An independent panel set up to investigate the summer riots in England has published its interim report. The panel, set up by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, looked at a number of issues and one of its chief recommendations is to reform the 1886 Riot Damages Act which has left thousands of commercial property owners still awaiting compensation.
The riots broke out in Tottenham in August and the unrest quickly spread to towns and cities across the country. Three people lost their lives and there was extensive damage and looting with retail commercial properties the principle target of the law breakers. The panel believes it was a perceived lack of response from the police to the initial disturbances which led to them being repeated over the following nights. “The rioters believed they would be able to loot and damage without being challenged by the police. In the hardest hit areas they were correct,” the report concludes.
Nearly 6,000 residential and commercial property owners submitted claims for compensation under the Riot Damages Act that is administered by the police authorities. The panel has been monitoring the progress of these claims and is highly critical of the slow response. It predicts that at the current rate less than half of the smallest claims and only a tenth of the larger claims will have been paid by next March.
The report is also critical of insurance companies claiming that they are letting victims down following complaints from commercial property owners. It calls for the process to be speeded up and suggests that action should be taken to compel companies to settle claims more quickly. The combined compensation and insurance claims are likely to cost the country £300 million with a further £30 million estimated to have been lost in High Street sales. “Shopkeepers lost everything they had built up over many years,” the report says. “The consequences of the riots are still being felt.”
The manager of Debenhams in Clapham Junction which was looted during the unrest told Sky News that it was very upsetting for staff on a personal level to see all their hard work go to waste. Debenhams is now back to normal after extensive repairs and restocking but other commercial properties in the area have not recovered as quickly. A nearby Currys store remains boarded up and the Party shop on the opposite corner which employed 20 people is still a burnt out shell.
Four months after the riots footfall is still down in some riot hit high streets and the report recommends that the government should start a fund to help those still struggling.
Meanwhile in Peckham there has been some progress since August and this week it was announced that the area will get a new £5 million revamp which includes a new public square and a plaza. The announcement was made by Mayor Boris Johnson whose regeneration fund set up in the immediate aftermath of the riots was designed to help commercial properties and communities recover. Speaking about the Peckham development in the Evening Standard Mr Johnson said: “The plans are hugely exciting and have the potential to boost the local economy and bring great benefits to everyone in the area.” The full report from the Riots Communities and Victims Panel is due to be published in March 2012.
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