Agenda item

Report of the Head of Locality Services - Commissioned

Further to Minute No. 27 of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Regeneration and Skills) held on 7 November 2017 the Cabinet considered the report of the Head of Locality Services – Commissioned on the Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment Review (PFRA).

The report indicated that the Flood Risk Regulations 2009 (FRR 2009) required each Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) to complete a PFRA and identify Flood Risk Areas (FRA) for local flood risk, primarily surface water runoff, groundwater and ordinary watercourses; that in Sefton this was completed in 2011; that FRR 2009 required a review of the PFRA on a 6 year cycle to be coordinated by the Environment Agency; that LLFAs must therefore submit their draft reviews to the Environment Agency by 22 June 2017 to enable the Environment Agency to undertake an internal review and request any changes; and that Sefton Council’s draft review was submitted to the Environment Agency in April 2017.

The report also identified that the Environment Agency provided a self- assessment template to be completed by each LLFA and Sefton’s completed template was attached to the report as a background paper; that the September 2012 significant flood event report, investigated as required by the Flood and Water Management Act 2010, was contained in annex 1 of the review attached to the report as background paper; and that overall there had been little change to the 2011 PFRA (also attached to the report as a background paper) following the review with much of the understanding remaining unchanged or with minor amendments. There had, however, been improvements or confirmation of understanding particularly in respect of Sefton’s future flood information and the following pieces of work have contributed to our understanding:-

·                 Sefton Council PFRA desktop study 2013 to improved understanding of initial PFRA assessment and flood risks.

·                 Modelling of catchments in Formby, Maghull and Seaforth/Litherland.

·                 Groundwater monitoring locations across Sefton.

·                 Sefton Council Local Plan. The plan identified flood risks on development sites.

The report concluded by detailing future developments that the PFRA review would feed into the update of Sefton’s Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy 2015-2018, which was currently underway; that the PFRA review would feed into the review of the Environment Agency’s Flood Risk Management Plans that operated at a catchment wide scale; that Sefton would continue to seek funding to improve the situation for residents and communities at risk of flooding or coastal erosion; and that Sefton would continue to review and update its understanding of flood risk.

Decision made:

That the review of the Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment prior to submission to the Environment Agency be approved.

Reasons for the decision:

The assessment has been completed following guidance documents provided by Defra and the Environment Agency and reflects our best available knowledge.

Alternative options considered and rejected:

To not undertaking the review would but this would mean that Sefton Council would fail to undertake a duty in the Flood Risk Regulations 2009, with the likelihood that the Environment Agency would undertake the review without any local input and could impose actions upon Sefton Council.