Chamber and committees

Responsibility for local emergency preparedness is a matter for those responders specified as having a legal duty to prepare for emergencies under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. Accordingly, whilst the Scottish Government provides support to responders in developing exercises, there is no centralised record of local civil contingencies exercises.

At a national level, the Scottish Government oversees a national programme of exercises to address a range of risks. A Scottish-level extreme weather exercise is planned for 2009.

After the flooding in parts of England during the summer of 2007, the Minister for Environment wrote out to each of the eight regional strategic co-ordinating groups (SCG) asking for confirmation that they were adequately prepared to respond to similar events, should they occur in Scotland. All SCGs indicated  they had assessed the flooding risk in their area, and had undertaken planning for such eventualities. In January 2008, a further self-evaluation was commissioned by the Scottish Government from SCGs in relation to their planning for a wider set of extreme weather events that might arise as a result of climate change, including coastal and inland flooding. Responses are currently being collated and evaluated by the Scottish Government. Further work is planned to enhance the measurement of preparedness for a range of emergencies.

The Scottish Government has detailed corporate emergency response arrangements in place and operates a proportionate response to major incidents affecting Scotland. In the event of a major widespread flooding event arising in Scotland, the Scottish Government emergency room would be activated to liaise with local responders, assess the impact and co-ordinate the corresponding activity of government. The Scottish Government''s emergency committee structures, which include official and ministerial groups, would be activated as required to: provide strategic direction and national overview for the activity of government; and to inform and support the local response by ensuring that any issues for government are considered and actioned promptly.

There are no standing arrangements for a flood recovery co-ordinating team, as the existing emergency committee structures are designed to be flexible and adaptable for a range of emergencies. Any decision to set up a such a team would depend on the extent and range of impact of any flooding incident, the expectations and wishes of Scottish ministers and the actual activity required of Scottish Government. This decision would be taken by the Cabinet sub-committee (SEER), on which both the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth and the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment sit. This ministerial group would advise, depending on the nature of the impact, which minister would be best placed to chair these arrangements.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) flood map shows an estimate of the areas of Scotland with a 0.5% or greater probability of being flooded in any given year “ in other words, those areas estimated to have a one in 200 or greater chance of being flooded in any given year. It provides an indication of areas likely to flood but is not appropriate for assessing risk to individual properties and cannot replace studies at a local scale. Information on housing developments approved by planning authorities in these areas is not held centrally.

Improvements to existing flood defences are a matter for local authorities to determine. Any planned improvements to existing flood defences around the coastline of Fife lie with Fife Council and not the Scottish Government.

The total project value of the flood prevention schemes under the 1961 act which started in each year from 2000 to 2008 is in the following table:

Financial Year	Total Project Value (£)
1999-2000	125,752.00
2000-01	12,967,040.00
2001-02	1,934,230.80
2002-03	10,969,307.00
2003-04	4,026,898.00
2004-05	1,354,107.00
2005-06	-
2006-07	67,635,745.72
2007-08	89,556,070.00

 

Where the annual risk of flooding is greater than 1%, an area is considered to be at a high risk of flooding.

While responsibility for flood warning schemes rests with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), it is for local authorities to determine the most appropriate flood alleviation measures for their areas. £126 million for such measures is included in the local government settlement for 2008-09 to 2010-11, and the distribution took into account existing flood alleviation commitments and flood risk.

SEPA''s efficiency savings are generated across the range of its activities and not attributed to any one particular service. They are then deployed over the organisation as a whole to ensure delivery of key priorities and objectives including its flood warning programme.

It is for local authorities to determine what steps need to be taken to improve flood defences in the light of climate change.

However, the Scottish Government has published its research on Climate Change: Flooding Occurrences Review (2002):

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2002/03/10817/File-1.

Climate Change: Review of Levels of Protection Offered by Flood Prevention Schemes UKCIP02 update (2003):

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2004/02/18789/32039.