Earlier this week, Richard met with Minister for Local Government, Alison McGovern, to discuss the costs incurred by Bedford Borough Council following the tragic explosion at Cleat Hill in October 2024 that killed two residents and displaced dozens of households into temporary accommodation for two months running up to Christmas. The meeting came as a result of Richard's letter to the Government in December seeking answers over the Government's decision to refuse financial support for the exceptional costs incurred by the Council.
Richard Fuller MP said:
I am disappointed that to date, the Government has declined to offer any financial reimbursement for the council. As such, the likelihood is that these costs will ultimately be borne by Bedford Borough residents through increases in council tax or a tightening of services.
There is a government programme, the Bellwin Scheme, specifically intended for such exceptional events and in my opinion this explosion and the measures taken by the Council should qualify for eligibility.
However, I was pleased to find a refreshingly sympathetic ear from the Minister on Tuesday regarding the current lack of support from the national government.
The Minister is only recently in post but grasped the exceptional nature of the expenses incurred by our local council, fire services and police to make sure people and homes were safe.
The Minister is in the middle of settling local government funding decisions but promised to review this exceptional- and additional - funding issue and get back to me.
The Government is asking a lot from Bedfordshire in terms of its national goals and the Minister seems committed to get a fairer outcome on Cleat Hill.
Last week, Richard appeared on Anglia TV as part of their coverage into the aftermath of the tragic explosion .
The explosion happened several weeks after contractors struck a pocket of natural gas while drilling for a ground source heat pump and the £2 million exceptional costs incurred by Bedford Borough Council included the medium term housing and feeding of dozens of residents, the security of the street and their vacated homes, the clearance of dangerous structures affected by the explosion and the installation and monitoring of sophisticated early warning gas sensors.
For more information of the explosion, please visit, https://www.richardfuller.co.uk/campaigns/cleat-hill
