Andy Burnham warns services in Manchester will have to be cut as row over cost of terror attack escalates

The Mayor of Manchester has warned that public services in the city will have to be cut because the Government has not reimbursed the full cost of the terror attack which killed 22 people earlier this year. 

Andy Burnham has accused Theresa May of refusing to pay back a bill of over £17 million for policing, health and court costs despite initially pledging to give the city everything it needed. 

The former Labour MP said he should not be forced to "plead" for the funding when Kensington and Chelsea council has been awarded support following the Grenfell Tower tragedy. 

The row comes after the Prime Minister sent Mr Burnham a letter setting out what the Government has so far agreed to pay - around £12 million in "reasonable costs".

But he warned the promise does not go far enough and said services will have to be cut as a result, unless more money is promised soon. 

Mr Burnham said: "We submitted this some time ago. I think we are entitled to a better response than this.  

"We feel we've waited long enough and we need to see it resolved, and resolved quickly. Not just reasonable costs, but all costs that were incurred should be reimbursed."

He added: "We haven’t been trying it on, we’ve put together the evidence to back up our claim. Look at the books, this is what we’ve spent.

"If we don’t get it back we have to start cutting public services & that can’t be right. We shouldn’t have to plead for this money.”

A Whitehall source said the process for approving money has not yet concluded and the proper checks must be followed because releasing the cash involves a number of different departments. 

But a source close to Mr Burnham said no guarantees have been given that all costs associated with the fatal attack would be covered, and this has led to uncertainty. 

In a statement a Government spokesman stressed that the process of approving money is ongoing. 

They said: "We are absolutely committed to ensuring the victims of this terrible attack and Greater Manchester have all possible support.

“We have given strong assurance Manchester will receive £12m. That includes £3m being paid now and a further £1m being made available to support the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund.

“This is an ongoing process and the Government stands by its commitment to provide all necessary further assistance.”

In total 22 people died in the blast, including eight teenagers and an eight year old girl who were attending an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena. 

The cost of policing the terror attack came to around £9 million, which sources close to the Mayor said had not been full agreed. 

Health costs come to around £8 million, £3 million of which is understood to have been agreed so far; while court costs and other elements of the ongoing effort will add another £10 million to the bill, Mr Burnham said. 

He is reported to have set out the detail behind the £17 million bill in a previous letter to the Prime Minister and was expecting to hear that Manchester would receive the money from central Government as part of a special police funding deal in Budget week. 

The Prime Minister was pressed by Manchester Central MP Lucy Powell to commit to reimbursing all the money earlier this month, but she stopped short, saying only the majority of funds would be sent.