I doubt it was the fault of central government that there were instances of flooding in Bury

There have indeed been reductions in the amount of money that central government has paid to local authorities across the country. These reductions have been made in accordance with national policy It is not policy which the Government directs solely at Bury MBC it is applied across the country. As with all averages there will always be some figures below and some above any average.

The Labour administration have a sum of about £10 million in a bank account. They say this is a reserve in case of any major disaster befalls Bury. It is not necessary to save all this money it could be used to offset some of the financial shortfall which Councillor Shori writes about. If any major calamity where to occur central government would make money available to deal with the crisis. David Cameron has visited flood damaged areas of the country and said that money will be made available. Bury has just received £1.5 million from central government.

I do not know to which flood defences in Bury to which Councillor Shori refers but I doubt it was the fault of central government that there were instances of flooding in Bury. Having spoken to victims of flooding in recent weeks it appears that there have been a number of drains and culverts which have not been adequately maintained and that resulted in flooding in parts of the borough. Perhaps some of the £10 million could be used to deal with these drains and culverts.

Gregory Keeley

Cllr for Tottington, Affetside and Walshaw