Current status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 21 January 2025
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.
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. |