To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what categories of local authority expenditure are not eligible for emergency financial assistance under the Bellwin scheme. (303175)

Annex B of the Bellwin guidance on the Communities and Local Government website:

http://wwwcommunities.gov.uk/localgovernment/localgovernrnentfinance/bellwinscheme/

gives examples of expenditure that would not normally qualify for funding under the Bellwin scheme. These include:

costs which are normally insurable, whether by the authority or any other party (e.g. under household insurance policies);

loss of income (e.g. from facilities closed as a result of the emergency), as this falls outside the scope of section 155 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989;

the normal wages and salaries of the authority's regular employees, whether diverted from their normal work or otherwise, and the standing costs of the authority's plant and equipment;

longer term works of repair and restoration, such as tree planting and repair or refurbishment of damaged but not dangerous structures;

any element of betterment, e.g. repairs to buildings to a significantly higher standard than their condition on the day before the incident.