The Scrutiny Review into the Boxing Day floods of 2015 made a number of recommendations to improve the Council’s response to such incidents, to assist residents and businesses to better prepare and protect themselves, and to receive a report back on further improvements to the Council’s response and on flood related work to prevent future flooding.

The Strategic Director Place will submit a report (Document “K”) which  updates Member on progress made following the Flooding Scrutiny Review into the Council’s response to the flooding event of Boxing Day 2015 reported to Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 29^th September, 2016.

Recommended –

Members note the progress achieved by the Council and Partners and the further actions planned with regard to improving the Councils response to flooding/emergency situations and the steps being taken to help reduce future incidents of flooding within the district. 

(John Major – 01274 433996)

The Scrutiny Review into the Boxing Day floods of 2015 made a number of recommendations to improve the Council’s response to such incidents, to assist residents and businesses to better prepare and protect themselves, and to receive a report back on further improvements to the Council’s response and on flood related work to prevent future flooding.

The Strategic Director Place submitted a report (Document “K”) which  updated Members on progress made following the Flooding Scrutiny Review into the Council’s response to the flooding event of Boxing Day 2015 reported to Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 29 September 2016.

The Assistant Director Waste, Fleet and Transport Services gave a brief overview of the report, stating that the Action Plan had been updated to show further improvements and action that had been taken over the last 12 months to deal with any future incidents of flooding.

During the discussion, a Member ascertained the emergency arrangements that were in place when adverse weather was expected.  In response the Assistant Director stated that during inclement weather a conference call took place, involving key organisations. In addition relevant departments within their service plans contained details on what actions they should take during adverse weather, and these service plans were regularly reviewed.

In response to a question regarding the availability use and storage of sandbags, it was stressed that sandbags were stored at a central location in readiness for any flood event, however storage of sandbags could be reviewed in the light of experience.  In addition the local emergency flood plan could also look at the issue of sandbags and storage facilities.

In response to a question relating to the Council’s ability to have access to the necessary expertise and staffing in place to deal with flooding, it was explained that a team was in place that worked closely with the Environment Agency to deal with incidents of flooding, albeit there was a need to bolster this team.

A Member stated that work around climate change and risk planning was crucial and that he would like to see a more definitive timetable around what the Council was doing in this respect.  The Assistant Director Transportation, Design and Planning stated that a lot of work had been done by the Council’s drainage team in collaboration with the Environment Agency on both the Flood Strategy and the Flood Risk Assessment to ensure they were fit for purpose.

In response to a question on what collaborative work had been done with neighbouring authorities on flood alleviation measures, it was confirmed that work had been undertaken with Leeds City Council Craven and other North Yorkshire Authorities, to identify catchments and deal with flooding more effectively .

In relation to a question regarding the drainage team, it was confirmed that a drainage team was in place to deal with any call out and that this included cover over any bank holiday periods.

In response to a question regarding the preparedness of the Council’s contact centre and their capacity to handle call volumes during a flooding incident, the Emergency Planning Officer stated that where a severe weather incident was predicted the necessary staffing were put in place in the contact centre to deal with such an incident.

In response to a question of what lessons had been learnt since the 2015 boxing day flooding, officers confirmed that the Council was now better prepared to deal with such incidents, and that preparatory work across all Council departments had been improved significantly, to better enable us to deal with any future flooding incidents.

In response to question regards gully emptying and the adequacy of the gully emptying fleet, the drainage officer stated that the Council deployed 3 gully tankers which worked on a rota basis to ensure that all main roads were covered over a 12 month period and that hotspots were tackled accordingly, with some receiving multiple visits.

Resolved –

(1)       That the progress achieved by the Council and Partners and the           further actions planned with regard to improving the Councils        response to             flooding/emergency situations and the steps being   taken to help reduce future incidents of flooding within the             district be noted.

(2)       That a progress report be submitted in 12 months time.

ACTION:       Strategic Director Place