Theresa May has promised the government will fully fund the £28m costs of dealing with the Manchester Arena bombing after criticism that an initial offer fell at least £5m short of what local authorities said was needed.

There was outrage on Friday when it was revealed that the prime minister had offered just £12m, with £3m being made available immediately. In a letter to Andy Burnham, Greater Manchester’s mayor, May said the government would reimburse only “reasonable costs”.

Burnham fought back, saying more than £17.5m had already been spent and suggested at least £10.4m more could be needed to cover costs including the inquests into the 22 deaths and an inquiry.

The £12m would have meant local authorities being forced to cut services to make up the shortfall on what had already been spent, he had warned.

The PM told the Manchester Evening News: “Be in no doubt, Manchester will get the financial support it needs – and if that costs £28m, as Andy Burnham has estimated, then that is what we will make available.”

The offer was welcomed by Burnham, in a tweet on Sunday night.

I thank the Prime Minister for her helpful words this evening. We will work constructively with the Taskforce to achieve a fair resolution. https://t.co/ssi4Zc2nRE — Andy Burnham (@AndyBurnhamGM) November 26, 2017

A taskforce has been set up within the Cabinet Office to make sure different government departments responsible for processing payments to Manchester all work together.

The PM said the taskforce would work to “oversee, progress and expedite payments when necessary”.

Others questioned why the government had initially offered to pay only part of the costs.

“It’s takes some detachment and poor judgment to eventually do the right thing in such a poor way,” tweeted the MP for Oldham, Jim McMahon.

Greater Manchester police spent £9.8m on extra policing following the bomb on 22 May, according to figures submitted to the government by Burnham.

The NHS incurred costs of £3.47m and the North West ambulance service £198,000.

Part of the £28m requested by Burnham includes an estimated £5m for inquests into the 22 people killed in the attack. An independent inquiry into various agencies’ response to the bomb is expected to cost £320,000.

The £28m figure also includes a £4m bid to Visit Britain to promote Greater Manchester as a safe holiday destination.







