Twenty-eighth Report Adapting Institutions to Climate Change Cm ...

Chapter 3
Flooding
3.61 In England and Wales, responsibility for managing flood risk is shared between the Environment
Agency, Welsh Assembly Ministers and local authorities. In Scotland, primary responsibility rests
with local authorities. In Northern Ireland the Rivers Agencyxi plays a key role. As we describe
below, the Flood and Water Management Bill which is currently before Parliament will make
some significant changes for England and Wales.
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Flood abatement requires evaluation of how much society is willing to spend to reduce risk. Like
all insurance investment, the costs may seem excessive until abatement measures fail. The risk
management toolkit to deal with flooding also includes forecasting, early warning systems and
flood risk mapping, for example by the Environment Agency.
Flood risk management requires co-operation on the part of a number of authorities. Decisions
made to manage water to minimise flood risks may have implications for nature conservation,
with potential for synergies and also tensions – and the latter are likely to become more rather
than less acute as the climate changes.
3.64 Making Space for Water, published by Defra in 2005, sets out the Government’s strategy for both
flood management and coastal erosion. 55 It aims to set out a more holistic approach than previous
strategies, taking account of the need for adaptation and based on the principles of sustainable
development, with a greater emphasis on risk management and solutions incorporating economic,
social and environmental factors.
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Following widespread flooding in the summer of 2007, the Government commissioned an
independent review of flood risk management and emergency response. The Pitt Review was
published in June 2008. 56 The first recommendation was that adaptation to climate change, along
with mitigation, should be a priority in Government programmes. Other recommendations dealt
with (among other things) investment in infrastructure and how this should be integrated into
the periodic reviews of water charges by Ofwat.
57 The Flood Risk Regulations 2009 in England and Wales and, in part, the Flood Risk Management
(Scotland) Act 200958 are designed to implement the EU Floods Directive (2007/60/EC). 59 The
purpose of the Directive is to establish a framework for assessing and managing flood risks, and
in England and Wales responsibilities for this are placed on both the Environment Agency and
certain local authorities. The Scottish Flood Risk Management Act (which received Royal Assent
in June 2009) seeks to streamline decision making and to ensure co-ordinated governance of
flood risk, including the part played by local authorities and Scottish Water.
The Flood and Water Management Bill, which was published on 19 November 2009 and at
the time of writing was before Parliament, seeks to implement a number of recommendations
from the Pitt Review. It provides a statutory basis for the Environment Agency’s strategic role in
relation to floods, and also coastal erosion which we cover below, obliging the Agency to develop
a national strategy for England. Welsh Ministers will prepare the strategy for Wales. The national
strategies will have to consider the current and predicted impact of climate change, and specify
how and when the strategies are to be reviewed. Local authorities in England and Wales will be
required to develop local flood risk strategies, covering flood risk from surface water run-off and
xi In Northern Ireland, the Rivers Agency is an Executive Agency of the Department of Agriculture and
Rural Development.
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