Agenda item

The Cabinet considered a report of the Director of Environment and Transport which provided information on the impacts of the unnamed storm which affected Leicestershire on 6 January 2025, highlighted the County Council’s ongoing work as the Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) and set out proposals to support the LLFA’s statutory role in managing local flood risk.  The report also outlined the efforts of the Council to aid local residents and businesses, and provided an update on the activities of the Local Highway Authority.  A copy of the report marked ‘Agenda Item 9’ is filed with these minutes.

 

Comments from Dr Feltham CC in relation to the report are filed with these minutes, along with a letter from Neil O’Brien MP and a written submission from a local resident of Great Glen.  The Director of Environment and Transport gave assurance that all recent flooding incidents would be investigated.

 

At the permission of the Chairman, Mr Bannister CC, the member for Broughton Astley, spoke on the impact of the flood on local residents.  Mr Bannister CC welcomed the recommendations within the report, in particular the additional funding that would be used to support communities recovering from the recent flooding and to increase the preparedness and resilience for any future flood events.  He expressed his thanks to officers and other services for the work undertaken during the recent flooding event.

 

Mr O’Shea CC reiterated the devastating impact flooding had on all those affected, but stated that the County Council was not funded to deliver the necessary solutions and LLFAs needed assistance from the Government so that they had appropriate funding to reflect their responsibilities.  He thanked officers at the County Council for the work undertaken and supported the additional funding that had been made available from the County Council’s discretionary funds.

 

Members expressed severe disappointment that the National Flood Recovery Fund had not been activated to support Leicestershire following the recent flood, despite a visit to the area from the Minister for Flooding.  The Acting Leader said that she would continue to lobby the Government on this issue and also to ensure that the LLFA received appropriate funding.

 

RESOLVED:

 

a)              That in respect of the Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA),

 

                                 i.       the valuable contribution made to the response and recovery efforts of colleagues across the Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland (LLR) Local Resilience Forum (LRF) as well as the many flood wardens, flood action groups and other community members from across the County, who have helped to provide detailed information to support Risk Management Authorities in their investigations be noted with thanks; 

 

                                ii.       the allocation of an initial £20,000 of discretionary funds for the financial year 2024/25 towards supporting Leicestershire communities recovering from the most recent flooding, with a further £80,000 funding in 2025/26 to increase the preparedness and resilience for any future flood events, as set out in Table 1, be approved; 

 

                              iii.       the approach to planning for increased workload due to the increased frequency of severe weather and associated flooding issues, together with the approach to prioritisation of current workload, as set out in paragraphs 49 to 53, be approved;

 

                              iv.       the use of additional funding set out in the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) to develop the Flood Risk Management Team (£20,000 in 2024/25 rising to £220,000 in 2025/26) to help deal with increased workload arising from previous flood events and potential future incidents, as detailed in paragraphs 49 and 50, be approved;

 

                               v.       it be noted that further reviews of the LLFA structure and prioritisation may be required as more information becomes available;

 

                              vi.       a further letter be written to Leicestershire Members of Parliament (MPs) and the Secretary of State to highlight the significant impact this event and others have had on many Leicestershire residents, homes and businesses and to seek support and investment in flood prevention and managing the impacts of flooding as an urgent priority in line with paragraphs 56-61;

 

                             vii.       the approach to communication and engagement on flood events as set out in paragraphs 54 and 55 be approved;

 

b)        That in respect of the Local Highway Authority (LHA),

 

i)    the impacts of recent flood events on the highway network and steps taken to respond to these events be noted;

 

ii)   the use of additional funding set out through the MTFS to support flood response and recovery activity in the LHA (resulting in additional costs of £460,000 in 2024/25 rising to £700,000 in 2025/26), as set out in paragraph 64, be approved.  

 

REASONS FOR DECISION

 

The unnamed storm on 6 January 2025 (6 January storm) has had a severe impact on communities across Leicestershire. Events such as this can have a long-term effect on the health of those affected and work across a combination of public sector authorities, agencies as well as community volunteers is essential to recovery and to reduce similar impacts in the future.

 

Although this event had a severe impact on Leicestershire due to high levels of intense rainfall, as set out in paragraph 24, the impact was not so severe across the rest of the country. This has meant that the National Flood Recovery Framework has not been activated. Leicestershire County Council will continue to lobby the Government to provide support to affected communities; however, in the meantime, in the absence of national funding, the LLFA will use the funding set out within this report to fund small initiatives that can be quickly deployed to support communities across Leicestershire. This funding will be used in line with the principles set out in paragraph 43.

 

Whilst the LLFA will endeavour to do everything it can to support communities in the management of local flood risk, it should be emphasised that the LLFA is not responsible for, nor is it required by law to, resolve all flooding matters. The LLFA also does not have a specific budget for doing so and due to the ongoing financial challenges the Authority is facing, it cannot continue to prioritise additional funding for activity outside of its statutory duty as set out in paragraphs, 43, 49, 50, and 51 Therefore, a future focus of the LLFA will be attempting to influence national policy and responsible agencies and partners to address relevant issues such as via networking or partnership meetings, such as the National Flood Resilience Taskforce, Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (ADEPT) or the Midlands Highways Alliance Flooding and Water Management Group.

 

Following recent events, the LLFA has concluded that aspects of the national approach to flood risk management and recovery are ineffective and top-down policy changes to address flooding issues are required. Building on previous communication from the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (LLR) Local Resilience Forum (LRF) sent to local MPs, sharing further information with Leicestershire MPs will allow them to make the case for funding for recovery and investment in flood risk activities, as well as potential changes to the system for managing flood risk to improve outcomes for communities.

 

The current structure and resource levels of the Council’s Flood Risk Management Team are largely based on the introduction of the role of the LLFA in Leicestershire County Council in 2010. Since then, as set out in the report, there have been multiple major flood incidents resulting in increased workload and an increasing amount of investigation and project work. Given current information around climate change and the number of major flooding events in the last two years, which have been a significant increase on the previous years, it has become necessary to plan for more frequent flood events as business as usual rather than the exception. In addition, it has become necessary to develop a prioritisation strategy to help tackle the increased workload (particularly linked to formal flood investigations under Section 19 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010) and further flood investigations following the 6 January storm will only add to an already high workload that remains after Storm Henk in January 2024.

 

The requests for additional resource, as set out in paragraphs 49 to 51, represent the initial steps to start to address the backlog of work generated by the two most recent major flood events. It will also allow the Flood Risk Management Team to carry out a more detailed review and support a sustainable transition to a new business as usual model in flood risk management. This builds on the previous funding allocated following Storm Henk, which has facilitated several activities outlined in paragraph 50.

 

During and shortly after a flood event, there are significantly increased calls for the LLFA to attend public meetings with affected communities, members and in some cases MPs. The LLFA does not underestimate the significant physical, emotional and mental health implications of flood events on communities and the need for support during flood events. However, the main role of the LLFA during events is to coordinate recovery (more details are set out in paragraphs 33 to 36). The LLFA will therefore support meetings at appropriate times but must promote and prioritise activities that can build community resilience in the long-term.

 

There are several aspects of flood risk management that require good communication and engagement. The LLFA is driving forward its ‘Be Flood Ready: Aware, Prepared and Engaged’ strategy messaging and is engaging with communities on flood investigations and prevention. These activities are set out in more detail in paragraph 55.

 

As the LHA, the County Council is responsible for the safe operation of the network and the maintenance approach to highways assets. It has been necessary to undertake additional activities to respond to flood events in line with these responsibilities.