SEVERE WEATHER, PITT REVUE, MULTI-AGENCY FLOOD PLANS, FLOODING SCRUTINY etc etc…… NEXT STEPS

1. West Mercia Local Resilience Forum are carrying out an “ Overview of Multi-Agency Arrangements for Responding to and Recovering from Severe Weather Events

This refers to emergencies, particularly large scale events such as widespread flooding.

We currently have in place:

a) Get Wise to Rising Water - leaflet for information of residents.

b) Local Flood Emergency Plan - due to be updated annually in October 2009.

c) Service Recovery Plan - refuse collection - impact of snow.

d) Risk Assessments - excessive heat etc

2. WMLRF - Government Response to Implement Pitt Review (GRIP)

Responding to the Government Action Plan

Going forward - specific contingency plans to be created separately to cater for each element of severe weather and these would sit under a generic Multi Agency LRF Severe Weather Plan.

District Council Actions Needed

Item 5. EA to work with partners to develop tools to model surface water flooding.

Item 7 . There should be a presumption against building in high flood risk areas in accordance with PPS25.

Item 9. Householders should no longer be able to lay impermeable surfaces as of right on front gardens.

Item 13. Local Authorities to promote business continuity…and resilience by businesses.

Item 15. Local Authorities should positively tackle local problems of flooding by working with all relevant parties - establishing ownership and legal responsibility.

Item 16. Las should collate and map main flood risk ….

Item 18. Local Surface Water Management Plans.

Item 19. Las should assess their technical capabilities to deliver….

Item 26. Government to develop single set of guidance on use of sandbags.

Item 28. The forthcoming flooding legislation should be a single unifying Act….clarifies responsibilities and facilitates flood risk management.

Item 38. Las should establish mutual aid agreements.

Item 44. Category 1 and 2 responders should assess the effectiveness of their emergency response facilities - flexible accommodation, IT, communications.

Item 61. EA should work with local responders …identify a range of mechanisms to warn the public - particularly the vulnerable - in response to flooding.

Item 64. LRFs should continue to develop plans for door knocking - co-ordinated by la's - to enhance flood warnings before flooding.

Item 66. LA contact centres should take the lead in dealing with general enquiries from the public during and after major flooding.

Item 68. Council leaders and CEs - to play prominent role in public reassurance and advice through the local media during a flooding emergency.

Item 83. La's should continue to make arrangements to bear cost of recovery for all but most exceptional emergencies.. revisit reserves/ insurance arrangements.

Item 84. Central Government should have pre-planned rather than ad hoc arrangements to contribute towards the financial burden of recovery.

Item 91. Each Scrutiny Committee should prepare an annual summary of actions taken locally to manage flood risk and implement this Review.

3. Multi- Agency Flood Plans

There is a requirement to produce a Multi-Agency Flood Plan for each of the Districts which will in fact bring together many of the issues contained in the various recommendations following the 2007 floods. It was accepted however by the Worcestershire Partnership Environment Group, as part of the LAA, that as resources available to produce this Plan did vary across district councils, that the most pragmatic approach would be for Wyre Forest District Council to produce a template for this and for other District Councils to follow this model and review its appropriateness when populated. This document is expected shortly.

The Worcestershire Local Area Agreement 2008-11 Delivery Plan contains a Priority to `reduce the risk of flooding (both fluvial and pluvial) throughout the County. The relevant indicator for this being:

Multi-Agency Flood Plan developed at District Council level and implemented

2008/09 - 1 (Wyre Forest)

2009/10 - 2 (Wychavon, Malvern

2010/11 - 3 Worcester, Redditch and Bromsgrove.

The production of the Worcester City document will fall in the 2010/11 financial year.

Along with other District Councils the City Council is also undertaking the production of the flood risk mapping process for the City as recommended by the Joint Scrutiny Task Group and the findings and resultant actions will be reported to a future Cabinet meeting.

The implications outlined in the Joint County and District Council Scrutiny Report, the Pitt Review, and the findings from flood risk mapping exercise will then be fed into the Multi-Agency Flood Plan for Worcester City.

4. Worcestershire Joint County and Districts Councils Scrutiny Report on Summer Floods 2007.

An update on this was reported to Worcester City Cabinet in June 2009.

Originally debated at Worcester City Scrutiny Committee on 12.1.2009.

It was also planned that the Joint Scrutiny Group should re-convene in 12 months time to review the outcomes from its findings and recommendations. This is due around November 2009.

Recommendations for District Councils were:

1. Further development of temporary `hublets' should form a key part of the County Council's approach to any future emergency.

2. It should be made clear to Councillors how they will be briefed on a developing emergency and how Councillors can find out what is happening.

3. All Councils to review and update their emergency contact lists and share these widely in a co-ordinated way. Agreed arrangements should be put in place to ensure that such lists are regularly and routinely updated.

4. The County Council to investigate the feasibility of introducing a system to enable customer contact centres to redirect callers where appropriate (such as to EA for advice on what to do in a flood).

5. Structures for the provision of relevant information to the contact centres are drawn up and put in place as soon as possible.

6. The Chamber of Commerce be invited to discuss further its offer to help local authorities maintain a list of useful numbers - including contractors with different skills - to be called upon as required during/after an emergency.

7. County and each District Council ensure that suitably qualified officers in each district take the lead responsibility for checking the condition of drainage assets (watercourse and ditches), feeding information to the drainage condition and assets map and sharing information with the Land Drainage Partnership.

8. Each District Council to assess whether they have sufficient technical capability and if necessary ensure that a suitably qualified individual is available to advise District Planning Committees about drainage issues and flood risk implications for each development.

9. All District Councils should consider proactively making use of their powers to serve enforcement notices on landowners who do not comply with requests to maintain their ditches and/or water courses.

10. District Councils should develop an arrangement whereby if a riparian land owner cannot afford to repair water courses - then they should carry out necessary work and claim cost of works back from estate.

11. Flood risk map should be produced by the District Councils for areas affected by floods, showing which properties and roads had flooded and the extent and direction of flow of flood waters.

12. Records of drainage maintenance carried out are also kept and routinely maintained and that again, overall responsibility should rest with County.

13. County Council, in collaboration with the District Councils, should consider maintaining an inventory of local equipment held by local farmers which could be used in alleviating flooding problems during a flooding event.

14. County and District Councils to consider ways to improve advising both rural and urban householders of their drainage responsibilities, including the availability of grants as well as the consequence of non-compliance.

15. County and District Councils develop protocols for sharing appropriate staff resources during recovery work after emergencies where appropriate.

16. Support the inclusion of developments with sustainable urban drainage systems in the Regional Spatial Strategy.

5. Flood and Water Management Bill

Meeting to be held at Pershore on 12^th October to discuss the draft bill.

Significant financial impacts on Councils and implications for staff capacity and skills.

A raft of new responsibilities for local government, in particular in providing leadership and accountability for the risk management of surface water (as opposed to river) flooding. Additional costs to be covered by savings from transfer of private sewers to sewerage companies and savings from better flood risk management.

Councils given responsibility for flooding from surface and groundwater.

Leadership role for local flood risk management.

Produce flood risk assessments and flood risk action plans.

Investigate local flooding incidents with all relevant parties to identify source and responsibility for addressing it.

Districts to act in accordance with strategy and guidance.

Considering whether should have to produce annual report on local actions to manage flooding - to overview and scrutiny committee.

Relevant Council to make Flood Risk Management Plan (FRMP)

6. NI189

Catchment Flood Management Plans

Part of LAA.

3 Years - First Year 2008/09 - effective relationships.

Second Year 2009/10 - commitment to progress priority actions

Third Year 2010/11 - delivering actions for change

Need to capture any information in relation to actions taken to assist dealing with flood risk - to cover prevention and protection and response and recovery.

Draft NI189 Spreadsheet to be returned to EA by Mid-November 2009.

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