Defra - draft strategy for skills and capacity building in
Local Authorities for local flood risk management
Executive summary
The purpose of this Government strategy is to increase local
authority capacity and
skills to help them deliver their new role in the Flood and Water Management Act
2010, the Flood Risk Regulations 2009 and other actions recommended in the Pitt
Review. The strategy sets out short term actions and also looks at which
elements
of capacity should continue to be developed in the medium to long term.
The need to increase capacity for local authorities stems from the 2007 floods
which
affected large parts of England. The Pitt Review of the flooding identified that
there
was a gap in responsibility in managing floods from local sources, in particular
surface runoff and groundwater flooding. Local Authorities were identified as
the
best placed bodies to take responsibility for local flood risk management. The
recommendations from the Pitt Review have been taken forward and implemented
into the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 (the Act). In its response to the
Pitt
recommendations the then government committed £1 million to support the
development of local authority capacity building.
Initial surveys and studies were undertaken to understand what the current
skills and
resource levels are to deliver the requirements of the Act and Flood Risk
Regulations
2009. The outputs of this work have been used in the development of the strategy
and a programme for the first phase of skills and capacity building in local
authorities
to deliver the best short term outcomes from the Pitt Review funding.
Three key themes have been identified which provide the structure for the
development of the strategy. These are:
• Developing knowledge and skills for existing staff
• Building capacity through provision of educational courses for new staff
• Providing information and tools primarily to support LAs and other
stakeholders to develop skills.
A range of options were considered for the delivery of each theme taking account
of
what would be feasible to deliver in the shorter and longer term . ..
Recommendations for the key elements to take forward are identified for each
theme
The recommendations for developing capacity in the three theme areas are brought
together into a broad draft strategy.
The first outcome for the strategy is a programme of work up to March 2011to
enable
local authorities to deliver better local flood risk management. This first
phase
focuses on building leadership and intelligent client skills in
local authorities for
developing local flood risk management strategies and other new responsibilities
and
providing them with the tools and information to do this.
The initial programme will deliver:
• Training to Lead Local Flood Authorities (LLFAs) and SuDS Approving
Bodies (SABs) or their representatives. LAs have identified their priority
needs and these are reflected in the strategy. The timing of the training
needs to be coordinated with the implementation programme of the Act and
Regulations which has yet to be decided but some elements can be
developed immediately. Ongoing work to provide education courses and
apprenticeships will also be progressed. There are 150 LLFAs all of whom are
likely to require training of some kind and it is estimated that about £700,000
of the funding should be utilised for providing training.
• Provision of a web based portal giving local authorities to access all the
relevant information they need and to provide a facility where latest news and
good practice can be shared is the second main priority. Work has been
undertaken to scope the requirements of a portal and it is estimated that
setting up costs and populating it with information may cost up to £100,000.
• Other solutions such as tools, data set licences are also considered for
funding but at this stage these initiatives will require further information and
scoping work to enable elements to be taken forward (est. £200,000 cost).
Defra will work with other partners including Environment Agency, Local
Government Association, local authorities, CIWEM, ADA, ICE and academic
institutions to formulate the most cost effective and efficient delivery of the
initial
programme.
Further development of the strategy to address longer term needs for skills and
capacity building is proposed during 2010/2011 and will take account of advice
and
comments received on the working draft.
The complete Defra draft strategy document is available here:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/flooding/documents/manage/surfacewater/capacitybuilding.pdf