CHAPTER SIX INTERVIEWS WITH KEY INSTITUTIONAL STAKEHOLDERS
Aims and scope
6.1 To examine the monitoring, warning and emergency response aspects of flood preparedness we interviewed senior decision-makers in SEPA, local authorities and central government (see Appendix C for the interview pro-formas). We also explored local authorities' experiences of handling floods to establish what they found worked, or otherwise, in terms of warning dissemination, general emergency planning and management.
6.2 We also examined the measures that local authorities and SEPA feel work best for promoting flood awareness outwith flood events. Under this heading come awareness campaigns (including those of SEPA), flood newsletters, and publicity for community 'self-help' initiatives. We explored the social aspects of planning for more permanent flood alleviation, the promotion of flood alleviation schemes and the often complementary approaches that emphasise planning, development control, and maintenance of watercourses using statutory powers. The information gained allowed us to assess how the selected local authorities involved communities in alleviation schemes and/or awareness campaigns.
6.3 We sought the views of Scottish Water on the social issues of emergency planning, maintenance and network renewal. We also contacted a representative from the insurance industry to establish how flood mitigation measures impact on insurance companies' decisions on policy provision and charges. We invited comment from SEERAD on the social aspects of flood risk as viewed by the body that sets national funding policy for flood alleviation schemes and warning programmes.
6.4 In the second part of the discussion in Chapter Seven we summarise the findings on 'what works' in terms of flood alleviation planning, via responses to a series of questions related to the social aspects of flooding and flood risk.
Flood warning to local authorities and key emergency responders
Extent of National Coverage by SEPA flood warnings
6.5 The majority of communities at risk of fluvial flooding are covered by flood warning schemes and included as part of the Floodline system. Significant population centres without coverage and at risk of being flooded include the Forth estuary from Grangemouth to Stirling, and parts of West Lothian including Livingston. In Aberdeenshire, the Dee, Don and Deveron catchments also lack flood warning schemes. Although problematic in terms of establishing adequate warning lead times, SEPA staff report that these catchments are now under review for new schemes as resources permit.
6.6 SEPA is dependant on local authority or Scottish Executive funding for new flood warning schemes; new funding often being triggered following damaging floods SEPA's cost-benefit appraisal method (policy no 34) is then implemented, with expectations in terms of the reach of the system and the information that can be provided and managed as well as technology and resources permit. The local authority also needs to show clearly how it plans to use the information in its flood emergency plan.
6.7 SEPA acknowledges that the re-active nature of this policy has constrained expansion of warning provision to date; the majority of the areas covered by warning having suffered at least one flood in the past. In future, the development of a national flood warning strategy has the potential to maximise social benefit by covering many more areas at risk (as established by the 2006 flood risk maps) if certain pre-defined criteria, such as adequate lead times, are met. SEPA endorses this strategy as it would help focus on those locations with most pressing needs. The requirements of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 place a mandatory duty on emergency planning groups (see para 6.13) to assimilate a community risk register. This duty may provide a useful database for assessing those at flood risk. In turn, by stimulating production of flood emergency plans and alleviation strategies in authorities that have yet to produce them, it may help target flood warning provision more effectively. This duty also has obvious relevance for warning dissemination, as it may identify areas that would benefit from warning systems.
6.8 Some SEPA staff claim, with some concern, that expansion of their warning duty has stretched their existing commitments. This has adversely affected their basic recording of hydrometric data on which the accuracy of flood warning systems ultimately depends.
6.9 In terms of public awareness, SEPA runs campaigns to increase public knowledge of Floodline and has links with some local authorities to promote awareness after flood events. The Floodline awareness campaign findings are summarised above in para 4.46.
Coastal flood warning
6.10 At present the Clyde estuary is the only coastal zone in Scotland covered by a flood warning scheme. Extending this to other sections of Scotland's coastline is problematic in terms of lead times. For example, the lead time for the January 2005 storm, which caused severe flooding and wave damage in the Western Isles and north eastern coasts, was only a few hours. Noting the difficulties in providing clear flood warning to such areas, SEPA is developing an extension of the Flood Watch service to selected coastal communities based on more intensive use of the Met Office's predictions of sea surges.
6.11 The coastal flood warning system for the Clyde covers three authorities downstream from Glasgow City Centre (see Kaya et al., 2005). Both Glasgow City and Renfrewshire Councils commented that this provides excellent warning times (typically 36 hours). The authorities along the river have pre-designated trigger levels at which they receive a faxed warning predicting when the specified level is expected to be exceeded, and for how long.
6.12 In some restricted areas, there may be potential for specific warning of more localised coastal flooding. An example is provided by Scottish Borders Council in Eyemouth, where a link has been made with the local harbour master to give a visual alert, combined with a removable flood defence to protect properties along a stretch of road near the harbour where the risk is highest.
Flood emergency planning
Regional Co-ordination
6.13 A regional multi-agency approach to emergency planning has become the norm, with eight corporate groups established nationally in former regional government areas to oversee strategic aspects of emergency planning. These groups co-ordinate the actions of the emergency services, local authorities, voluntary groups and utility companies. Although such a structure is now required under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, the Act's requirements builds on existing best practice. Thus the planning groups investigated in this report (Tayside Region Emergency Co-ordinating and Planning Group (( RECAP), Strathclyde Emergency Co-ordinating Group ( SECG) and the Grampian Joint Emergencies Committee) have all benefited by sharing infrastructure and manpower. Interviewed local authority staff also praised the voluntary sector, including the Women's Royal Volunteer Service ( WRVS), for its contribution to emergency planning. The national viewpoint is also positive:
" … a tremendous example of people being pro-active, if there is a significant enough event the groups get together for a de-brief meeting…the new generation of professionals are getting together and recognising the benefits from regional organisation." ( SEERAD interview)
6.14 Within the regional structure, the police and emergency services act as intermediaries and as chief co-ordinators, interacting with the local authorities on a tactical basis. In areas where flood warnings are provided, these Category 1 responders are warned by SEPA directly. Perth & Kinross Council commented that their interplay with the other responders in RECAP "works perfectly" and is refined by periodic training exercises (of necessity, desk-based for flooding scenarios) and analysis of lessons learned from past events. Glasgow City Council noted that in the Strathclyde group, all parties are familiar with each other from the legacy of regional authorities and have come together seamlessly during past incidents. Interaction with SEPA at the training and incident level is also valued. For example, Scottish Borders Council staff report close interaction with SEPA between flood events in refining warning dissemination, and training of Duty Sergeants specifically to deal with flood emergencies.
Local Emergency Plans
6.15 The interviewed local authority staff often anticipated the receipt of a flood warning based on a combination of severe weather forecasts and their own river monitoring. Once the hydrometric warning arrives, and informed by past experience, they maintain a two-way dialogue with SEPA as the event develops.
6.16 In most interviewed authorities, the response is based on speed of rise of the main rivers rather than an individual warning on a particular reach. Generally co-ordinated by the emergency planning manager in the affected local authority or authorities, the response is supported by emergency planning officers in the regional Emergencies Committee.
6.17 Within this general structure, authorities adapt to their specific requirements, based on accumulated experience about the behaviour of the watercourses. In Glasgow, the emergency plan stipulates rapid distribution of sandbags along known vulnerable stretches of the Clyde, Kelvin and White Cart. Only 4 hours warning can be given for the White Cart, so additional protection in winter is provided by laying sandbags on certain stretches to the known 1 in 5 year return level. This strategy provides a time buffer to permit better dissemination of warnings and, if necessary, evacuation of residents. However, the seasonal appearance of sandbags is a visible reminder of flood risk that, according to Glasgow City Council staff, is unpopular with some residents.
6.18 Edinburgh City Council operate a standby rota to ensure Council labour is available to respond to severe weather warnings, and that workers are adequately rested.
"We tend to be out (checking rivers) before SEPA call us out. We also speak with SEPA and the weather forecasters and get a feel for the event. Say we came in on a Friday and there was a forecast that things were going to be bad over the weekend, we would …come back in at night to relieve those who stayed on duty, and in the meantime we would action a flood volunteer rota and find out who is available from the list of co-ordinators. These are the 'public faces' of the Council. They will be allocated areas and liaise with emergency headquarters, but their main job is to keep the public informed". (Edinburgh City Council)
Volunteer Flood Co-ordinators in Edinburgh have been allocated to known flood risk areas. Operating on a rota, they are Council workers alerted by phone to provide the crucial on-the-ground link between the Council and the emergency services. In particular they prioritise sandbag distribution as the flood progresses, with large sized sandbags available at Council depots for distribution in areas known to be at risk.
6.19 Scottish Borders Council responds to weather warnings by automatic pager messages which give all those responsible in the Council an early alert, even before SEPA's flood warnings are received. Due to the size of the region and the interconnectedness of the main rivers, the plan involves active monitoring of all major rivers in the region with continuing dialogue with SEPA on hydrological patterns as the situation develops. The Borders emergency co-ordinating group is convened at a control room in the Council offices. It is not usually possible to protect areas as part of a seasonal routine, so resources and labour are distributed according to the developing event.
6.20 Aberdeenshire Council at present has no flood warning provision beyond a general Flood Watch on its major rivers (para 6.5), and so relies on weather monitoring and dialogue with SEPA hydrologists to give early warnings.
6.21 Perth & Kinross is unique among the authorities interviewed in having an alleviation scheme for the main population centre (Perth city). However, the authority still relies on early warning in order to close floodgates in a timely manner. Staff report that fully closing the 84 gates when risk levels are low was found to be too disruptive to local traffic flows, so the authority has a prioritisation scheme, with groups of gates closed only when the river is expected to reach a certain height. Close monitoring of conditions upstream and tidal predictions give up to 24 hours warning time of a flood on the Tay, with the police then managing the remaining local disruption from floodgate closures.
Flood warning dissemination
6.22 Authorities have various means in place to disseminate warnings. Procedures are stipulated in the regional emergency planning framework, and the extent to which the police and other emergency services are involved varies between authorities. These services are a vital part of the dissemination to households within urban Glasgow and Edinburgh, in the latter interacting with the Voluntary Flood Co-ordinators. According to SEPA, the police still disseminate warnings door to door in the Highland Council area, but not in the former Grampian region. They have withdrawn from issuing direct warnings within the Tayside RECAP group, although still play a role in Perth & Kinross, since it has been found that they are the optimal means to ensure that the warning is reliably passed on. Beyond Perth city, cascade systems operate. SEPA issues the warning to the police, who then disseminate to the person at the head of those flood warning groups that might be affected by the flood. The warning then cascades through those who are registered with the group, but the Council has noted difficulties with this system. There are inherent delays and no audit trail, so it is difficult to know how effective the system is when operated. Also it has been observed that farmers may not talk to each other and there have been incidents where failures to spread the warning have caused livestock deaths. In Perth city, a cascade operates for businesses in the central area but has not been introduced for householders, since the police are still actively involved in dissemination. More generally, Scottish Borders Council staff stressed the advantages provided by local contact and knowledge gained from experience with their flood warning groups.
6.23 In the Borders and parts of Moray, Automatic Voice Messaging ( AVM) is used to disseminate warnings to designated flood warning groups. Scottish Borders Council presently offers coverage for all properties 'at risk' (defined by presence in one of the 24 flood warning groups). SEPA aims to achieve a 3 hour minimum lead time for flood warning to allow time for the Council to disseminate the warning and for householders to respond. The system now has around 600 properties registered out of total number of more than 4500 currently at risk. It is capable of delivering SMS text messages. If an occupier approaches the Council and requests that their property be added to the system, it is checked against the risk database. The property occupier then has to provide a small set of details including the phone/ SMS numbers on which they wish to be warned.
6.24 The decision to issue warnings via the AVM will be taken by the Council in close liaison with SEPA. Dissemination appears highly effective, with Scottish Borders Council claiming that they can obtain a 90% contact rate. The AVM system is checked and evaluated after each use by 'Bordercare', a 24/7 facility that both issues warnings and acts as a help facility for the public. Being web-based, the AVM software can be accessed easily by anyone in the Council who needs to modify its operation, and has double failover systems built in.
6.25 Moray Council's AVM system operates in areas that have been flooded in the past, principally Forres, Elgin and Rothes. The Council invites all of its tenants in these areas to complete a form to register them on the scheme. The system alerts the tenants in most cases to fit the flood guards that the Council has installed on their properties. Others in these areas, including private householders and business, can also register for the scheme if they wish. Three hundred contacts are registered on the system at present.
6.26 Both Councils make pro-active efforts to publicise their systems. The Scottish Borders Council leaflets households and works jointly with SEPA in their flood awareness campaigns. Moray Council placed articles in the local press when their system was launched in 2005 plus leaflets in local libraries and on the Council website.
6.27 Costs of running the AVM in these areas comprise fixed costs of £3,000 to £5,000 per annum, plus 'per contact' charges when the system is activated.
6.28 Two issues surrounding the wider application of AVM have emerged:
Inclusion Scottish Borders Council noted that people who should be in the AVM scheme are not always registered because they fear their details would become more widely known. In fact, the Council assures householders as to confidentiality. The insurance industry viewpoint (para 6.63) appears to be that they would liaise with a householder after a flood and even suggest inclusion in an AVM system if one were available.
Warning content The systems at present merely refer the client to Floodline, which may not be in keeping with public expectations. SEPA promote guide materials and a CD- ROM that tell people how to prepare and flood responsibilities, entitled 'Preparing for Flooding'. These have been distributed during their awareness campaigns and community meetings. Combined efforts by councils and SEPA working together are said to be helpful in managing expectations.
6.29 A recent unpublished report commissioned by the Scottish Executive has examined how the efficiency and speed with which a flood warning is issued can be improved. The Executive is currently pursuing the implementation of such enhanced flood warning systems jointly with SEPA, local authorities and the Police. Were a nation-wide service to be developed, local authority experience in deploying AVM systems would be of value.
6.30 In terms of dissemination it is clear from interviews with local authority staff that there are several areas nationally where the police have withdrawn from issuing flood warnings directly to the public and which do not have direct coverage to those at risk by a direct method such as AVM. In such regions, reliance may be placed on a cascade system, or on reference to Floodline by householders, alongside dissemination by radio and television authorised by the police.
Warning and emergency response for pluvial flooding and drain surcharge
6.31 Urban flooding from surcharging sewers, blocked culverts and/or surface runoff has occurred in several areas in the past decade, most notably in the Shettleston area of Glasgow in July 2002. By its very nature, warning for pluvial flooding is problematic, and at present no adequate system is available, although there is the potential to develop one that interacts with burn or culvert monitoring in areas where risk is a particular concern.
6.32 As a result, local authorities have acted in a variety of ways to reduce the risk from culverts and watercourses within their respective areas. Edinburgh City Council notes that smaller flood incidents can often occur from drain backup without a flood warning, so there is a need to monitor watercourses and weather pro-actively. Glasgow City Council has a rolling maintenance programme for culvert screens operated by dedicated staff, which helps to ensure that backups will not occur. In the longer term, the Strategic Drainage Plan ( SDP) for the city is being developed in conjunction with Scottish Water to reduce the direct flow of water into culverts. However, since the SDP is still at the planning stage, interim measures have been taken by Scottish Water in high risk areas, including fitting of non-return valves, sealing of manhole covers and provision of flood guards and vent covers to protect properties from drain backup outside the property.
6.33 Scottish Water maintains verifiable records for properties that have flooded due to overloaded sewers, for which it has a legal obligation. The aim of these records, which are held in an Overloaded Sewer Flooding Register, is to provide an auditable method for identifying specific properties affected by flooding or at risk of experiencing flooding. The Flooding Register is Scotland-wide and is made up of a series of flooding clusters within sewerage catchments. Scottish Water is also developing an emergency response plan. Its Strategy and Planning unit works with a Flood Management Group that examines all aspects of emergency planning with regard to flooding.
6.34 Scottish Borders Council has telemetered alarms on culverts in Jedburgh and Galashiels known to be high risk. These send signals direct to the Council offices when the culvert depth becomes high as a result of blockage, allowing maintenance teams to respond. Perth & Kinross Council alerts businesses in high water table zones in the city centre to the possibility of basement flooding. The process is conducted by a business warning cascade system, initiated by a warning from SEPA.
Social aspects of flood emergency management
Local initiatives for flood awareness and emergency planning
6.35 Many authorities have taken local initiatives to try and encourage participation in both flood warning dissemination and flood emergency management. The use of cascade systems in Perth & Kinross, noted above, are examples primarily focussed on dissemination, but there are further initiatives that specify positive action by those receiving the warning. Comments have pointed to both benefits and drawbacks. On the one hand, the strategy can encourage independence and free up local authority resources for other areas of the emergency plan, while also giving the community a tangible sense that 'something is being done' with regard to flood prevention. On the other hand, participation can also raise unrealistic expectations which may lead to disillusionment after a flood event if not carefully managed. These expectations may, in turn, be based on lack of knowledge about responsibilities for flood defence on the part of householders. A further potential difficulty is that the personnel involved may not be trained to the level of the local authority workforce and Category 1 responders, even though they may be required to work independently in an emergency.
6.36 As part of the Scottish Borders Council's initiatives to encourage community engagement, the authority has distributed Environment Agency 'floodpack' toolkits to six Community Councils, and encouraged them to develop a local plan that could be put into operation in response to a direct flood warning. However, the Council has encountered some difficulty in establishing and maintaining contact with the Community Councils, noting that a flood event is often required to provide the stimulus for contact.
6.37 Local authorities and SEPA have also noted a general lack of knowledge among the public as to which public bodies are responsible for providing flood protection (both temporary and permanent) and flood warning. Information on this has come from various sources: questionnaire returns from awareness campaigns, feedback after flood events and promotional campaigns for flood alleviation schemes. The general finding is that awareness goes up markedly after a flood event, but rapidly tails off thereafter.
6.38 In light of this finding, local authority efforts have been focussed on improving awareness via information campaigns and newsletters. Examples exist of comprehensive flood information leaflets, for example those in Scottish Borders and Edinburgh, that are delivered to properties in flood risk areas. This information sometimes refers directly to flood incident and maintenance data from the local authority Biennial Flood Reports. Renfrewshire produces a 'digest' of its Biennial Report for distribution to the public, and finds this helpful in spreading information about actions taken, further reinforcing the sense that the Council is 'doing something'.
Sand bags and removable flood defences
6.39 Local authorities vary in their management and deployment of sand bags. Possible approaches, sometimes used in combination, are:
- distribute sand bags to properties during a flood event, with or without priority according to whether the property is local authority owned;
- provide filled sandbags or filling facilities for private use at the site of the emergency;
- provide facilities at depots for individuals to fill bags and take them away.
The last option has generally found the least favour, as it is difficult to control how many bags are taken. The balance between the three approaches may differ from event to event and even within a local authority.
6.40 Scottish Borders Council distributes information leaflets outlining responsibilities for flood protection and location of sandbag stores, many of which are located in defunct fire station yards. They have established initiatives with community groups to both increase sandbag depot availability and encourage access through publicity campaigns. Interviewed staff reported that a pilot area run in Selkirk by the local rugby club has been successful. However, the Council is also trying to wean the public off reliance on sandbags, and has been encouraging uptake of temporary removable flood defences. It notes a tendency among the public to assume that the Council will supply and fund all these measures. Furthermore, the Council has reported that as it takes the initiative , the Community Councils and other groups tend to take a step back and assume that the proposed measure (for example, local management of sandbag stores and funding temporary flood defences) is the local authority's responsibility.
6.41 In Aberdeenshire, a pilot scheme at Inverurie is encouraging similar local control over sandbag distribution, although, as with the some of the initiatives in the Borders, this is not yet fully operational.
6.42 Glasgow City Council makes sandbags available in depots for public use. Elsewhere in the urban areas studied, sandbag provision is kept under local authority control. Thus in Edinburgh, the plan restricts public access to depots, since it has been found that the emergency response works best when the distribution is controlled by those in the incident room who are interacting with the voluntary co-ordinators and others at the site of the emergency.
"… the person in the incident room will know where the (the sandbags) need to go, since he has the big picture of everyone phoning into him." (Edinburgh City Council)
6.43 Many local authorities are also now using large temporary barriers such as removable dams in the street in areas known to be at flood risk. But ensuring they are installed in time, especially in the absence of Council staff, makes their use difficult. It may be necessary to come to an arrangement with a local contact point, possibly within the Community Council and/ or flood warning group.
Evacuation
6.44 Evacuation is typically a slow and difficult operation, and hazardous both for rescuers and evacuees. There is often a lack of willingness to evacuate resulting in increased risk to members of the emergency services.
6.45 All the local authorities contacted have evacuation plans that integrate emergency planning, emergency services and social work departments. These co-ordinate closely with the regional body, and involve the voluntary services (particularly the WRVS) in opening and staffing designated rest centres. Some authorities mentioned the potential for problems and negative feedback when complications have arisen with evacuations and particularly those which occurred during the night. In Edinburgh, the evacuation of nursing homes during the April 2000 flood led to the use of hospitals as emergency refuge centres. On this occasion few householders attended rest centres during the incident, a fact that was attributed to the time of day and the large amount of self-evacuation that occurred.
6.46 Perth & Kinross Council has developed a one-stop registration system for temporary evacuees based on computer software developed within the Council, a system that has also now been adopted by some other authorities. This system avoids the need to process multiple registrations, e.g. for housing, social work, with often-traumatised householders, and is also easy to use for the voluntary staff who are called in to help.
6.47 Longer term re-housing of evacuees has created difficulties for some authorities where large numbers of social tenants have had to move. In particular, Glasgow City Council noted that there were delays in dealing with housing associations. Organising new accommodation has to be negotiated with a multiplicity of such associations, causing delays and adding to the social costs.
Post-flooding - mitigating costs to the community and businesses
6.48 All local authorities see a recovery plan for businesses and communities as helpful. Scottish Borders Council is in the process of developing one, incorporating lessons learned from the flooding incidents of January and October 2005, when many businesses, particularly in Hawick, were badly affected.
Flood alleviation and avoidance
Social aspects of flood alleviation scheme promotion
6.49 Councils were asked about their experience of promoting flood alleviation schemes or other flood prevention programmes. Of those investigated, White Cart (Glasgow) and the Braid Burn (Edinburgh) are flood alleviation schemes now at an advanced planning and build stage respectively, while the Water of Leith scheme (Edinburgh) has had extensive consultation and a local public inquiry. Also investigated were the option appraisal and planning procedures followed in Renfrewshire.
6.50 In all cases, extensive public consultation was recognised as essential from the outset.
"What we did right from the start was to say 'this is not just an engineering scheme' - it is a combination of approaches and the difficulty is not with the hydrological aspects but in making sure everyone buys into the scheme." (Glasgow City Council, commenting on the White Cart flood alleviation scheme)
6.51 Glasgow and Edinburgh Councils ran exhibitions to publicise their schemes and solicited feedback by questionnaires. These are considered to have been an effective way to ensure social input to the planning process, making the community 'feel involved'. In Edinburgh, at the Braid Burn exhibition, pro-active publicity also helped to remove many objections that were largely on cosmetic or minor technical grounds.
"[X] was the best attended exhibition, there was a high density of people there, and at the end of the day there was not one objection from that area, a couple of complaints and a few constructive criticisms…" (Edinburgh City Council)
In Glasgow:
"We sent a caravan around, we got 700 visitors and they were all asked to fill in a questionnaire, for which we got 190 responses. The questionnaires looked into areas like 'do you support the concept of floodplain storage' and we also asked them which specific option of the several available they supported. The vast majority, even in the upper catchment, were positive". (Glasgow City Council )
Nevertheless, dealing with objections still creates inevitable delays, estimated by Edinburgh City Council as around eighteen months for the Braid Burn scheme, and presently still outstanding for the Water of Leith scheme.
6.52 In Renfrewshire, informal contact throughout the formal consultation process was regarded as helpful, with the public kept involved from an early stage.
"We find it is much better to make things as informal as possible rather than blind people with science about the statutory process, … will follow the informal consultation up with adverts in the local paper and get together Community Councils, community groups and elected members. We take along our plans and draft ideas of what we are planning, what [the scheme] is going to look like, what it is designed to do and what it won't do". (Renfrewshire Council)
Social factors in flood alleviation scheme cost-benefit appraisal
6.53 In calculating the cost against the environmental benefits of flood prevention schemes, some local authorities have included social benefits from avoided damage and social impact, and the benefits of extra amenity. However, in Edinburgh, the cost-benefit ratio came out strongly in favour of construction for both the Braid Burn and Water of Leith schemes, with little adjustment of the economic analysis to allow for social impacts. For the Water of Leith:
"We used the insurance (claim) costs and the costs of transport disruption… the analysis came out strongly in favour. In most of our areas that will be protected by the flood defence there is quite a high proportion of insured high value housing". (Edinburgh City Council)
6.54 In Glasgow, riverside amenity provides a benefit that the Council assessed in a non-quantitative way by means of the visitor survey, but no attempt was made to value the environmental benefits by any economic methodology.
"The visitors were shown plans and were asked if they thought we should make environmental improvements. That aspect of it was very strongly supported." (Glasgow City Council)
A need to factor in social impacts is potentially vital for schemes with relatively low total asset value in the protected area. Thus Renfrewshire Council needed to allocate priorities among three planned flood prevention schemes covering areas affected by the 1994 floods. The fact that all three areas were impacted in 1994 helped in a comparative prioritisation procedure. This was needed as resources were not available to develop all three schemes simultaneously:
"We used the 1994 event as a test. We knew as a result of that event how much property and risk to life there was in all three areas, so we commissioned a consultant to do a draft feasibility/cost analysis of the flood alleviation schemes." (Renfrewshire Council)
6.55 In deciding the priority order for the schemes, the Council calculated cost-benefit ratios using the economic analysis specified in the Flood Hazard Research Centre's 'Multi-coloured Handbook' (Penning-Rowsell et al., 2003) rather than the methodology factoring in social cost and intangible costs. The latter method has the potential to increase the social benefit calculation for schemes in the future. However, the Council noted that re-housing many social housing tenants from these areas after the 1994 floods presented a problem in obtaining data for this purpose.
6.56 From a national point of view all approved schemes recently brought forward by local authorities have been funded by grant aid from the Scottish Executive at either 50% or, since 2004, 80% of the scheme cost. Owing to the number and increased costs of schemes now being brought forward, the Scottish Executive is currently considering prioritisation as part of future scheme appraisal alongside an enhanced role for social factors.
Alternative local authority action: watercourse management and development control
6.57 Management of watercourses within local authority powers under the Flood Prevention and Land Drainage Act 1997 provides a complementary route to flood alleviation that is being used, sometimes in innovative ways, by some of the authorities we consulted. Thus in Renfrewshire, the Network Regeneration Department provides a link between planning/development control and watercourse maintenance. This link both helps to ensure that new development does not materially add to flood risk (through an increase in water drainage) as well as co-ordinating maintenance on watercourses for which the local authority has a duty under the 1997 Act.
6.58 The work also involves often delicate liaison with landowners, including riparian owners.
"…we approach the landowner or riparian owner and explain to them what their duties are, so we explain that to them, and then where reasonable, we can go in and do what we can [under the statutory powers]" (Renfrewshire Council).
However, such powers can, if used effectively, allow some degree of flood risk management without resorting to a large formal flood prevention scheme. In some cases this can be used to advance sustainable catchment planning through interaction with other stakeholders such as NGOs.
"We would do as much in the short term as we could, in terms of both works and maintenance to try and improve the flow where we could, 'tweaking' the system here and there as much as possible…We come into this as people who have a track record for building things in concrete, so we recognise that there is a need to let them build confidence in what we are about and what we are trying to achieve." (Aberdeenshire Council)
It is acknowledged that these works and maintenance programmes cannot always provide a risk reduction below the 1 in 75 year return period that is critical for insurance provision (see section 6.59 below). In these cases Aberdeenshire, and some other authorities, provide assistance for homeowners to purchase removable flood defences.
6.59 Such improvements are most effective when coupled to land use control, under the widely praised Scottish Planning Policy SPP7: Planning and Flooding (Scottish Executive, 2004). The Flood Liaison and Advice Groups ( FLAGs) use SPP7 to advise local authorities on development control, strategic planning and prioritisation of watercourse maintenance, as well as the emergency planning issues of flooding. In Aberdeenshire, the FLAG is conceived as a 'broad church' that facilitates stakeholder dialogue, with social involvement where possible:
"There is a two-tier level of attendance. At the first tier there are people who are fairly closely involved in flooding: SEPA, Development Control, Scottish Water, insurers, planners and engineers from [Aberdeen] City and Aberdeenshire Councils. There is a second tier of people who come occasionally and who are 'on call' e.g. if there is a specific item, the Forestry Commission, Fishery Boards, Universities…" (Aberdeenshire Council)
The involvement of the insurance industry and Scottish Water was seen by Aberdeenshire to be a beneficial aspect of FLAGs, although it was also noted that more mandatory information exchange with both industries would help the operation still further, potentially delivering greater social benefits. Scottish Water has an Overloaded Sewer Flooding Register of properties affected by internal flooding and this register used to inform its Capital Investment Programme. It also run specific response groups to address the issues of planning and network capacity.
Insurance coverage in flood risk areas
6.60 A representative from Norwich Union, part of Aviva plc and one of Scotland's largest insurers, provided insight into insurance industry policy in dealing with properties in flood risk areas. Some of the comments noted below are also part of general insurance industry policy, as expressed by the Association of British Insurers ( ABI).
6.61 Norwich Union developed its own flood-risk maps after many properties in England were flooded in 1998 outside areas identified on the Environment Agency's flood-risk maps. Norwich Union's maps are based on a model of the river system plus a digital elevation model and incorporate the locations of known flood defences. In addition, the industry has funded research into the links between flood characteristics and damage. Such 'flows research' plots flow rate and height against the amount of damage caused in a property. The findings have led to more effective risk assessment in economic terms and have improved the advice that can be given to households on steps they can take to mitigate flood damage.
6.62 The general policy of the insurance industry, re-iterated in a national statement in November 2005, is continue to provide coverage to properties at less than a 1 in 75 year risk of being flooded. For a risk of more than 1 in 75 years, cover is available where improved flood defence is planned within 5 years ( ABI, 2005). If a property has been flooded in the past, insurance will not be provided as a matter of course. In this instance, new applicants may be turned away, while existing policyholders would have their premiums increased and their excess raised to £5,000 (or higher in the case of a large property). Even those properties that are covered are subject to open market influences on premiums and excesses which are now rising in areas known to be at high flood risk.
6.63 For both 'flooded' and 'at risk' households, it is not general practice within the industry to add conditions to a policy that might insist the owner take measures such as temporary flood protection or signing up to an AVM system. This is because such conditions would be extremely difficult to enforce and police. However, the insurance company would typically talk to an owner about such measures if they had been flooded. This finding raises questions about the extent to which incentives can be provided for the uptake of temporary defences and direct warning systems.
6.64 The representative from Norwich Union noted a general trend in recent years toward an increase in the total value of settled claims. Given the measures that are being taken by the industry to reduce the risk exposure of their flood insurance portfolio, it takes seriously the possibility that climate change may already be exerting an influence on flood occurrences.
6.65 Norwich Union would like to see Flood Searches become a mandatory part of Home Buyers Reports. A flood search provides information on whether a property has been flooded in the past and whether a property is in a flood risk area. In addition, a solicitor would be able to ask a seller if a property has been flooded in the past.
Summary
6.66 This chapter has examined the policy context within which the earlier findings from the household survey and the focus groups can be evaluated. Key flood risk management objectives for local authorities and regional emergency planning groups have been identified; existing and planned expansion of SEPA's flood warning service outlined; challenges in raising flood awareness clearly posed and the role of insurance industry noted. The chapter has also helped identify 'what works' in terms of warning dissemination, general emergency planning and management.