Winter 2015 floods: PM chairs COBR meeting
The Prime Minister chaired a COBR meeting today to discuss the ongoing flooding in Yorkshire and Lancashire and the latest military deployments.
This news item is not being updated. Read Winter flooding 2015: community support for current information.
A Number 10 spokesperson said:
The PM chaired a COBR this morning on the ongoing flooding in Yorkshire and Lancashire.
The conference call, which lasted around an hour, included the Secretaries of State for Defra, Health, DECC and DCLG, as well as ministers from the Cabinet Office, MOD and DFT. Representatives from the Environment Agency, Police Gold Command for each of the affected areas and military representatives also participated.
The PM praised the work of the emergency services in dealing with this unprecedented event, but recognised this was an incredibly serious situation which had led to some very serious flooding.
The decision was taken to deploy additional military personnel to ensure those affected by the flooding have the support they need, with 200 personnel being deployed to flood affected areas, alongside the existing 300 already there. A further 1,000 military personnel are being held in reserve should the situation worsen.
In addition, the meeting agreed that the Bellwin Scheme should be triggered for affected areas and that homes and businesses damaged by flooding should have access to the same package of support as already announced for homes and businesses affected by Storm Desmond.