GOVERNMENT officials have confirmed no funding will be provided to support residents and businesses following the huge destruction caused by the suspected gas explosion in New Ferry.

Wirral Council passed a unanimous resolution in July to lobby ministers to try to get financial support for people affected.

But now Jake Berry minister for the 'Northern Powerhouse'  in a letter to  the town hall is saying it is not policy to provide financial assistance for "incidents of the size and impact of New Ferry." 

Instead he said the cash necessary to rebuild the town devastated by the  massive blast on March 25 -  should be met through "existing local resources."

Leader of the council Cllr Phil Davies has been in discussions with Government since the incident occurred and said he was shocked by the minister's response.

He told the Globe: “The Government has turned its back on the people of New Ferry.

“The minister’s statement that the explosion was not big enough to qualify for financial support is both disappointing and heartless.

“When you consider the scale of the incident, the many residents who have lost their homes and the businesses which have lost their livelihoods, I find that statement quite incredible and I am sure Wirral residents will too.

“This council has spent £300,000 on the recovery effort to date.

"Our teams have worked tirelessly to support local people and businesses in New Ferry.

"We have rehoused residents, we have supported local businesses, we have managed the recovery and the clean-up, and are now progressing demolitions where needed and building our plan for large scale regeneration for the town.

“We will continue to meet our responsibilities, and will renew our calls to the Government to ensure they meet theirs, but by hiding behind bureaucracy and policy they have badly let down the residents and businesses of New Ferry.”

Wirral South MP Alison McGovern said: “It is hugely disappointing that even after Government ministers have visited New Ferry for themselves and seen the scale of the devastation, they are still not prepared to help us fund the rebuilding work that is so badly needed.

“People in New Ferry will be feeling totally let down that after being strung along with months of warm words from government ministers, they have not been prepared to back it up with action.

"It’s not good enough and I will keep fighting for the funding we deserve.”

Merseyside Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram has pledged £20,000 to support affected people.

He said: “This is a deeply disappointing and unconvincing response from Government.

"It can only reinforce a sense among people and businesses in New Ferry that somehow their loss and distress is less important than that suffered by people in other recent disasters.

“I have said before that we cannot allow this to become the forgotten disaster, so we will need to redouble our efforts to help those affected and persuade the Government to rethink this regrettable and inconsistent decision.”

Council tax and business rates payments have been suspended where required, and local fund raising has taken place to support businesses and residents.

The Globe has placed a call to Mr Berry's office and is awaiting a response.

Here's Mr Berry's letter in full :

Dear Cllr Davies,

Thank you for your letter dated 7 July 2017 detailing the recovery efforts from the New Ferry explosion.

When I visited the area earlier this month, I was impressed by the resilience of the affected communities, and the efforts of your council and other local organisations during the recovery process.

The Secretary of State met Alison McGovern MP in April, and they discussed the explosion, and your good work addressing the impacts.

You say that no financial support has been received from the Government in the three months since the explosion; this letter is the first formal request for financial support we have had from you.

As you know, the Government will provide financial support for emergency response costs that meet the thresholds of the Bellwin scheme.

However, the Government rarely intervenes during the recovery phase of an emergency; and has only done so to-date when the scale and impact of the emergency is so great that it becomes a national incident.

Recent examples of this were the extensive flooding in parts of northern England during winter 2015/16, and last month’s fire at Grenfell Tower.

While I understand that recovering from the New Ferry explosion requires funding, for an incident of this size and impact we would expect these costs to be covered using existing local resources.

We are committed to providing long-term investment in the Wirral and its surrounding areas, and the Government has already invested in the Mersey Waters Enterprise Zone and Wirral’s Business Improvement District.

Wirral will also benefit from new manufacturing and research opportunities as a result of Regional Growth Fund investments, and the Liverpool City Region devolution deal.

I applaud the resolve of your council, local businesses, and the community, to regenerate the New Ferry area.

I look forward to receiving your Community Regeneration Plan later this month and am happy to confirm that both I and my officials will work with you to build a deliverable plan for the residents and businesses of New Ferry.

Jake Berry MP

I am copying this letter to Alison McGovern MP.