Agenda item

To receive presentations from the following:

1)    Flooding and Adaptation Work – Sian Hoare, Operations Manager: Flood Risk and Adaptation (Herts County Council)

2)    Climate Adaptation Corporate Risk – Ellie Hollingsworth & Georgina Chapman, Policy & Strategy Team (North Herts Council)

Presentations were received from Sian Hoare, Operations Manager: Floor Risk and Adaptation – Herts County Council and Ellie Hollingsworth & Georgina Chapman, Policy & Strategy Team.

Audio recording – 20 minutes 15 seconds

The Chair invited Sian Hoare, the Operations Manager of Flood Risk and Adaptation at Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) to give a presentation on Flooding and Adaptation Work. Sian Hoare advised that:

·        Flooding was experienced in Hitchin from 22 September with a flood warning issued on 27 September and removed on 5 October.

·        Rainfall was long and intense which caused the small water courses that led to the river to become overwhelmed, creating significant fluvial and surface water flooding.

·        Homes, businesses and infrastructure were affected with 20 properties flooded internally and a further 27 flooded externally.

·        Local MPs and Councillors had supported the process to date.

·        In response to the flooding, a drop-in session for residents was set up so that residents could report on what happened as well as express their feelings about flood risk.

·        An assessment of assets along the River Purwell and clearance work were completed in partnership with the Council, the Environment Agency and the Internal Drainage Board to clear any obstructions along the river. 

·        The County Council had commissioned the National Flood Forum to work with the community in Hitchin to create a flood group that would eventually create a flood plan by working with the relevant partner organisations including HCC to draw up flood mitigations.

·        A debrief event of the flooding took place in which officers from North Herts Council, the County Council and the Fire Service attended, and improvements to the response process were highlighted should the event occur again.

·        Anglian Water conducted an assessment of all their assets and looked at non-return valves in their manholes to reduce flood risk and carried out a clean up of affected gardens.

·        Monthly multi-agency meetings were taking place in which Anglian Water, the County Council and North Herts Council were meeting to discuss flooding, with updates published to the County Council website.

·        A statutory Section 19 investigation was being undertaken to understand what happened and make recommendations to prevent future floods.

·        Anglian Water carried out several CCTV surveys of their network and identified areas of concern to be actioned.

·        A review of national legislation would take place over the next year to address the strengths and failings of the Flood Risk Management Cycle and where changes needed to be made at a policy level.

·        In terms of flooding adaptation, the County Council were working on this with partners at District Councils and water companies through the Hertfordshire Climate Change and Sustainability Partnership (HCCSP), including developing a climate change risk assessment.

·        The County Council as a pilot authority for climate change had been involved in the adaptation reporting power in which they report on adaptation and how the County Council has been mitigating against the risks and impacts of climate change. This was a resource intensive process, but it had helped them to understand what to report on when it was actioned again in the future.  

Sian Hoare then invited Lynne Ceeney, the Director of Sustainability at Hertfordshire County Council to present on Flooding and Adaptation Work. Lynne Ceeney advised that:

·        HCC were investigating the rules and regulations for the risk management authorities and trying to bridge the communication gaps between them to identify who was responsible as there was currently no community liaison in place when a flood occurred. 

·        All partners including the County, District and Borough Councils, the Environment Agency and water companies were working to agree on a standard operating procedure for flooding in Hertfordshire while they waited for national legislation to be devised.

The following Members took part in the discussion and asked questions:

·        Councillor Joe Graziano

·        Councillor Claire Strong

·        Councillor Ian Albert

·        Councillor Tina Bhartwas

·        Councillor Bryony May

·        Councillor Caroline McDonnell

·        Councillor Mick Debenham

The following points were raised as part of the discussion:

·        A question-and-answer document on flooding for members of the public to refer to. 

·        There was slow progress when dealing with multiple authorities and where to report flooding on the County Council website.

·        Recurring problems with flooding in rural areas were slow to be addressed.

In response to questions and discussion points, Sian Hoare advised that:

·        There was no hard deadline to apply for the Flooding Resilience Scheme in partnership with the Environment Agency, however it was recommended to apply for this as soon as possible as funding for this would be reviewed by the end of March.

·        They were continually providing resources and education on the roles and responsibilities of local authorities and water companies, and they encouraged Members to send through questions that they’d received from the public on flooding to help curate a frequently answered questions document.

·        Based on varying reports from residents, the last flood in Hitchin was in 1980 but it was worth noting that the Environment Agency have never issued a flood warning in Hitchin before.

·        The age of the properties flooded was not available at the meeting but this information could be made available to attendees after the meeting.

·        River flooding could happen within an hour without warning, whereas ground water flooding was slower moving and could take place weeks after a rainfall event but was difficult to predict unless the ground water levels were monitored. However, they were working closely with North Herts Council and Parish Councils to monitor areas through photographs and conducting site visits to assess ground water flood risk on a weekly basis. 

In response to questions and discussion points, Lynne Ceeney advised that:

·        HCC were actively investigating the issue of road run off and chalk stream contamination, however, due to outdated technology and road infrastructure, combatting this was a challenge.

·        They were encouraging District and Borough Councils to help residents to form flood groups in areas they knew were susceptible to better prepare them for future flooding.

·        Resources were prioritised where there was the most regular damage to key areas such as a single point of access or residents’ properties, however it was encouraged to still report all flooding via the reporting tool on the County Council website. All reported issues would be investigated but not necessarily actioned.

·        If persistent problems such as a faulty drain were not fixed immediately, it could be because the solution was complex such as a whole drainage run needing replacing which required time and organisation.

·        Reporting flooding issues through County Councillors might help to get them actioned more quickly.

The Chair invited the Policy & Strategy Team at North Herts Council to give a presentation on Climate Adaptation Corporate Risk. They advised that:

·        The idea that adaptation to climate change would remain an ongoing and consistent consideration as the climate continued to change had been added to the Corporate Risk management system at North Herts Council as a Service Risk.

·        The management system enabled the Council to record, monitor and report corporate performance indicators, improvement actions, and risks.

·        Although short-term failure to adapt to climate change would have a low impact on the Council, long-term failure would potentially bring bigger impacts that would need actioning. 

·        The current assessment of the risk was Medium, which meant that the likelihood was Medium, and the impact was also Medium on the risk management framework. 

·        Opportunities arising from the new risk included identifying the operations and services that were resilient to climate change, the added value of planned adaptations compared to the potential cost of inaction or immediate emergency responses, and being a leading example to local businesses and organisations to better prepare the whole district against climate change.

·        In terms of consequences, the risk could increase the likelihood of business premises being out of action, failure to deliver services/projects, breached statutory duties, unbudgeted spend on emergency actions to respond to increased disruptive incidents around service delivery, and unmanageable demands on services and employees.

·        In response to the risk, a Climate Officer Group had been established in addition to a Climate Risk Log which would identify possible service consequences and controls. 

·        Ongoing work in response to the risk included the consideration to build climate change impacts into corporate resilience arrangements and templates, the consideration of the resources required to respond to more potential emergency events and the impact of the involving numerous services and staff across the Council in these, the environmental implications considered for each committee report or key decision, and recognising the development of a new Sustainability Strategy to establish agreed objectives and actions.