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The Scottish Government has requested the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) to extend its current flood warning service by the introduction of an active flood warning dissemination programme, similar to the system which has been in operation for a number of years in England and Wales through the Environment Agency. This will introduce a service where registered members of the public and partner organisations will be contacted directly via a range of media. SEPA has furthermore been given by the Scottish Government £1.046 million over a three year period to provide a three hour minimum lead time to deliver flood warning to the catchment of the Rivers Dee, Don, Deveron and North Esk in North East Scotland.

The Scottish Government has also consulted on proposals to establish a new framework for the implementation of sustainable flood risk management in Scotland, and will be introducing a flooding Bill later this year. It has also just announced the opening of the Scotland Rural Development Programme which includes support for a number of natural flood management measures, and is working with the National Flood Forum to establish a presence in Scotland. The forum will work with SEPA to engage with communities to raise awareness of flooding.

The Scottish Government has had no discussions with the North Sea Commission on this matter.

Coast protection schemes have been carried out at the following sites in the last five years:

Site	Starting Year of Scheme	Finishing Year of Scheme	Cost £
Carnoustie	2003	2004	1,047,028.00
Wick	2004	2005	2,931,951.83
Stonehaven Bay	2006	2006	322,759.46
Aberdeen Bay	2006	2006	2,257,525.53

 

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency indicative flood maps show land which is at high risk of coastal flooding (where risk is equal to or greater than 0.5% annual probability) or might become so with climate change. These maps are available at:

http://www.sepa.org.uk/flooding/mapping/index.htm.

Contingency planning is primarily a matter for local responders, as defined under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. The responsibility for warning and informing the public, as well as co-ordinating the response, lies with those responders.

In the event of a major incident, and depending on the circumstances, it is possible that the Scottish Government would invoke its emergency response arrangements. These arrangements would facilitate discussions between responders, and also co-ordinate any appropriate communications strategies. In addition, a sub-group of the Resilience Advisory Board for Scotland has been established to create a national framework for information sharing and communicating with the public.

The Contingency Planning (Scotland) Regulations 2005 place a duty upon Category 1 responders, as defined by the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, to have regard to the activities of voluntary organisations.

Guidance advises responders to integrate those activities at all stages of preparation in order to ensure a coordinated response to emergencies.

The Contingency Planning (Scotland) Regulations 2005 place a duty upon Category 1 responders, as defined by the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, to have regard to the activities of voluntary organisations.

Voluntary sector involvement in planning will vary from area to area, according to the requirements of the Category 1 responders and the ability of local voluntary sector organisations to provide support.

The Scottish Government works closely with the eight Strategic Co-ordinating Groups (SCGs) in each of the police force areas in Scotland, to ensure that they are prepared for the risks that might be faced in their area, including flooding. Scottish Government is in regular contact with all responders (including emergency planning staff) through these groups.

In 2006, a National Resilience seminar was held that considered severe weather and flooding. After the flooding in parts of England during the summer of 2007, the Scottish Government wrote out to each of the SCGs 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, Scottish Government also asked the SCGs to complete a self-evaluation in relation to extreme weather (including flooding). The results are currently being collated. Scottish Government is also planning to host an national exercise in 2009 focusing on an extreme weather scenario.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency flood map shows an estimate of the areas in Scotland with a 0.5% or greater probability of being flooded in any given year. Scottish Planning Policy (SPP)7 “ Planning and Flooding characterises areas within this range as having a medium to high risk of flooding. In such areas the SPP''s Risk Framework sets out the appropriate planning response. The central purpose of the SPP is to prevent further development which would have a significant probability of being affected by flooding or which would increase the probability of flooding elsewhere.

Planning and HMO licensing legislation are designed to do different things “ planning is focussed on the availability of services and amenities, while licensing exists to ensure HMO properties meet certain safety, physical and management standards. The review of SPP3 considers planning issues. Both Glasgow City Council and the City of Edinburgh Council have been involved in the SPP3 consultation process, as have all other planning authorities, particularly those where high HMO concentrations exist, such as Fife Council and Dundee City Council. Their views are being taken into account in drafting the final policy.