Issue - meetings

Report of the Head of Locality Services - Commissioned

The Committee considered the report of the Head of Locality Services – Commissioned on the Flood and Coastal Erosion Management (FCERM) Strategy review scoping document.

The report indicated that Sefton had a requirement under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 to produce a Local Flood Risk Strategy; that the Act required each Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) in England and Wales to set out how it would manage flooding and coastal erosion in its area; that Sefton was a Lead Local Flood Authority and this Strategy would satisfy this statutory need and also satisfied the requirements under the Flood Risk Regulations 2009 for a Flood Risk Management Plan; that the Sefton Strategy was first produced in 2015 and after 3 years it was required to be updated; and therefore the report set out the scope of this update, reviewing what had changed since 2015 and sought views and input on the proposals.

The report detailed the strategic developments since 2015 to be considered in the new strategy in relation to:-

·       Liverpool City Region

·       Sefton 2030

·       UK Climate Predictions update 2018

·       Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs 25 year plan

·       The Sefton Coast Plan

·       Coastal Adaptation Strategy

·       New policies adopted by the FCERM team

The report also detailed funding issues since 2015 to be considered in the new strategy in relation to:-

·       Budgetary issues associated with the FCERM team being merged into a new service area called Green Sefton with the Parks and Green spaces and  Coast and Countryside teams

·       Merseyside Partnership Quick Win Funding

·       Cell 11 Regional Monitoring Programme (Cerms) Funding and Shoreline Management Officer Local Levy funding

·       United Utilities spend programme

The report then highlighted the changes in the understanding of risk associated with:-

·       Shoreline Management Plan review

·       Coastal erosion predictions

·       Climate change predictions

·       Surface Water Management Plan realisation of modelled data

and developments in the way the Council worked relating to:-

·       Sustainable flood risk management

·       Communication

·       Data management and sharing

·       Performance management

The report concluded by detailing the constraints facing the Council due to budget reductions and which meant that priorities were changing and alternative ways of delivering the service were being looked at; and that the FCERM team would be undertaking a review of its strategy and the outcomes and actions set out in the 2015 to 2018 strategy and of the understanding of coastal erosion and flooding both coastal and inland would be undertaken with the most up to date information available. It was anticipated that the final document would be published in January 2019.

Members of the Committee asked questions/made comments on the following issues:-

·       The United Utilities spend programme and the development of their Programme for the 2021-2026 period and the types of local mitigation schemes that may be included

·       The input from elected Members through briefings and reports to Cabinet Members and Overview and Scrutiny Committee

·       Coastal erosion predictions and the fairly significant coastal erosion in places, particularly just North of Hall Road, Blundellsands, where in one storm over 10m of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 51