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Chamber and committees

Question reference: S6W-32834

  • Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
  • Date lodged: 7 January 2025
  • Current status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 21 January 2025

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what flood prevention schemes were approved, and at what cost, broken down by local authority, in each financial year from 2007-08 to 2024-25.


Answer

In 2016, an agreement was reached between Scottish Ministers and COSLA on a new strategic funding plan for flood protection schemes. This agreement ensures that from 2016 to 2026, a minimum of £42 million per annum is allocated for flooding capital grants within the local government settlement. Information is provided below on the schemes funded under that agreement.

In December 2015, SEPA published the first set of Flood Risk Management Strategies for the period 2015-2021, which included 42 prioritised flood protection schemes. 40 of these were eligible for Scottish Government funding. While work was expected to start on these schemes, their completion was not expected within the six-year timeframe.

Table 1

Flood Protection Schemes under construction

Scheme

(ii)

Properties protected

(i)

Completion

Date

(iii A)

Initial cost

(£ million) (1)

( iii B)

Estimated final cost

(£ million) (2)

Hawick

970

2025

37.4

78.6

Campbeltown

770

2025

9.3

15.2

Schemes (b) under development are as follows:

Table 2 - Schemes under development

4 will commence construction in 2025

2 have been legally confirmed as required under the FRM Act (2009) and are undergoing further development and detailed design towards construction.

5 have begun the legal notification process towards confirmation.

Scheme

Stage

(ii) Properties protected

(iii A)

Initial cost

(£ million) (1)

( iii B)

Estimated Final Cost of Scheme (2)

Milnathort

Construction start 2025

79

1.9

0.9

Mill Burn Millport

Construction start 2025

124

1.1

1.7

Kilmacolm – Glenmosston Burn

Construction start 2025

Not held

0.5

0.5

Comrie

Construction start 2025

189

15.7

40.0

Dumfries - Whitesands

Confirmed (3)

166

18.9

37.5

Quarrier’s Village

Confirmed (3)

60

0.2

0.2

Dumbarton - Gruggies Burn

Legal notification complete (4)

370

14.5

20.0

South Kinross

Legal notification complete (4)

Not held

3.2

15.1

Musselburgh

Legal notification complete (4)

2500

8.9

95.9

Bridge of Allan

Legal notification complete (4)

Not held

4.4

17.0

Newton Stewart/ River Cree

Legal notification complete (4)

270

7.5

19.1

(1) Note: Initial costs as provided by local authorities in 2016-17.

(2) Note: Final Scheme costs are the latest estimates provided by local authorities. Differences between these latest estimates and initial cost estimates arise as a result of inflationary pressures and because flood protection schemes are put forward for prioritisation at various stages of their development to fit with Flood Risk Management Planning cycle set out in the FRM Act. Costs are revised over time as designs are finalised and more detailed investigations are carried out and as new information emerges.

Schemes will only be taken forward for construction if they receive the necessary statutory and regulatory approvals, so the expected completion date is not yet known.

More detailed information on each of the schemes can be obtained from the relevant local authorities whose responsibility it is to develop and deliver flood protection schemes and who are best placed to answer specific questions on each of the schemes.

(3) Note: Formally confirmed under Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act (2009).

(4) Note: Notification (first stage towards legal confirmation) complete under Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act (2009)

8 of the 40 schemes initially eligible have been withdrawn from the cycle one funded programme (2 voluntarily and 6 because they failed to meet the notification deadline of 31 March 2024). 1 is no longer required.