he plans to sink the nation even further into debt by borrowing it."