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1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Overview of the Consultation
The First Minister announced on 5 September 2007 that the Scottish Government intended to introduce a Flooding Bill to modernise the flood risk management framework in Scotland. The objective in promoting new legislation was to provide the framework to ensure that a fully sustainable approach to flood risk management is in place across Scotland.
The consultation on "The Future of Flood Risk Management in Scotland" was published on the 13 February 2008 and ran for a period of 10 weeks.
1.2 Structure of the Consultation
The consultation consisted of a written consultation document, three stakeholder workshops and five public meetings held in various locations around Scotland. A summary of the issues raised and discussed during the workshops and public meetings can be found in Appendix B and Appendix E respectively.
The main body of the report deals with the formal written responses received by the Scottish Government from a range of stakeholders.
1.3 Written Responses to the Consultation
A total of 149 formal written responses were received. However, further investigation revealed that two were actually responses to the Strategic Environmental Assessment not directly related to this consultation and another four were duplicate responses which were received in error. The findings of this report are therefore based on a total of 143 responses.
1.4 Workshop Responses
Consultation Workshops
A total of 3 workshops were held in Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dunfermline. Each workshop had a specific theme, which addressed particular issues in detail. These themes were based upon the consultation document covering: statutory processes, flood risk management planning and flood risk assessment and mapping. A total of 103 delegates were invited and 51 attended.
Figure 1 provides an indication of the representation at the workshops. The chart shows that a large number of the delegates were representing local authorities.
Further details of the workshops are included as Appendix B.
Figure 1 - Attendance at workshop by category of organisation
Public Consultation Responses
A total of 5 meetings were also arranged to allow the public to express their views on the consultation. These meetings were held in:
- Dumfries;
- Perth;
- Rothes;
- Newton Stewart;
- Newmilns.
Details of the meetings are included as Appendix E and a map showing the locations of these events is included as Appendix F.
The findings of the public meetings reflected the issues raised at the workshops and the written consultation. The most common issue raised at the public meetings was whether the proposed framework would be adequately funded, with 15 people highlighting this as a concern. The need for cooperation between stakeholders was also identified by 10 attendees as being essential. A number of respondents (4) also highlighted the importance of transparency in the process and ensuring there is some form of accountability. The issue of riparian owners failing to carry out maintenance on watercourses and the need for greater powers to enforce them to carry out these works were commonly raised issues; these issues were also highlighted by the public on several occasions in the written responses to the consultation. Figure 2 describes the points consistently raised at the 5 workshops.
Figure 2 - Points raised consistently at the public meetings
Other issues raised included:
- The importance of the National Farmers Union to be included in the process;
- The need for a definition of 'significant risk';
- The need for consistency;
- Importance of the proposed framework considering all sources of flooding;
- The insurance implications of flooding and concern over 'blight'.
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