Section 155: Emergency financial assistance to local authorities., Local Government and Housing Act 1989

In any case where—

an emergency or disaster occurs involving destruction of or danger to life or property, and

as a result, one or more local authorities incur expenditure on, or in connection with, the taking of immediate action (whether by the carrying out of works or otherwise) to safeguard life or property, or to prevent suffering or severe inconvenience, in their area or among its inhabitants,

the Secretary of State may establish a scheme under this section for the giving of financial assistance to those authorities in respect of that expenditure.

Expenditure incurred as mentioned in subsection (1) above by—

the London Fire Commissioner,

the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime, or

Transport for London, in respect of places or areas within Greater London,

shall be treated for the purposes of this section as expenditure so incurred by the Greater London Authority (and, accordingly, as so incurred by a local authority).

To the extent that any financial assistance given to the Greater London Authority under this section is referable to expenditure incurred by a body mentioned in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of subsection (1A) above, the financial assistance shall be treated for the purposes of section 103 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 as a payment made to the Greater London Authority for the purposes of that body.

Financial assistance given pursuant to a scheme under this section shall take the form of grants paid by the Secretary of State with the consent of theTreasury and, subject to that, the terms and conditions of a scheme shall be such as the Secretary of State considers appropriate to the circumstances of the particular emergency or disaster concerned.

Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (2) above, a scheme under this section may—

make the payment of grants conditional upon the making of claims of a description specified in the scheme;

make provision with respect to the expenditure qualifying for grant and the rates and amounts of grants;

make provision in certain specified circumstances for the repayment of any grant, in whole or in part; and

make different provision for different local authorities or descriptions of authority and for different areas.

In the application of this section to England and Wales, any reference to a local authority is a reference to—

a county council;

a county borough council;

a district council;

the Greater London Authority;

a London borough council;

the Common Council of the City of London;

the Council of the Isles of Scilly;

a police and crime commissioner;

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

the Receiver for the Metropolitan Police District; or

a joint authority established by Part IV of the Local Government Act 1985, other than an Integrated Transport Authority; ...

a fire and rescue authority constituted by a scheme under section 2 of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 or a scheme to which section 4 of that Act applies;

a fire and rescue authority created by an order under section 4A of that Act;

a National Park authority; or

the Broads Authority.

In the application of this section to Scotland, any reference to a local authority is a reference to

a council constituted under section 2 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994
... a joint board or joint committee within the meaning of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.

The reference in subsection (1)(b) above to expenditure incurred by a local authority includes, in the case of an authority in England and Wales, expenditure incurred in defraying, or contributing towards defraying, expenditure incurred by a parish or community council.

This section shall come into force on 1st April 1990.

Section 155: Emergency financial assistance to local authorities.

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